| Rock, Paper, Scissors Variations |
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Rock, Paper, Scissors variations include cosmetic and functional variations on the classic version of Rock, Paper, Scissors as well as several related but Non-homomorphic games. COSMETIC VARIATIONS Cosmetic variations on Rock, Paper, Scissors change the appearance of the game but not the strategy of the players or the fundamental nature of the possible outcomes. Cosmetic variations include alternate names for and gestures used to indicate each of the three symbols, as well as changing the outcome in trivial ways. Names of symbols When changing the names of the symbols, typically each symbol has its own gesture associated with it. These may be simple hand gestures as in traditional Rock, Paper, Scissors, or whole-body gestures.
Muk-Chi-Ba While traditional Rock, Paper, Scissors (called "Gawi-Bawi-Bo" and pronounced "Kai-Bai-Bo") is popular among Koreans, a popular related game is '' Muk-Chi-Ba ''. A unique variant of Muk-Chi-Ba that adds a layer of complexity was reported in New York City, reportedly created by a Korean-American student at Columbia University. What makes this version unusual is that firstly, the hand symbols are different (involving poses with both arms); and secondly, the game does not end when one player beats another, but rather when a player with the advantage gets the other player to follow this disadvantaged pose with another in which both players are displaying the same one of the three symbols. This game is enjoyed for its sudden reversals and the quick thinking it requires. In South Africa, the game is referred as Ching-Chong-Cha (phonetic). Strip Janken Another variation is strip Rock, Paper, Scissors called ''Yakyū-ken'', a Japanese party game, where every time a player loses, he or she has to remove an article of clothing. This goes on until one of the players is completely Naked . Osaka Janken Originating in Kansai , ''Osaka janken'' follows the chant "Osaka janken, maketara kachi yo" (Osaka janken, the loser is the winner). Extreme Rock, Paper, Scissors Another variation is ''Extreme Rock, Paper, Scissors'', in which the winner of each game may use their winning hand position to assault the loser. Paper becomes a slap, rock a punch and scissors a poke (usually in the Sternum ). This adds the extra challenge of trying to get the more painful positions without the opponent realizing it, while offering a chance to legitimately hit them. This is also known as ''Rock, Paper, Scissors, Brutality'' in some areas. Animal Brutality Derived from ''Extreme Rock, Paper, Scissors'', ''Animal Brutality'' is a game which involves symbols for a goose, a crab, and a claw. The goose beats the crab, and retaliation is pulling the arm hairs of the loser. Its sign is bringing all fingers together to meet at the tips in a point, forming a beak. The crab beats the claw, and the loser suffers from a severe pinch at any area favored by the winner. Its sign is similar to making the ''okay'' sign with the middle finger meeting the thumb instead of the index finger. The claw beats the goose and results in raking fingernails down the opponent's arm. Obviously, its sign is a claw-shaped hand. This game is most entertaining when played by several people, as everyone is being pinched, scratched, or pulled at once in a mad frenzy at the end of the round. The loser is the one who bails first from extensive injury or a pathetic level of pain tolerance. Ultimate Rock Paper Scissors The game works under the idea of one throw beating another, except there is no limit to what can be thrown, as long as whatever is thrown can fit inside of a substantially large box. This means that anything from the range of a person, action, object or event can be used against the opponent. Weapons and abstract concepts, such as existentialism, cannot be used. Typically, because the two throws may not be compatible to each other, a third party will often judge which throw wins. It is a favorite game at Demarest Hall dormitory at Rutgers University . FUNCTIONAL VARIATIONS Functional variations actually change game play, including associated strategies. These include the number of players and number of symbols (either as additional symbols in the circle, or a more complex topology). Number of players The game is easily adaptable to more than just two players. This variant works remarkably well, even for large groups. The rules are the same, with the following exceptions:
