How many players do you need for assassin?

At least 5, ideally 8 or more. With 20 or more it gets genuinely tense, because nobody can track every target in their head. Formats like Unterjubeln scale up to 100 players.

What counts as an elimination?

You take out your target using the agreed method: hand them an object(random), or any method you can come up with. The victim often only realizes it was the kill afterward.

What happens after a kill?

You inherit your victim's target. That creates a kill chain until one player is left standing.

Do you need a moderator for assassin?

Classic setup: yes. Someone assigns targets, settles disputes, and tracks who is still in. There is a browser based game, which handles assignment and standings automatically.

Assassin Game Rules: How to Play Secret Assassin at a Party

In the assassin party game (also called secret assassin or killer game), every guest secretly hunts exactly one other person and eliminates them by fixed rules. The last player standing wins.

How do assassin game rules work?

Each player gets one secret target. You may only eliminate that person, never anyone else. The elimination depends on the variant: hand off an object, soak them, clip on a clothespin, or trigger a phrase. After a successful kill, you take over your victim's target. All players form a closed circle of targets that nobody sees in full. One winner remains at the end.

What assassin game variants are there?

Variant	Elimination	Works best for	Materials
Object handoff	Give the victim any object without them noticing it is the game	Indoor parties, school trips, multi-day events	paper slips or browser
Water gun / water balloon	Soak the victim	outdoors, summer, US "Senior Assassin"	water gun or balloons
Sticker variant	Secretly stick a sticker on them	college, camp, long runs	stickers
Clothespin variant	Secretly clip a clothespin on them	events with lots of movement	clothespins
Word or phrase kill	Get them to say a trigger phrase	dinner parties, office offsites	the agreed phrase only

The object handoff variant is the classic format and exactly what Unterjubeln digitizes (full transparency: our game).

Which variant fits which party?

Situation	Pick
Indoor evening party	Object handoff
Outdoor summer event	Water gun / water balloon
Multi-day event (school trip, offsite)	Object handoff or stickers
Dinner with many strangers	Word or phrase kill
Large group (20+)	Object handoff

The rule of thumb: the longer the game runs, the more you need clear kill rules and a system that tracks targets and standings automatically.

One party or several days?

For a single evening party, 2 to 4 hours and a clear start time are enough. Everyone is present, kill pace stays high. Over days or weeks (school trip, college week, company offsite), kills happen in between: at lunch, during breaks, on the way to the next activity. You need clear safe zones and sleep-time rules, or things escalate fast.

What goes wrong in assassin games?

Forgetting targets: keep the name on your phone or a small target card. Disputes over kills: agree upfront what counts (e.g. must the object have been accepted?). Early eliminations kill the mood: out after 10 minutes means bad vibes. Fix: re-entry. Eliminated players hunt the current leader and return on success. In Unterjubeln that is the Bounty Hunt(possible in Unterjubeln).

Above 20 players, paper chaos gets messy fast. A browser tool beats Excel at that point.

Paper slips or phone?

Paper and spreadsheets work for 8 to 15 people. Write names on slips, draw cards, update a list by hand. In larger groups you lose track and disputes multiply. Unterjubeln assigns targets via QR code, tracks kills automatically, and runs in the browser with no download. Setup often under a minute. More on big groups: Party games for large groups.