Students arm with Nerf guns for $800 prize

WINNETKA, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- About 170 students at an Illinois high school are playing the parts of Nerf gun-wielding assassins to win an $800 prize.

Organizers of the game for New Trier Township High School seniors said the rules of the game, Paranoia, call for teams of five to face off against other randomly selected teams for weeklong periods, ending with the top seven teams taking place in a bracket tournament to see which group splits the $800 prize, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.

Sam Hine, 17, one of three "commissioners" overseeing the game, said the "naked rule," which banned players from shooting others who were in the shower, had to be altered after some assassins shed their clothing to become invulnerable warriors. He said the rule, originally designed to keep people from being surprised in the shower, now bans naked people from shooting as well as being shot.

Sam Rodman, 18, said the game brings the senior class together.

"It really changes the way you view the entire township," he said. "We have jocks, nerds, theater kids, hipsters and they're all playing Paranoia."