Another adaptation of Rock, Paper, Scissors for more than two players is Richard Garfield 's Ready, Aim, Fire . Odd or Even (2 symbols) In ''Odd or Even'', one player selects odd or even. The only choice in weapons are "one" (a fist with outstretched thumb) or "two" (a fist with outstretched thumb and forefinger). The values signified by the players are added, with the first player winning on a correct prediction about the result. With a choice between two values (it does not matter that they are 1 and 2, only that they are not both odd or even) the game is balanced, and there is no benefit from making the call. Should the player allow three (or any odd number) values to choose from, either odd or even would be a more probable outcome with both players acting randomly. (That is because ''n'' choices make ''n2'' possible outcomes. Squares of even numbers are even, squares of odd numbers odd.) See also Odd Or Even . Five-hand variations Cantonese have been playing God, Chicken, Gun, Fox, Termite, which is an asymmetrical game unlike Rock, Paper, Scissors. God beats Chicken and Gun; Chicken beats Termite; Gun beats Chicken and Fox; Fox beats Chicken; and Termite beats God. God and Fox draw; Gun and Termite draw; and Fox and Termite draw. Malaysia ns also have an asymmetrical five-hand variation, Bird, Rock, Gun, Board, Water. Bird beats Water; Rock beats Bird and Board; Gun beats Bird, Rock, and Board; Board beats Bird and Water; and Water beats Rock and Gun. There exists a modern five-hand variation called ''Rock, Paper, Scissors, Spock, Lizard'', which is carefully crafted so that each weapon defeats exactly two other weapons, and is defeated by exactly two other weapons. Specifically, rock defeats scissors and lizard, paper defeats rock and Spock, scissors defeat paper and lizard, Spock defeats scissors and rock, and lizard defeats Spock and paper. (The rationale is that Spock smashes scissors and vaporizes rock, but is disproved by paper, while the lizard is crushed by rock and decapitated by scissors, but eats paper and poisons Spock.) The game can be similarly altered for 7, 9, 11, etc. As long as there are an odd number of weapons, a balanced game can be created, with each weapon beating half the weapons and losing to half the weapons. The advantage of playing with more weapons is that ties become increasingly unlikely. The disadvantage is that an increasingly complex resolution table must be memorized (as well as any accompanying gestures). While not exactly five gestures, there exists 7, 9, 11, 15 and 25-hand variations of RPS created by David C. Lovelace. The gestures for RPS-7 were Rock, Paper, Scissors, plus Fire, Sponge, Air and Water. The number of combinations for the RPS-7 variation were 5,040. RPS-9 introduced Gun and Human. RPS-11 added Devil and Wolf, RPS-15 added Lightning, Snake, Dragon and Tree, and RPS-25 split Human into Man and Woman and added Dynamite, Nuke, Alien, Bowl, Moon, Cockroach, Monkey, Axe and Sun. According to the creator, there were 15.5 octillion layouts for RPS-25. The game of Monkey Kombat from '' Escape From Monkey Island '' is effectively a five-object variation, with stances (known as Anxious Ape, Bobbing Baboon, Charging Chimp, Drunken Monkey and Gimpy Gibbon) replacing the objects. The trickiest part of this exercise is the learning of the transitions between the stances (achieved by permutations of the four sacred monkey words Ack, Oop, Eek and Chee). Trumps (3+) Players often add other "weapons" to the game on an ad-hoc basis, but it is very likely that this will result in an unbalanced game. In particular, four (or any even number) of weapons cannot be made balanced, unless some pairs of weapons result in a draw; there will always be some weapons that will be superior to others. Although this adds possible psychological elements to the game, some of its aesthetic simplicity is lost. Otherwise it is one of the simplest possible games of skill. '' Dynamite '' is an example of a trump play. It is expressed as the extended index finger or thumb, defeats only rock, but is defeated by either scissors or paper. Therefore, anything dynamite will beat, paper will beat; and anything dynamite will tie, paper will tie or beat. Given that paper performs better by tying against another paper, it is always better to use paper than to