During her first game of “Assassins” last year, Sarah T. Yang ’10 and her roommate waited for six hours in a dumpster to ambush her target as he left the dining hall. “It was great for me and my roommate,” Yang said. “We hadn’t spent that much alone time together in a long time.”

Her experience encapsulates both the perks and hassles of “Assassins,” a game that can be stressful and time-consuming but nonetheless encourages community and House bonding.

“Basically you get to know the people in your House really well because you’re going to be stalking them and following them everywhere,” said Yang, one of the organizers of this year’s “Assassins.”

“Assassins” also serves as an outlet for roommate aggression. “People really enjoy killing their blockmates,” says Amy Rosenthal ’11, Currier House “Assassins” coordinator.

Ari R. Hoffman ’10, a past participant in the Hillel games, attributes their popularity to escapism.

“People need a distraction, a way to take their frustration out,” he said, “an illusion that they’re some kind of secret agent.”

Each participating House has a different take on the game. Generally at Harvard, players sign up in teams, oftentimes with creative names like Quincy’s “Sprinklywinks” or “Blood, Bath, and Beyond.” Each player is assigned a target person whom they must “assassinate” within a fixed time period with a false weapon (Harvard’s is usually a water gun). Players’ rooms and dining halls are typically designated “safe zones,” but targets may be required to expose themselves at least once a day. Over the years, many Harvard players have created additional rules, such as the now-repealed “streets are safe but sidewalks are not” rule and the “naked people are safe, but not from other naked people” rule, which has led to much impromptu stripping. The last assassin alive wins.

“In the end, I think what makes Quincy Assassins so successful is the fact that everyone's willing to put 100 percent into it,” said Yang. “A lot of students see the long list of rules as a giant opportunity to think outside the box.”

Yang said that last year, she was impressed by many players’ inventiveness and drive to achieve victory.

“The winning team last year toted a climbing mat as a melee weapon before their guns arrived, and one agent got five kills by using a foam finger,” she said. “So yeah, it's the best game ever. Period.”

Photo courtesy of Zoom Zoom/Wikimedia Commons.