Senior Lucas Muffie and previous water assassins champion Aidan Steinbugl give insight on running this year’s “water assassins’ and why they chose to do so. 

What is ‘water assassins?’

Water assassins is a game played by students who are in a team of two trying to squirt another team of two with water guns, all while another team is attempting to get them out. If both participants in the team get their targets and stay dry, they move on to the next round. 

“It is a game to get most of the community to get involved…The winner gets a big stack of money and a nice trophy that the game master got last year for us,” Steinbugl said.

To be unbiased, targets are randomly selected. There are also different ways to enter back into the game.

“These teams are randomly generated; they have to have a ‘buy in’ every round. After the first round, if you get out, we will have a money buy in that we add to the pot and after that second or third round, we will do something fun, like a golden ticket that we will hide it somewhere randomly in Altoona,” Muffie said. 

Background 

Both Steinbul and Muffie agree they wanted a well organized game, without anyone believing they picked favorites. 

“We decided we were going to run it a month before we started sign-ups. We didn’t want anyone going around saying ‘rigged,’ and I think for the most part, we did a good job. I think it’s a great way to come together as a school and do something fun outside of school,” Steinbugl said. 

The students participated in this event in the past and wanted to keep the tradition going.

“It’s been a tradition in Altoona for about 10 years now, they always have run it. It was just brought back last year. The year before they decided to cancel the game because of what happened with Devin. We just wanted to keep the tradition going, and it’s been really well,” Steinbugl said.

Muffie and Steinbugl agree they wish people would understand it’s more work then they think. 

“We have to make really tough decisions sometimes with some not clear videos that we get in. Then, we have to ask the game masters from last year for help on what he thinks about it, and it is really difficult. It’s gone really well this year, there have been times where people would complain, but we talked it through and explained why we did this or why we did that. Other than that, it has been really fun,” Steinbugl said. 

Students had to keep a lookout for other teams when they were being hunted, but there were immunity periods. 

“We take every team, I think we have 50 this year, so that’s 100 people. We plug them into a random generator, and it sorts them out on who has who, and it’s just a recurring thing. Then, we text them individually and tell them who they have. Immunity periods are Monday, during school, you’re not allowed to get anyone on school grounds, even on elementary schools, practices, no matter where they are, work,or religious places. You also have to get a very clear picture because we have had a lot of issues with that last year,” Muffie said.

Memories

Muffie and Steinbugl found one certain elimination humorous, although they had to explain to the player not to play in that manner anymore.

“I would say the most memorable part of this year, we had a kid who got in the back of someone’s truck while they were at work, and rode in the back of their truck bed from work all the way home. When they pulled into their driveway and got out, he shot them,” Muffie said. 

One of the specific ways to get back in was by finding a golden ticket.

“This year, we won some golden tickets.  We did three and if you found them, you would automatically advance to the next round. We put one at the campus, and as we were driving out, we saw so many cars pulling up trying to get the golden ticket. We put one at the Curve and saw a couple cars pull up. Then, we did one at Hiland where we actually hid it under leaves. It’s just funny seeing how many people show up. There were 10 cars all in a span of five minutes showing up. It’s just funny watching people and how seriously they take this game and how bad they want to win. It’s a good time watching it,” Steinbugl said. 

According to the students, knowing other students enjoy the game and they had something to do with it makes them have a good laugh. 

“Going into this, Muffie and I’s plan was just to have many people have a good time, and it’s been a fantastic time. I really like how other people really like it and watching people take it really seriously. People love the game and we are really glad we helped people have fun this year there’s been a lot of laughs, trust me,” Steinbugl said. 

Winners experience

Seniors Emma Skelley and Kaleb Spriggs are the water assassins champions of this year. 

“I kind of expected it, not to sound over confident, but I was pretty confident in myself that I was going to win. It was just something about how everything lined up. Everything was just working out for me, but I was definitely excited,” Spriggs said. 

Both Skelley and Spriggs were excited but had different expectations for the game. 

“I couldn’t believe it at first because everyone was doubting us, especially me because I didn’t really contribute in the water gun part of the game. I contributed more in the championship game. It was a really big surprise for me but I was really excited. I can go around and say “Hey I’m the Altoona water assassins champion” and that’s not something you can just go around and say,” Skelley said. 

According to the students, having one thing to set their mind on was an important part of the game. 

“Every time I went to go get somebody out it was a last minute thing. I knew I just had to do it now. I had to make sure I was in control of everything, and I wasn’t going to get set up,” Spriggs said. 

Skelley and Spriggs both had different motivations on their mind. 

“The money was on my mind. I knew that the pot was huge this year, so I definitely wanted to win. I didn’t expect us to make it to the finals. It was crazy and great when we actually made it to the finals. I got the money and the trophy, I put back the money for college, but it definitely helped me out a lot,” Skelley said. 

Participating was an immediate ‘yes’ for both students. 

“I participated last year and I made it to the second round and got out by Brooke Harrington, but it’s just a fun thing to do. I wanted to make memories and have fun,” Spriggs said. 

“It’s been a tradition here in Altoona for so long. My older siblings participated in it, so I obviously had to contribute too. It is just a fun thing and you know that the end of the school year is coming when this starts. It’s something the whole school can do and it’s just fun to get everyone involved,” Skelley said.