About Rock Paper Scissors
Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock. Each player picks one in secret, both picks are revealed together, and the same pick on both sides is a draw. Simple enough to explain in a sentence, and yet playing a real person is a game of reading them. Here you can play the computer, or send a friend a link and settle it properly, with no chance to peek.
How to play
- Each round, pick rock, paper or scissors.
- Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, paper beats rock.
- The same pick on both sides is a draw.
- Once you lock in a pick, it cannot be changed.
No peeking, no late picks
Played in person, someone always throws a fraction late. Here that cannot happen: your pick is locked and hidden on the server until your opponent has locked theirs, and only then are both revealed. Neither of you can see the other's choice early, and neither can change their mind.
Play a friend
Choose Play with a friend, enter your name and create a room. Copy the link and send it. Your friend opens it in their own browser and joins, no account needed. After each reveal, both of you accept Rematch for the next round, and the room keeps the score of wins and draws.
A room lasts 24 hours. If you refresh or lose connection, return in the same browser: your seat, and a pick you already locked, are still there.
Play the computer
The computer makes its own random choice before you pick. That makes it the fairest opponent there is, and the least beatable: against a truly random pick, every strategy wins a third of the time, loses a third and draws a third. To actually out-play someone, you need a person.
Tips for playing a friend
- People avoid repeating themselves. After two rocks in a row, a third is less likely than it should be.
- Watch what happens after a win. Many players keep a winning pick, and many switch after a loss.
- Be less predictable than they are. The best defence is not to have a pattern.
More in rock paper scissors strategy.
Scoring
Each win counts as one point in the current match, and draws are counted separately. Duels are not ranked on a global leaderboard.
