Assassin Rules

adapted from original rules written by Stuart Reges

This document describes the rules that will be in effect for the optional assassin game being played by members of this quarter's CSE 143 course. If you are not participating, you can ignore this document.

  1. Participating: Participation in the game is open to CSE 143 students and CSE 143 TAs only. If you want to participate in the game, use our CSE 143 Assassin Sign-up Tool (written by TA Stefanie Hatcher!) to sign up. You must provide us with the following information:
    • Your full name
    • Your nickname that you'd like to be called during this game
    • Your UW Email NetID @u.washington.edu (if you send your message from your UW email account, you don't need to include this)
    • A recent photo of you, that is reasonably large/sharp/well-lit, and clearly shows your face (so that your target will know what you look like)
    To be included in the game, you must email us this information no later than Sunday, February 6 at 5:00pm.
  2. AssassinManager: Some of our TAs will serve as the game administrators (our Assassin Managers) and will contact players through email as necessary. We will send email to the participants before the game begins informing each person of who their target is. We will also provide an online display of participant photos and nicknames so once you know who your target is, you can see what he or she looks like. (To protect your privacy, we will not show your real name or UW NetID to anyone. The only info that will be shown is your photo, if a person knows your assassin code-name and types it into our web application. Only one player, the person targeting you, will be told your code name.)
  3. Start/End Dates: The game begins at 8am on Monday, February 7, and continues until any one of the following events occurs:
    • only one person is left alive in the "kill ring"
    • 5 consecutive days have passed without any "kills" being made
    • the current date/time reaches 11:59pm on Monday, February 28.
    When any one of the above events occurs, the game ends. If more than one player is still alive when the game ends, the living player with the most kills wins.
  4. Game Hours: Participants can be assassinated only on weekdays and only between the hours of 8am and 6pm. Participants also cannot be assassinated on university holidays. To avoid causing undue stress, the date of our midterm exam is also considered a "safe" day in which no one may be killed.
  5. Assassinations: Your goal during the game is to find and assassinate the target you are stalking. You are allowed to assassinate only the person you are currently stalking. When you are being stalked, your only option is to try to escape, except for the special case when only two players are left.

    To assassinate your target, you must establish physical contact with the person and then say the phrase, "You're dead," or, "You've been assassinated!" You can establish contact by touching them, e.g., tapping them on the shoulder. You do not have to maintain contact while you say the entire phrase. For example, if you tap someone on the shoulder and then say the phrase as they try to run away, you have still assassinated them. The key is to first make contact and then say the phrase.

    You can also establish physical contact by manipulating some kind of device that establishes contact between you. For example, you could use a 10-foot pole to make the contact. If you can manage to touch them with a piece of string that you are holding, then you have established contact through the string. Silly string will also be considered a legal device for contact for the purposes of this game.

    You can't, however, claim that the air or the ground is the device you are using and you can't use a light-pen or other light-based device to establish contact. Also, simply propelling an object towards a person is not the same thing as establishing contact. You can't, for example, throw a ball at someone, use a pellet gun, toy gun, water balloon, etc. and claim to have made contact.

    When you assassinate an individual, you should ask that person for the name of their target. This becomes your next target. You also must send email to the game administrators telling her who you assassinated. When you have been assassinated, you should also send email to the administrators telling us that you have been killed and who killed you.

    When the game gets down to just two people, it may be difficult to determine who wins. They might both make contact at more or less the same time. In that case, the person who first finishes saying the phrase will win the game.

  6. Safe Zones: The following campus locations are considered "safe zones" for the game at certain times specified below. No player can be killed inside a safe zone.
    • the CSE/EEB building where Marty has his office (safe at all times);
    • the Mary Gates Hall (MGH) building where we have the IPL programming lab (safe at all times);
    • the Johnson building (JHN) where some of the 143 sections take place (safe at all times);
    • the Kane Hall where we have our 143 lectures (safe on Mon, Wed, and Fri only);
    • the Odegaard Library building that serves as a general-purpose computer lab (safe at all times);
    • within 10 feet of any city bus stop or shuttle pick-up (to be fair to students who rely on public transportation).
    You may not assassinate anyone inside of any of these places at the times specified. But you are allowed to assassinate someone outside these places, such as by waiting immediately outside the building's door. If any part of your target's body lies outside the plane of the doorway of the building when you make contact, the person is considered outside and may be assassinated.
  7. Attendance: All players still alive in the assassin game are required to come to lecture and sign in with the TAs during each lecture. (This is to avoid a player trying to win the game by staying home and never coming to campus.) We will bring a sign in sheet that you can initial. You are not allowed to sign for anyone else. If you miss more than 2 lectures, you will be removed from the game.
  8. Mutual Respect: At all times you are required to treat other game participants with respect and to behave in a manner that does not jeopardize their safety and comfort. For example, punching or tackling your opponent or slicing them with a sword are forms of making contact, but obviously you are not allowed to do things like this in our game. Drenching your target in water would also be unacceptable. Once you have made contact and said the phrase, you should sever contact. You should also obey the law and university regulations while playing the game. You may not sneak into someone's dorm or residence illegally to assassinate them.
  9. Prizes: There will be at least one prize awarded. If only one player remains at the end of the game, that person will receive the prize. If multiple players are still alive, the person who assassinates the most targets will be considered the winner.
  10. Disputes: Bring any disputes to the Assassin Managers and instructor for arbitration.
  11. Amendments to Rules: If these rules need to be amended in any way, the instructor will make an announcement in class and post it to the class newsgroup. So please pay attention in case some new rule is instituted.