Manhunt: Back to Base

In 2007, when I first attended Kingston University, I found myself in a bit of a predicament. Originally, I was sleeping on the floor of a friend's bedroom in the halls of residence. Thanks to the clearing process, I hadn't managed to secure my own accommodation right at the start. However, fate smiled upon me, and within about six weeks, I managed to get a place in halls as others dropped out. This marked the beginning of my life at uni, full of friendships, amazing memories and some fairly ludicrous escapade.

The Social Web of Halls

Instead of attending lectures, I was busy building friendships. The halls of residence turned into a social, interconnected web, buzzing with people up at all hours, perfectly suiting my night owl tendencies. We'd gather in the courtyards, dreaming up games to keep us entertained, neglecting our studies in favour of a good laugh. One such game involved replacing existing movie titles with adult film titles, a creative pursuit that went on for hours, and hours. Even when we couldn't think of anymore, we kept trying, and they kept getting worse. One friend who hadn't contributed for 2 hours, became so pressured by the rest of us, that he eventually spurted out... Harry Potter and the Philosophers c#@t!... lol. Terrible.

Gaming Shenanigans

Before the days of online gameplay, we attempted to create our own gaming hub in and random flats kitchen. Armed with televisions and Xboxes, we dreamt of playing Call of Duty 1 in a LAN-style deathmatch. We set up all the equipment without even checking if it worked, and of course, it didn't. But it was these sorts of adventures that defined our time. Poker nights, spontaneous chats, and darting into each other's rooms were just part of the vibrant tapestry of our lives.

The Infamous Car Moving Incident

One day, we realised the cars parked in the courtyard didn't require much weight to move, as the handbrakes weren't particularly strong. So, naturally, we spent an afternoon rearranging them, making the scene resemble a zombie apocalypse. Chaos ensued, but most people saw the humour in it, even if they were a bit miffed at first.

The Birth of Manhunt

One night, a group of us, known as the Originals, decided to play a game of Manhunt. The aim was to get back to base without being tagged. We scoped out the Seething Wells campus, a sprawling expanse with old, red-brick tower blocks, discovering hidden areas we never knew existed. In one grassy park-like area stood a standout central tree, which we marked as the base using jumpers. Word spread quickly, and by the second night it hard grown to 30 people, and then exponentially by the third night, our little game had grown to include 60 people. Passers by started looking in off the streets. Word spread to other campuses, our Facebook kept growing and by week two, we had over 100 people turn up!

Innovative Strategies and Special Powers

Our game developed its own identity, with players concocting unique ways to return to base. Saf, or Saflax, as we dubbed him, was a large gentleman, who had decent pace over 10 meters, but because of his size was easy to tag. So he came up with the idea of using a cloak to evade capture. He would literally run straight at one of the protectors of the base, and throw a cloak over them! Leaving them scrambbling like a Looney Toon animation. Meanwhile, I took to climbing lamp posts around 25 ft high and scaling rooftops, while others drove cars into the base, emerging like clowns from a tiny car at the circus. Health and safety? A mere afterthought.

The Lost Video

I fancied myself the chronicler of our adventures, and just like at school, I still always had a video camera in hand. I decided to create a video of the Original Eleven, showcasing our special powers. We had characters like Ghost, White Lightning, Ghillie Suit Gilbert, Michael Weightman (no nickname needed, but he was touted as running so slowly that he turned back time), the aforementioned Saflax, Fredge (Fred + Edge the wrestler, Fred hated this name), Money Mark, The Admin (me because of the Facebook group) among others. Unfortunately, technology wasn't as reliable back then, and an old map book housing all our footage decided to melt down, leaving me with only one image — the Safflax image — as a reminder of our escapades.

The Legacy of Manhunt

Despite losing the footage, the memories linger on. Our antics even caught the attention of the campus security, who were bewildered by our antics. People darting through hallways, diving through windows, and generally causing a ruckus. Yet, those were the moments that made our time at halls of residents unforgettable, and the lesson learned was that when something catches on, it truly takes flight, albeit with the risk of being shut down.