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Rock, paper, scissors

The lovely and talented wife recently taught The Boy how to play rock, paper, scissors, a game I’ve known about for as long as I can remember but which I’ve only just learned is an extremely popular hand game that merits a pictorial diagram, an “official” strategy guide, and actual tournaments with a World Championship tour. No, really.

The Boy has yet to attain the mastery and strategic thinking that allows one to think ahead to using a rock-rock-scissors-rock combo or the tactical genius to change that up into a rock-rock-scissors-paper-rock combo at the last second. (Do you think RPS “athletes” wax nostalgic over tournaments? “Remember when Fists of Fury threw that awesome combo to win the 2005 championship? Oh, that was sweet.” “It blew my mind, man.”)

The Boy has a different technique. First he throws rock. He always throws rock so I must be careful to also throw rock so that I don’t accidentally win. Then after a couple of throws he brings out the big gun: “Ok, you be paper now.” Somehow, he wins every time.

Comments

  1. siobhan on 2006-05-04 06:40:49 wrote: He would SO win against me EVERY TIME. I always think ROCK beats ALL. Wouldn’t it be so cool, though, if RPS circuits existed? I’d say: Boot figure skating from the Olympic games We need RPS!

  2. nikkirae on 2006-05-05 13:26:46 wrote: LOL. As they age Paper, Rock, Scissors becomes a useful tool at resource management. smile -n

  3. Chookooloonks on 2006-05-05 18:34:49 wrote: “Fists of Fury” – BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

  4. simon (of the big sort) on 2006-05-05 22:19:39 wrote: Ah, yes… I was a regional RPS champion until the new system was put in place back in ‘97. grumbles You should check out RPS-15 and RPS-25 for even more hand-throwing goodness.

  5. john on 2006-05-06 21:59:14 wrote: Dude. You know anyone can read this, right? :-)

  6. simon (of the big sort) on 2006-05-08 14:55:41 wrote: What? Oh no! My life is over! snicker

  7. Baba on 2006-05-10 09:56:54 wrote: In this super-diversified world where there’s a niche obsession and market for everything, how could I have been surprised by competitive “Rock, Paper, Scissors”? And yet I was. Dare I Google “World Series of Tic-Tac-Toe”? I’ll have to teach “Rock, Paper, Scissor” to my son. At least I could potentially end a game of that faster than our last Candy Land game.