The one book written specifically about rock paper scissors strategy is The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide by Douglas and Graham Walker (Simon & Schuster, 2004). Beyond that, the best reading is a game theory book that uses RPS as its title and theme, a picture book for kids, and a few free research papers.
Older versions of this page listed ten "RPS strategy books". Several of those titles do not appear to exist, so I have cut the list to books I could confirm with the publisher, a major bookseller or a library.
The books
| Book | Author | Year | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide | Douglas Walker and Graham Walker | 2004 | Players who want tactics and tournament history |
| Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life | Len Fisher | 2008 | Readers curious about game theory and cooperation |
| The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors | Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Adam Rex | 2017 | Children aged about 4 to 8 |
The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide (2004)
Written by the brothers who ran the World RPS Society's championships in Toronto, and published by Simon & Schuster in October 2004. It covers the game from the schoolyard to tournament level: the personalities people associate with each throw, the culture around the game in different countries, and the tactics of competitive players, including the idea of gambits, pre-planned sequences of three throws.
It is the closest thing the game has to a manual, and it is written with a sense of humour. Read it knowing that its observations about how people play come from watching tournament players, not from controlled experiments. It is still in print as a paperback and ebook, and library copies are available.
If you want the core ideas quickly, our 27 gambits page and strategy guide cover the same ground in updated form.
Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life (2008)
Physicist Len Fisher's book, published by Basic Books, is not a guide to winning at RPS. It uses the game as a doorway into game theory: why cooperation is hard, how it evolves in nature, and how people might get out of situations where everyone acting in their own interest leaves everyone worse off. Fisher runs small real-world experiments along the way.
Read it if you are interested in why rock paper scissors is mathematically interesting: it is a textbook example of a game with no best single move, where the only unbeatable strategy is to be perfectly random. Our game theory page is a shorter introduction to that idea.
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors (2017)
A picture book by Drew Daywalt (author of The Day the Crayons Quit), illustrated by Adam Rex, published by Balzer + Bray. It invents a mock-epic origin story in which three warriors, Rock, Paper and Scissors, search for a worthy opponent. It is funny for adults reading aloud, and it is a good way to get kids playing. It is not a strategy book.
Better than a book: the research
If you want evidence rather than advice, some of the best material is free:
- Wang, Xu and Zhou (2014), Zhejiang University. 360 students played 300 rounds each. Winners tended to repeat their winning throw and losers tended to switch in a predictable direction. This is the most widely cited study of how real people play. Our science page summarizes it.
- Kaggle's Rock, Paper, Scissors competition (2020 to 2021). Over 1,600 teams wrote bots that played 1,000-round matches. The public write-ups show how pattern-detecting bots beat predictable opponents.
Which one should you read?
- You want to win more games: the Walkers' strategy guide, then practise what you learn by playing online.
- You like maths or economics: Len Fisher.
- You are buying for a child: Daywalt and Rex.
FAQ
Is there an official rock paper scissors rulebook?
The Walkers' 2004 guide includes the World RPS Society's rules. Our rules page has a current, plain version.
Are there other RPS strategy books?
I could not verify any other book devoted to RPS strategy. Many lists online include titles that do not appear to exist.
Is The Official Rock Paper Scissors Strategy Guide still available?
Yes. It is sold as a paperback and ebook, and many libraries carry it.