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Chris Higgins
Advanced Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) Variants
by Chris Higgins - April 27, 2007 - 12:28 PM

Following up on Jason’s popular How to Win at Rock-Paper-Scissors post, I did some digging to see how nerdy Rock-Paper-Scissors (”RPS” to professionals) can get.

RPS-101 PosterIt turns out, pretty nerdy. Artist David C. Lovelace noted that there was a five-gesture RPS variant in the wild (they add “Lizard” and “Spock”). Five gestures wasn’t enough for Lovelace — he decided to create a seven-gesture variant called RPS-7, which added Fire, Water, Air, and Sponge to the classic game. But things didn’t stop there. Lovelace proceeded to create RPS-9 which added Gun and Human to the mix, creating an immensely complex matrix of solutions.

Yeah, and this being the internet, things did not stop there. Lovelace created an RPS-11 (adding Wolf and Devil), RPS-15 (Lightning, Dragon, Tree, Snake), and then what he terms “the real madness”: RPS-25 (see also the flash game).

But wait, there’s EVEN MORE. From Lovelace’s site:

It took all year, but I went ahead and brought about the entropy of my mind by developing the latest, and I truly hope last, RPS variant. Take a deep breath, set your monitor to its maximum resolution, and prepare to try and absorb the infinitely complex universe-devourer that is RPS-101!

Described as “the most terrifyingly complex game ever,” RPS-101 can be explored using the interactive chart, the 5,050-outcome HTML page, the RPS-101 Outcome Guide (a paperback book describing all the outcomes), or the 23″ x 35″ poster.

From the RPS-101 Outcome Guide: Chainsaw DICES Turnip, Turnip STAINS Cup, Cup HOLDS Beer, Beer AFFECTS Chainsaw USE. Wow.

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Comments (3)

  1. I blogged my kids’ version of this; see my link.

    posted by Karen on 4-27-2007 at 1:19 pm

  2. A friend and I are planning a RPS tournament for charity (in Indianapolis and Ft. Wayne, Indiana). I guess I’ll have to specify that it is a “Classic RPS” tournament now.

    posted by Trena on 4-30-2007 at 11:30 am

  3. This is not the work of professional RPS players. RPS professionals would have used that year it took to think up RPS101 training.

    Also, I take issue with your “pretty nerdy” statement. Although I will admit that there are a few throughout the RPS community.

    Urbanus

    posted by Urbanus on 5-9-2007 at 8:35 am

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