How to play rock paper scissors
- Click Rock, Paper or Scissors, or press R, P or S on your keyboard.
- The computer shows its hand at the same moment and the result appears: rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper and paper beats rock.
- The score counts your wins, draws and the computer’s wins. Reset score starts a new match.
Why rock paper scissors works
Each hand beats one hand and loses to the other, so no choice is better than another. That’s why the game is used to settle small disputes: as long as both players show at the same time, it’s as fair as a coin flip, but more fun.
Playing against people
People aren’t random. A common pattern is that players who win a round tend to play the same hand again, while players who lose switch to something else. Against the computer none of that matters, because each of its choices is a fresh random pick. Against a friend, watching their habits can give you an edge.
The game is known by many names, including roshambo in parts of the United States and janken in Japan, where it is often used to decide who goes first.