settle it.Learn rock paper scissors and five ways to mix it up. Choose a ruleset, see what beats what, and settle a friendly disagreement together.
Rock beats scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats rock. Learn the classic rules and play online with a friend using a shared contest link.
Read the rules →Learn all ten winning matchups in Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock, then challenge a friend to the five-move game online.
Read the rules →Learn Bear Hunter Ninja, the hand and pose game for a group icebreaker: rules, poses and winning matchups. Play online in a two-player friend contest.
Read the rules →Learn the Elephant Human Ant game, also called the Elephant Man Ant hand game: Indonesian origins, finger signs, winning rules and online play.
Read the rules →Play RPS-7 online with rock, paper, scissors, fire, water, air and sponge. Learn all 21 matchups and start a friend contest in one click.
Read the rules →Play Muk-jji-ppa online with a friend. Win the opening rock paper scissors throw to attack, then match your opponent's move while attacking to win.
Read the rules →For a fast, familiar decision, start with classic Rock Paper Scissors. Bear Hunter Ninja and the Elephant Human Ant hand game change the characters while keeping the same three-move balance. Lizard Spock adds more relationships to learn and reduces ties when choices are independent and uniformly random. For seven moves, try RPS-7. For a continuing attack game, try Muk-jji-ppa.
Our most detailed five-move guide covers Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock rules and online play, with every matchup and a one-click friend invite.
| Variant | Moves | Random match rate | Difficulty | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock Paper Scissors | 3 | 1/3 · 33.3% | Easy | A familiar, quick decision |
| Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock | 5 | 1/5 · 20% | Moderate | More choices and fewer random ties |
| Bear Hunter Ninja | 3 | 1/3 · 33.3% | Easy | A playful change of characters |
| Elephant Human Ant | 3 | 1/3 · 33.3% | Easy | An easy-to-remember animal cycle |
| RPS-7 | 7 | 1/7 · 14.3% | Advanced | A larger balanced move set |
| Muk-jji-ppa | 3 | 1/3 match* | Moderate | A continuing attack-and-defense game |
For n equally likely moves, n of the n² ordered pairs match, giving a tie probability of 1/n for ordinary rounds. More moves reduce that random tie rate, but add rules to remember. Real players may favor particular choices, so these figures describe a model rather than measured player behavior. *Muk-jji-ppa uses a match to decide the game after an attacker is established.
These four games are background reading and are not playable here.
| Variant and source | Moves | What changes | Random tie rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPS-25 | 25 | Each move beats twelve others; 300 winning relationships. | 1/25 · 4% | Playing with a reference chart |
| Mushi-ken | 3 | Frog beats slug, slug beats snake, snake beats frog. | 1/3 · 33.3% | Exploring historical Japanese hand games |
| Kitsune-ken | 3 | Fox beats village head, village head beats hunter, hunter beats fox. | 1/3 · 33.3% | Learning a character-and-gesture cycle |
| Team RPS | 3 per team | Teams agree a shared move before revealing; some versions add a chase or tag round. | 1/3 with independent uniform team choices | An in-person group activity |
Rates assume independent, equally likely choices. Team RPS has house-rule variations; agree on one format together.
Lovelace’s 25-gesture expansion gives each move twelve wins and twelve losses, with 300 winning relationships in total. Its uniform random tie rate is 1/25, or 4%. That is a substantial reference-chart exercise: a good fit for exploring an elaborate ruleset, with more learning time than the smaller games.
Explore the creator’s RPS-25 chart →Ken refers to a wider hand-game tradition, rather than a single extra ruleset. Sansukumi-ken games use a three-way relationship in which each symbol defeats one and loses to another. Jan-ken is the familiar rock paper scissors game; historical forms used other characters. That shared cyclic structure helps explain why three-character variants feel familiar even when their symbols change.
Read research on ken games in Japan →Play six variants with a friend or the computer: classic Rock Paper Scissors, Lizard Spock, Bear Hunter Ninja, Elephant Human Ant, RPS-7 and Muk-jji-ppa. Other games below are for reading only.
RPS-7 has the lowest per-throw match rate under independent, uniformly random choices: about 14.3%. Lizard Spock has 20% and three-move games have about 33.3%. In Muk-jji-ppa, matching after the opening ends the game for the attacker.
Yes. Each move beats one other move and loses to one; matching choices tie. Their characters differ, but they have the same three-way structure as classic Rock Paper Scissors.
Every playable variant begins with the same online flow: create a contest, share its link or code, and lock in a secret move after your friend joins. The server reveals the result when both moves are in. Matching moves usually tie; in Muk-jji-ppa they win the game for the attacker. The creator can start the next throw or a new game.
Want to learn before inviting someone? Choose the computer on the form. To decide who goes first or who picks the movie, see our guide to deciding who goes first.
Choose a variant and play →