Forget spring semester senioritis, because AHS seniors have a new reason to dread leaving the house.

Since the game has started, it has become increasingly common to see several students leaving school with bright pool floaties on their arms while filling up their water guns. Senior Assassin, a tag-like tradition where players eliminate each other by landing a spray of water on their target, is officially under way for the Class of 2026.

Each participant is randomly assigned a target whom they must eliminate by spraying with a water gun.

To stay protected from assassins, players can wear floaties to prevent eliminations; however, once a week a Purge Day takes place and these designated safe items no longer grant immunity. There also exists permanent safe zones, which include but are not limited to school property and student workplaces, where no eliminations can occur regardless of Purge status.

The game’s first round launched April 6 with an initial $5 entrance fee, running for five rounds total until May 1, or until there is only one player remaining. It is hosted on the Splashin’ app where players can use a map to track their target’s location and submit elimination videos.

Eliminated players can buy revives up to a maximum of three times. The first is $5, then $10, and finally $20. This not only allows seniors to continue playing another round after they have been caught by their assassin, but also increases the prize pool, which currently sits at over $900 and will continue to grow to the last player standing.

The game is organized by a group of anonymous student admins. While The A-Blast does not typically use anonymous sources, the student admins have requested to keep their identities hidden to prevent harassment, as there is a real concern where eliminated players dispute rulings and turn their frustrations toward those enforcing it.

One admin, who asked to be identified by the pseudonym Mill Morris, approached Class of 2026 president senior Téa Akl to run the game, with all administrative duties transferred over to them. Another, going by Nicky Mendez, was handpicked by a senior who ran the game the previous year.

Running the game is an arduous task, even with a team of over five student admins of juniors and seniors. When disputes do arise, the team does their best to ensure a fair verdict is reached.

“We don’t take any sides and remain unbiased by getting both sides of the story. Then, we debrief amongst each other and reach a conclusion and we ask for evidence or proof of any accusations,” Morris said.

In addition, they post updates to the game’s Instagram account (@ahs2026seniorassassin) that elaborate on safety regulations, reiterating that unsafe behavior will lead to disqualifications. Players can also message the account directly for further clarification on rules.

“[For conflicts] we find a solution which at times leads to a new rule, but only because it is something unfair or unsafe,” Mendez said.

The game’s existence has not gone unnoticed by administrators. In fact, Principal Shawn DeRose shared during last Wednesday’s Senior Breakfast presentation in the auditorium that administrators are very aware that the game is underway. While he stopped short of outright condemning the game, he made his concerns clear.

“I have zero tolerance for bringing any kind of guns, water guns, anything like that onto school grounds,” DeRose said, pointing to incidents across the nation where law enforcement have mistook the look-alike weapons for real ones.

Fortunately, those in charge of the game have made it explicitly clear that Senior Assassin is to not be affiliated with AHS, and should not take place on or near school property.

“Everybody gets into this game and sometimes the adrenaline blurs good judgment,” DeRose said. “I understand the excitement of senior year and the fun this game brings, but safety is what is most important, and I want to avoid difficult situations at all costs.”

While administrators will keep watch at school for unsafe behavior, seniors are keeping watch quite literally everywhere else.

“I’ve never been so cautious of people around me up until now,” senior Nathan Holder said. “I literally had to take the [school] bus one of the first days because I was so scared I was gonna get caught.”

As school buses are school property, they are also safe zones. Holder’s strategy thus far has been to take on a more defensive approach, keeping his floatie on him at all times. Though nervous for the upcoming rounds, especially since he could be assigned to eliminate someone he is close to, Holder is mostly excited for the thrill of the game.

“I don’t want to betray my friends but there’s fun in chasing people around. It’s a lot of fun and it’s worth it,” Holder said.

Not everyone is playing with this level of hesitation. Despite working five to six days a week, senior Majed Dib has already racked up two eliminations in the
first round.

“I wanted to participate because it’s the last year of high school and you have to live it up. Starting from 9th grade, every year this game has been talked about throughout the whole school,” Dib said. “It’s a time to make new friends and enemies.”

While the $900 prize money is a big enough motivator, the competition is another big appeal for Dib. This more offensive method has definitely left other players feeling threatened, but that is all
according to his plan.

“My eliminations are planned and executed perfectly. I hope [my targets] feel threatened, because that means they’re nervous, and everyone makes mistakes when they’re nervous,” Dib said. “I don’t really care who I have to get or who has me because [of] Purge Days. I’ll get you by then and whoever is after me, good luck.”

Senior Sarah Khan, one of Dib’s targets and who also happens to be Holder’s assassin, got a front-row seat to his aggressive approach.

“At first, I was a bit scared because obviously I didn’t want to be taken out, but once we got in contact it was funny. My siblings were invested as well, especially when he showed up to [my] house,” Khan said.

These unexpected interactions are exactly why the game is worth playing, especially since it allows seniors to interact more with peers they may not have gotten the chance to talk to before graduating.

“If [my younger self] knew I was participating in Senior Assassin, she would be surprised. Coming from a private school we didn’t have these activities, so I never would see myself doing something like this, and I think that’s what pushes me to do all the senior activities I can participate in,” Khan said.

As round two gets underway, the prize pool continues to grow and the competition gets fiercer with each elimination, no senior is safe yet.

Students can follow the game’s updates by following the Instagram account @ahsseniorassassin26.