use dynamite, and dynamite is useless. In game theory, it is said that paper has weak dominance over dynamite. ''Fire'' and ''water'' are also potential "trumps", and have been used in Ultimate tournaments. Fire will beat any of the standard weapons (rock, paper, scissors), but because of the power its play is restricted to a single use in the player's entire lifetime. Thus, the subject of when to "throw fire" is quite controversial. Water, which is referred to as " Piss " in some circles, may be played as many times as one wishes, but will lose to anything except fire. Fire is typically played by gently waving all fingers; water is played by forming a circle with the thumb and index finger. Another possible addition is that of ''well'' to the original three. Well beats both rock and scissors, because when a rock or a pair of scissors are thrown down a well, they'll fall, but loses to paper because when a paper sheet is thrown, it is likely that it will simply float to the side of the well. The use of this new weapon makes for an extremely unbalanced game, since it doubles the chances of winning while retaining the same amount of chances of losing. In principle, this variation makes Rock useless (as Well beats Scissors and loses to Paper just like Rock does, yet Well beats Rock) and replaces it, leaving the players with the same game and different symbols. Yet another variation includes ''string'', which wraps around both Rock and Paper, but is cut by Scissors. As Well renders Rock useless, this variation renders Paper useless, as String defeats it and interacts with Rock and Scissors the same. Staff at the Lancaster, PA site of the Center For Talented Youth have created new trump throws for the past 10 years, with 2005 RPS Tournament being a retrospective of all 20-odd of these throws. Inversions In some sub-groups of Ultimate , the use of "Inversion" is allowed as an additional strategic element. In this variation, at the last moment before the actual throw, any player involved may call out "Inverted". If invoked, this effectively reverses the relationship of each of the throws involved (ie. rock beats paper beats scissors beats rock). In situations where multiple players simultaneously call out "Inverted", the inversion is applied in an odd/even way whereby an odd number of Invert calls equals an inverted throw (ex. scissors beats rock), while an even number of Invert calls equals a negation of inversion and the throw results are interpreted as originally intended (ex. rock beats scissors). As an added level of sophistication, the additional trump throw of "Kring" may be introduced in games involving inversions. The Kring hand symbol is a claw-like gesture with the bent fingers curled downward. The Kring will beat everything. It can also be thrown any number of times. While at first this throw would seem to be unbalancing, the addition of the inversion call will subsequently turn the Kring into a "loses to everything" throw. Traditionally, the person throwing the Kring will physically invert their hand a number of times equal to the number of inverts called upon the throw. A upside-down Kring (claw-like hand palm upward) is an all around loser. Hand of God The Hand of God variation is slightly related to the above Kring addition to Rock, Paper, Scissors: players may throw the "Hand of God", a fist with the thumb, index, and pinky fingers extended, which beats everything. If both players throw the Hand of God, a draw is declared, and both players must punch each other in the head. Easily intimidated players will thus shy away from throwing this hand. Existential RPS Players may throw anything. After each throw, the players debate which throw "won". Discussion continues until concensus is reached between all players (any number of players may participate). This variant can be extremely time consuming. This variant has nothing to do with Existentialism and is widely considered a Misnomer among fans of the genre. INTERNATIONAL VARIATIONS Australia ns often play the game as "scissors, paper, rock!" or "paper, scissors, rock!", with emphasis placed on the word "rock". The throw is made on the final word so that players only have two calls to synchronize the play. Alternatively, in Britain , it's often just called "scissors, paper, stone". In Japan the game is known as Jan-ken-pon, often shortened to Janken . When there is a tie, an alternate chant of