The RAHS community has responded with mixed feelings towards this year’s annual Senior Assassin Game (also known as Nerf Wars) and the game’s new rules.
Senior Assassin is a game played by students in high school all over the US. Teams eliminate each other with nerf guns until there is one team remaining. The winning team earns a cash prize gathered from the cost of participation.
This year RAHS Nerf Administrators Michelle Lay, Camille Urrutia Gomez and Louisa Cherry (12) modified the rules by decreased the entry price to $10 dollars compared to last year’s $15.
Nerf Administrator Camille Urrutia Gomez (12) said, “The changes were made to make it more affordable and to make people want to keep playing.”
Lay agreed with Urrutia Gomez. She said, “it’s more fair.”
Another rule that was changed was the number of students per team. Last year it was eight maximum this year it’s ten students maximum.
Additionally, this year the administration collects 8% of the total participation cost compared to last year’s 5%.
There is also a rule that if players get fully nude they gain immunity from elimination. Students have mixed feelings on the naked rule. Carolina Bada Lappi (12) said, “I don’t like the naked rule; it’s too much.”
Annika Wilkowske (12) agrees; she said, “I don’t like the naked rule, it’s not worth it.”
Lay talked about White Bears Lake’s High School Senior Assassin has a “whitie tighty” rule instead of fully nude rule. However, this year’s team of administrators decided to include the nude rule for consistency. Lay said, “I kept the rule because that’s what it was last year.”
Some seniors would like to see rule changes. Norah Caflish said, “No revives, it feels more fair.”
Ryan Duce agreed; he said, “Last year the rules were great, there’s no reason to have no limit on revives, and there’s too much safe space, I want two maximum revives and front yards are no longer safe.”
Wilkowske said, “I don’t like the idea that you can get hit at work in the parking lot once you are clocked out.”
Diana Saidi (12) said, “I would make a rule that students could get out at school because that would be fun but it would be so unsafe.”
Lay added a new rule; she said, “During purge week if you are invited into someone else’s house, you can eliminate them.”
Michelle Lay (12) shared her struggles trying to please everyone rule wise. She said, “If it’s coming from the majority, I would change [the rule] and I did so, but if [a participant] was trying to benefit only themself I wouldn’t change the rules.
Lay stated, “I copied the rules from last year [and] just tweaked some a little bit.”
Safe zones include Roseville school grounds including Grace Church parking lot until 3pm. Dr. Wilson urged students to adhere to the safety rules. She said, “[Participants] not allowed at all on school grounds, or put anyone at risk.”
Senior Assassins also brings about safety concerns within the RAHS community. According to the Pioneer Press, two students in Lakeville, Minnesota died in 2015 due to a crash that was related to Nerf Wars.
Principal Dr. Jen Wilson stressed the importance of safety. She said, “Safety should always be the top priority. Given that these games often take place in public or residential areas, there is potential for misunderstandings, accidents, or unsafe situations.
Lay also highlighted the need to use common sense during the game. She said, “In the rules it states don’t be a dumb***.”
Rules include: Both participants have to have both feet on the ground to participate, shooting at people in cars or out of cars is not acceptable. If this rule is broken it will lead to an all team disqualification.
Students agree with the safety rules because driving and focusing on a nerf game can be dangerous. Norah Caflish (12) said, “It keeps people from getting in accidents.”
Camille Huntley (12) agreed; she said, “That’s a good one [rule] it keeps people safe.”
Besides car accidents, other safety measures should be taken to prevent misunderstandings. Mel Chaput, a librarian in the media center shared about an incident with her son and the police during nerf wars. She said, “my son was in a neighborhood and someone called the police. The police pulled their guns on my son and his friends even though it was clear they only had nerf toys. The police department was not clear that this was happening.
Chaput urged the community to have safety rules and awareness. She said, “Police officers should be aware that this is going on, they should never pull a gun out on a student. The administration should put a curfew or set rules to keep kids safe.”
Students are motivated to participate in Senior Assassin for many different reasons. Duce shared that it’s a big tradition of senior year and many other students are doing it for fun. Diana Saidi (12) said, “I wanna participate and have the experience of the fun vibe.”
Annika Wilkowske (12) said, “It’s a fun Senior thing to do and my friends are doing it and it’s a good way to end the season.”
Teachers also get involved in senior assassins, last year some teachers had bounties on students.
Duce’s strategy is to “park in the garage to not expose himself to being shot.”
Kaden Ellingson (11) said, “I will be participating in nerf wars next year as a senior.”
Those interested can review the rules by following raidernerf2025 on Instagram.
