By Brock Nye
“I play for the glory”- extremely experienced killer
Friends turn on friends. Students skip their classes. Paranoia takes over students, making them scared to leave the solitude of their homes. That’s right; it’s that time of year again. Gotcha — a game of kill or be killed is back on campus!
If you are new to Gotcha, the rules are pretty simple.
First, you have to kill your opponent by nastily shooting them with the water gun that you received. You are only allowed to eliminate opponents when they are not in class, and when they are outdoors, you as well have to be outdoors. There is no shooting someone at a practice of sports, arts, or anything of the sort; there is a ten-minute grace period before and after practice where you can’t attack or be attacked. When you are either a victim or the attacker, you must hastily report to the game directors and notify them of the recent kill.
The second main object is simply to avoid all the cunning attacks from others. If you are able to do these two things, you will end up finding yourself winning one of the grand prizes, which are a $100 dollar visa gift card, a $150 value JBL speaker, and a $100 Lego set.
I asked last year’s winner, Skyler Nelson, about his experience and what tips he has for this year’s participants.
“It is the most stressful game of your life.”
Skyler decided not to participate this year due to the levels of stress and paranoia it causes. His tips on staying in the game are,
“Talk to everyone to figure out who has who. Don’t trust anyone. Make sure you switch up your schedule and don’t be predictable.”
He also talked about the necessity of having friends that can drive you everywhere.
Kai Barton, a director of both this year’s and last year’s Gotcha games, says she continues to bring Gotcha back for several different reasons — a huge one being the large turnout that it brings. She also says that she enjoys watching people play and has met so many people that she otherwise would not have been able to meet. Kai thinks Gotcha is a great game for college students because it attracts many different types of students, and it’s not one specific event. Rather, it’s just played over time. Kai gets the funding from SVSA, which is the student government for the school that she is a part of as well.
Emmaline, a director of this deadly game, gives this advice,
“Don’t trust anyone, run fast between classes, be creative, and stay on the lookout.”
May Hunter Merrill, in terms of this game, rest in peace.
Hunter wanted to make sure that everyone knew how he was taken out of this pernicious game. Hunter tells the story this way,
“The day was September 13, 2023. I was in my institute class studying The Book of Mormon when my buddy texted me a couple of times. He asked me what type of death I would like, and I responded, ‘a clean one.’”
Hunter’s assassin then led him outside, forced him to his knees, and put his face to Hunter’s. He then proceeded to shoot him in the face. Hunter has one message to his killer,
“We have been foes, but will never be friends.”
Please send your condolences to Hunter.
Come back next week to stay up to date on how many assassins are still in, the next kill deadline, and for a review of a previous elimination that happened! Most importantly, of course, stay safe out there!
Gotcha: A Game of Kill or Be Killed was originally published in The Herald on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.