Ultimate Rock, Paper, Scissors

Pretty much everybody has played rock, paper scissors at some point in their life. It's a fun game, with a definite psychological aspect. After the first throw I pretty much can predict what my children are going to do and win most of the time. And thus maintaining my omnipotent mom status.

Some people take it very seriously, to the point that there is an official World RPS Society. The WRPS Society Championship was held this past November in Toronto. Sadly the page has not been updated with the results of said championship. For the more literary inclined fans of RPS there is The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide available in paperback over at Amazon (some of the reviews are a hoot).

There is also a five option variant called Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard and Spock. And here is how you play:

Scissors cut paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitate lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, rock crushes scissors.

For a neat graphic on the hand gestures head on over to here and take a gander.

My kids take up to another level and play Ultimate Rock, Paper, Scissors. Instead of hand gestures that count off to three and then shout out their entry. Their only rules are that you can't repeat (either your own or someone else's entry) and no endless variations on a theme (ie godzilla followed by pink godzilla). After they shout out there is a discussion over which entry reigns supreme.

This weekend I got to hear some pretty hilarious battles.

Deathstar vs Luke Skywalker vs Giant Space Goat. Luke beats Deathstar, but Space Goat eats Luke.

Professor Charles Francis Xavier vs Rock and Roll. Rock and Roll was just bearly given the win.

Exploding sun vs Ethel Merman. Ethel Merman defeats all!

There were a few other memorable wins- crab grass, because nothing can kill it all off. And then there was Rebecca announcing that her forehead hurts. She was given an unconditional win by all three of her brothers.

Pretty much anything can win, you just have to be able to back it up with some good reasoning. I find it fun to listen to and beats the usual squabbling from the back.