Aiko-De-Sho (we're even) may replace the primary chant. Due to the influence of the Japanese-Brazilian s, Brazil ians prime the game as "jan ... ken ... po!", with emphasis placed on the "po". The throw is made as "po" is called, so that as with the Iranian variation, only two calls are made before the play. In Taiwan , there is commonly no priming. Both players simultaneously throw the hands after a chant of "scissor, rock, cloth!", with no hand-bouncing. This is often confusing to visitors—seeing that the fist-bouncing can be interpreted as rock, most Taiwanese start with paper when playing foreigners. In the Philippines , the game is called "Jack en Poy" or "Jack n' Poy", derived from the original Japanese Jan Ken Pon. As with many Japanese references in the Filipino culture, it may have originated from the Japanese occupation during World War II. The game is usually primed with a rhyme: "Jack En Poy, Hali-hali-hoy. Sinong matalo, siyang unggoy." (Translated as: Jack en Poy, Hali-hali-hoy. The loser is a monkey.) Also, there is a chant other than "Jack en Poy." It can be chanted as "papel, gunting, bato" which translate into paper, scissors, rock. In Iran , the games is called "Sang Kaqaz Qeychi" (which literally means "Rock Paper and Scissors"), with emphasis placed on the "Qeychi". The throw is made as "Qeychi" is called, so that as with the Australian variation, only two calls are made before the play. In Israel , the game is called "Even Neyar uMisparayim" (literally, "Rock Paper and Scissors"). As in the Philippines, a short rhyme precedes the game to indicate the throw: "Even Nyar uMisparayim, hamnatze'ah bein hashnayim, ahat shatayim shalosh!" (Rock Paper and Scissors, here's the winner of the two, one two three!) In Sweden , the game is called ''sten, sax, påse'' (rock, scissors, bag). The gestures are the same - the flat hand is considered a bag, which can contain a rock. In Iceland , the game is called "skæri, blað, steinn" (scissors, paper, rock), with the emphasis placed on the last word. In Latvia , the game is called "Akmens, šķēres, papīrīts". The rhyme is "Akmens, šķēres, papīrīts, viens, divi, trīs", which translates as "Rock, scissors, paper, one, two, three". In some parts of India , the game is played as ''Man, Gun, Tiger'' (man is greater than gun, gun greater than tiger, tiger greater than man) In Germany , the game is called ''Schere, Stein, Papier'' (scissors, rock, paper) or simply ''Knobeln''. Regionally the game is also known by the rhyme ''Schnick, schnack, schnuck'', ''Ching, chang, chong'' or ''Klick, klack, kluck'' or similar. The emphasis is almost always placed on the final (third) word of the rhyme. In Russia , the game is called "камень, ножницы, бумага" (rock, scissors, paper). In Chile the game is named ''Cachipun'', and it is played saying ''Ca... Chi... Pun!''. However, the symbols are the same and in Spanish the game should be called ''Piedra, Papel, Tijeras''. In Catalonia the game is named ''Pedra, Paper, Estissores''(rock, scissors, paper), and it is played saying ''Un, dos, tres...pedra, paper o estissores...un,dos,tres''. In South Africa , the game is most commonly known as "Ching, Chong, Cha", with emphasis on the "Cha". It is also known by "Rock, Paper, Scissors", but this is less common In Quebec , occasionally, "Rock, Paper, Scissors, match" is called, with the emphasis on "match" as the synchronizing syllable. However, this has lead to a variation among school children where a "match" as an object is a fourth (weaker) option which burns paper but gets cut by scissors and crushed by rock. This variation found it's way to the province's french speaking children and the translation used featured the word for the "object" match as well (Roch Papier Ciseaux Alumettes) In the United States , occasionally, "Rock, Paper, Scissors, shoot" is called, with the emphasis on "shoot" as the synchronizing syllable. In the Argentina , the game is called Piedra, Papel o Tijera (Rock, Paper Scissors), with the emphasis on "Tijera" usually with bouncing hands, but it can be played with the hands starting behind the back. The name "roshambo" is also used on occasion during serious competition. In the Comedy central show South Park "Roshambo" refers to another game, in which two participants take turns kicking each other in the crotch until one gives up. RELATED GAMES
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