Assassins Invade Campus

By KASEY NABAL

Imagine walking into an unadorned office and  being handed an envelope. The contents of the envelope are a mystery—except for the fact that you know they will tell you whom your next target will be. A new development is occurring on campus in the form of a massive interactive game called “Assassin.”

The “Assassin” game allows for students to take on the persona of a special agent with the task to kill. After its recent inception, it quickly spread to high schools as well as universities. The “weapons” and rules of the game vary. In the Mary Wash adaptation of “Assassin,” the weapon of choice is a plastic spoon and the rules of the game are as follows:

You must be a UMW student and a campus resident to participate. Only a plastic spoon may be used as a weapon. Your hand must be on the weapon when it is touching the victim’s body (i.e. it may not be thrown).

Your target must not be in his or her dorm, an academic or administrative building, Seaco or the Nest at time of death.

Other than those few rules, UMW “agents” are allowed their own creativity, or lack thereof, in killing their targets. Basically, do what is necessary to take down your target. But remember that you are also a target, so be wary of others and your surroundings.

At the helm of the operation are sophomores Jennifer Namkoong and Andrew Kada, who both played the game at high school and in Andrew’s dorm last year. Both decided that the game should be brought to UMW on a school-wide scale.

“[We] wanted to see some people running for their lives,” said Kada, “well, not literally.”

A fun game of cat and mouse, the Assassin game should soon become a favorite of Mary Washington students. Almost 250 people have already signed up.  Namkoong assigned targets on Monday and sent out a Facebook message with gaming details for those who have joined the online group. Agents, your task is to be the last assassin standing