Rock Paper Scissors Spock Lizard

The customary two-player game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, or rochambeau as it is known in some circles, pits three elements in a vicious cycle of sorts, each element trumping another but yielding to the other. Due to the limited options available, the game often results in a draw, both players selecting the same option, but given the trivial nature of repeating a bout in person, it is still often used to facilitate arbitrary decision-making processes (as in White Wolf live-action RPGs.)

This variant aims to address this flaw, offering more options and with them, more nuanced relationships between the elements, each now being vulnerable to two others and superior to the other two... vastly reducing the chances of a tie. The traditional elements still relate to each other as they always did, with the Rock smashing the Scissors which cut the Paper which wrap the Rock -- but the introduction of Spock and the Lizard add new and exciting play dynamics to the game. To wit: Scissors cuts Paper covers Rock crushes Lizard poisons Spock smashes Scissors decapitates Lizard eats Paper disproves Spock vaporizes Rock crushes Scissors. (As noted elsewhere, these relationships are isomorphic to those of the five elements of Taoist alchemy, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water and Wood, with which the game can instead be played.)

Though new hand gestures have been suggested for the new game elements, some software developers have taken it upon themselves to implement automated versions of the game, streamlining out the live play and the need to pound fists into palms. Here they give a human player an opponent to compete against, automatically calculating the result of each bout, and keeping a running tally of the wins and losses.