The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide

by Douglas Walker

Rock Paper Scissors (RPS), the ultimate decision-making tool, is played the world over. By the late twentieth century, however, the sport's illustrious governing body, the World Rock Paper Scissors Society, had fallen on hard times. It was then that brothers Douglas and Graham Walker boldly took up the challenge to restore the World RPS Society to its former glory, and now they bring you the ultimate strategy guide to this time-honored game.
The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide covers the whole RPS scene from the school yard to the pro level, including RPS culture around the world, the personality behind each throw, and secrets of the RPS masters. Learn how to intimidate your opponent and anticipate his next move. Get the answers to burning questions such as "Does Rock crush Scissors, or are Scissors dulled by Rock?" and "Who invented RPS?" Forget about flipping a coin or consulting your Magic 8 Ball -- Rock Paper Scissors is the only decision-making tool anyone needs.

Genres: Humor, Sports, Games

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2004

Reviews

[Maciej]

Short and funny :)

[Datsun]

Is it a joke? A game? A philosophy?
Yes, yes and yes.

Essential to anyone who has to establish order-making rules amongst children (or childish adults).

[Oliver]

Wicked book. Came out the year I started a rock paper scissors society at uni. The tournament rules I put together was based on work similar to this.

[Simon]

Outdated, there is new science on it. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rudzY....

[Gene]

i have no idea what i just read.

is it satire? i mean, it's gotta be at some parts... but then again, some if it is verifiably accurate? i don't know whether to laugh or be scared at how serious the tone is throughout the book (literally to the last page, it doesn't break).

wrps will probably (definitely) consider me a coward because i still want to blame all my rps losing on my bad luck — but maybe i'm actually good now! who knows! i know dozens of rps strategies now so someone challenge me so i can figure out if this book was worth my time!

regardless of my improved skills, it took itself too seriously which led to it being boring at times.

[Sean Harding]

This was hands-down one of the funniest books I read during 2006.
It was just brilliant, it had the tone of seriousness all the way through it, even in the most absurd of examples, and just kept you laughing as you read it.
A brilliant effort this one!

[Engineer TF2]

false advertisement, a rock can easily beat a piece of paper

[Aaron]

This book is pretty odd. It is written by two gentlemen who appear to be the founders of the World RPS (rock, paper, scissors) society, which has in the past run tournaments around the world for RPS. This book really does explain some of the strategy involved with the game, and the last chapter includes some nice basic explanation on how to setup a tournament.

However, there is also a lot of obvious lies and balderdash in this book. The entire first chapter is completely made up hokum about the "history" of the game, which is an obvious parody of other historical sports literature. The problem is that it can be hard to tell the truth from the balderdash. There is some stuff in here that I know is true from experience, (i.e., the Japanese variant of the game called 'Attche, Muite Hoy!') but it will be back to back with ridiculous stuff like how RPS is used for highly dangerous illegal street gambling, and how serious professionals should always avoid such games.

So, this book is kind of entertaining, and if you enjoy playing RPS the strategic discussions have some value, but there is a lot of ridiculous stuff in the book that you have to deal with, as well.

[Tomherndon]

It is what it is. It's NOT a good book, but a good read. I strongly recommend a copy of this in the bathroom and not as a back up. I'm kind of a scissor sandwich kind of guy, but my three year old is totally avalanche. (not that his dexterity allows for other options) I'm awaiting the sequel of 'bear-ninja-cowboy'

[Matt Dillard]

Bizarre, bizarre book. I got it at a garage sale for a quarter. The book reads like a mockumentary, but written by people who clearly know something about the "sport". There lots of humor in the book, which made it interesting to read. I never thought I'd read a 200 page book about Rock Paper Scissors.

[Bram]

I expected a real stragegy books with some statistics, common patterns, applied game theory and perhaps some diversions on the human incapability to generate random numbers.

This book doesn't contain any this, it only contains 200 pages of junk. This book is totally worthless.

[Patrick]

I am ready to go pro now.

Watch for me in the Olympics!

[Joe]

If you're going to play, you should try to be the best at it.

[Hieu Cao]

Extremely funny :))

[Craig Motlin]

This book is short, but it feels too long. It's slightly funny. The funniest thing about it though is just that it exists.

[Gabriel]

Yes, this is a book I own.

[April Thompson Freeman]

You never know when a game of RPS will ensue. Be prepared.