Assassin (also Killer) is a live-action game in which players try to eliminate one another using mock weapons, in an effort to become the last surviving player.
Assassin is particularly popular on college campuses; several universities have a dedicated "Assassins' Guild" society, which organizes games for their members. Gameplay occurs at all hours and in all places unless otherwise disallowed by the rules. Since an elimination attempt could occur at any time, successful players are obliged to develop a degree of vigilance.
Gameplay
The Assassin game has several published variants, such as the Steve Jackson book Killer: The Game of Assassination, first published in 1982, and different guilds tend to create their own sets of rules and procedures. As such, the specific style of play is likely to vary between one group and the next.
Rules
Game hosts (also called umpires or referees) begin by advertising that a game is being set up and instruct potential players to send in their personal details. Once enough players have signed up, the game host assigns targets to the players. A player is usually told the personal details of their target as collected by the game host. The aim of the game is for players to track down and eliminate their targets until only one player remains. When a player eliminates their target, they get the victim's target(s). Only one assassin can kill a target at a time. If only one player remains, the game is over.
Oxford University plays by a ruleset where the game runs for a week and the players respawn, usually after 12 hours; the aim of the game is to collect as many points from kills as possible. The respawn means events are organised during the game to capture specific points.
Eliminations ("kills") remove a target from the game. What constitutes an elimination depends upon the particular rules set up by the game host. Eliminations might include hitting the target with a nerf gun or striking them with a toy plastic lightsaber.
Some rules establish safe-zones, also known as Out of Bounds. A safe-zone is a place that protects a player from elimination. Safe-zones are declared by game hosts. At a university, safe zones might include classrooms during class periods.
Under some rulesets, the presence of witnesses (or the presence of witnesses above a certain number) will either invalidate the kill or expose the killer to "penalties", like additional assassins being dispatched to target him or her.
Game hosts might assign certain items to be worn or actions to be performed that protect the wearer or performer from elimination. These items or actions are called safeties. The safety can last for one specific day or for the duration of the game.
Some games have "police forces", sometimes composed of eliminated players, whose job is to track down rule breakers. Some have time limits on eliminations and penalize players who are behind schedule in killing their targets.
Often, in games with a small number of players, the game hosts will designate one player as the "assassin" whose job it is to "kill" all other players without being identified. The assassin wins if they successfully kill all players without being identified and other players win by correctly guessing the assassin before they are killed. However, if a player guesses the wrong player, they are automatically eliminated. Those who are killed are not allowed to tell other players who the assassin is, but this variant is almost never played with a prize for winning to avoid accusations of cheating in this way.
Methods of elimination
Generally, elimination is carried out using items and methods that cause no actual damage and, in many cases, cannot be mistaken by bystanders or police for real weapons or acts of violence.
Direct
In a direct elimination, a player uses a fake weapon to touch their target.
The most common ranged weapons are water pistols, NERF-type weapons, and rubber band guns. Other weapons include tennis balls, balled-up socks, blue pens, or rubber bands fired by hand. Some rule sets simply make "water" a weapon, whether splashed with bare hands, conveyed by water balloon, or fired from a water gun. Basilisk rules count simply looking in the eyes of the target as a successful assassination. Some rule sets require photographic proof that a true sighting occurred.