A look into what’s overtaking Greek life this fall:

Picture this: you just got home from a long day of classes, and sitting on your kitchen counter is a beautiful bouquet of flowers. 

You think to yourself, “for me?”  as you waltz over and take in the tantalizing aroma. 

You notice a card nestled within the bouquet, as your curiosity grows, you reach for the card, anxious to discover who your admirer could be. 

You rip open the envelope, slide out the card, and written inside…

“BOMB.” 

Damn. How could you have let your guard down so early in the game; you curse yourself for being so naive. 

“There are a lot of ways to get creative with the bomb. One of my favorites was when one player sent another a bouquet of flowers with a note attached to it, so when they opened the letter, it turned out to be a bomb,” creator of the game, David Hollingsworth, said. 

The name of the game is Greek Assassin, and the goal is to take down as many players as you can in hopes of being the last assassin standing.  

“Everyone who signs up is given a target, which is another player in the game. So you know someone is targeting you while you are also targeting someone else.” Hollingsworth said. “Once you take out your target, you then take on their target, and so on.”

In order to eliminate other players, you can indirectly hit someone: either by ‘poison,’ putting hot sauce in their food or drink without them knowing, or with a ‘bomb.’

You can also directly hit your target: you can ‘stab’ them with a plastic spoon or ‘shoot’ them with a rubber band, both provided by Hollingsworth. 

This fall’s game marks the fourth game Hollingsworth has run; with three successful games under his belt, he is excited to see where this one will go. 

“The game officially started at 10 a.m. yesterday (Monday, Oct. 24) and could last anywhere from two to three weeks,” Hollingsworth said. “Our longest game was between Lambda, Tri Delta and Kappa, which went on for three and a half weeks, almost reaching a whole month.” 

Hollingsworth got the idea for the game by seeing other universities doing similar things. He jumped at the chance to bring a game to Simpson. 

“Originally, I just ran the game myself, but when I wanted to expand, I spoke with my area director, Ethan Brown. With the creation of the Greek area team lead, one of the things in your contract is that there has to be an area-wide program done each semester by that team lead,” Hollingsworth said. “So, as a team lead, with this being something I was already doing when I talked with Ethan, he agreed that this could work as an area-wide program.”

Now sponsored by Residence Life, even more excitement has entered the game. There are 1st place prizes ($100 towards your Amazon wishlist), 2nd and 3rd place ($50 towards wish list), most kills and the most creative kill ($25 towards wish list). 

“The last $50 is for any assassin who can kill Matt Hansen [dean of students], who agreed to do a one-day VIP bounty where you can go after him,” Hollingsworth said. 

With 34 participants from six Greek houses this year, Hollingsworth is glad the game continues with its success. 

“A definite merit of the game is to connect Greek life and force people to get out and meet other students,” Hollingsworth said. “I have seen many people create friendships because of this game.” 

Although the game includes only Greek life as of now, Hollingsworth is hoping it can one day expand to include the whole campus. 

“It’s a hard game to run and the more people you add, the more help I would need. If people would be willing to step up and learn to run the game, I think that would be awesome,” Hollingsworth said. “But who knows if the game will continue after I am gone, I hope it does.”