Rock-paper-scissors (also known as paper, scissors, stone or other variants) is a hand game usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand.
These shapes are:
- "rock" (a closed fist)
- "paper" (a flat hand)
- "scissors" (a fist with the index and middle fingers extended, forming a V)
A player who decides to play rock will beat another player who has chosen scissors ("rock crushes scissors" or sometimes "blunts scissors"), but will lose to one who has played paper ("paper covers rock"); a play of paper will lose to a play of scissors ("scissors cut[s] paper"). If both players choose the same shape, the game is tied and is usually immediately replayed to break the tie.
_and they play..._
Rock Paper Scissors
_If we play..._
Rock We tie We lose We win
Paper We win We tie We lose
Scissors We lose We win We tie
Originating from China and Japan, other names for the game in the English-speaking world include roshambo and other orderings of the three items, with "rock" sometimes being called "stone".
A chart showing how the three game elements interact:
[display chart.png here]
Kitsune-ken was a popular Japanese rock–paper–scissors variant. From left to right: The hunter (ryōshi), village head (shōya) and fox (kitsune):
[display figure-1.jpg here]
Mushi-ken, the earliest Japanese sansukumi-ken game (1809). From left to right: slug (namekuji), frog (kawazu) and snake (hebi).
<p>Kitsune-ken was a popular Japanese rock–paper–scissors variant. From left to right: The hunter (ryōshi), village head (shōya) and fox (kitsune).</p>