The three gestures
Rock beats Scissors, Scissors beats Paper, and Paper beats Rock. Each gesture beats one of the other two and loses to the other, so no gesture is better than the rest. When both players show the same gesture, the throw is a tie.
How a throw works
In the official rules published by the World Rock Paper Scissors Association, both players reveal their gesture at the same moment. They say "Rock, Paper, Scissors," and reveal on the word "Shoot." Only the three basic gestures are allowed.
Revealing together is what makes the game fair: neither player can see the other’s hand before choosing. A throw that comes late, after the player has seen the opponent’s hand, is a foul.
Ties and replays
Under the official rules, a tied throw is replayed immediately, and the players keep throwing until one gesture beats the other.
Match formats
A standard official match is best of three: the first player to win two throws wins the match. A group can agree on a longer format, such as best of five, before the match starts.
The odds and the expected length of each format are worked out on the math page.
Variations with more gestures
Variants add gestures to the three basic ones. A variant is balanced when every pair of different gestures has a clear winner and each gesture beats as many other gestures as it loses to.
That balance needs an odd number of gestures. Each gesture faces every other gesture, which is one fewer than the total, and that count has to split evenly into wins and losses, so it must be even. With an odd number n of gestures, each gesture beats (n − 1) / 2 others and loses to (n − 1) / 2 others. Three gestures give one win and one loss each. Five gestures give two wins and two losses each, and ten winning pairings in total.
How RPS Royale differs
RPS Royale keeps the three gestures and the hidden, simultaneous choice, but it is a room-sized elimination game rather than a best-of-three match. The server pairs the players who are still in the running, each match is decided by one throw, and the winner advances.
There is no count-in. Both players choose within a short window, the server keeps every choice hidden until the match resolves, and a player who does not choose in time gets a random choice from the server. A tied throw is not replayed: it becomes a short tap race instead.
The exact tie-break order is in the How to play guide.