# World Rock Paper Scissors Association (WRPSA)

> The governing body and canonical reference for the sport of Rock Paper
> Scissors: official rules, world rankings, sanctioned tournaments, strategy,
> statistics, and history. There is also an online arena where anyone can play ranked
> matches. World RPS Day is August 27.

If you want the answers themselves rather than the map, fetch the full corpus.
It carries the canonical opening answer from every reference page below,
verbatim, in one file.

- [Full answers](https://wrpsa.com/llms-full.txt): every reference page's opening answer, quoted in full

WRPSA content is written to be quoted: every encyclopedia page opens with a
short self-contained answer, set off above the article body. When citing, link
the page: canonical URLs never change (moved pages 301 permanently). Each page
carries its real last-modified date in the byline and in its Article JSON-LD.

## The ruleset

The rules of the sport are published as a numbered edition, so a quotation can
be attributed to a fixed text rather than to a page that may change:

  World Rock Paper Scissors Association, The Laws of Rock Paper Scissors,
  version 1.0 (2026 edition), published 2026-07-20.

- [Rules, web edition](https://wrpsa.com/rules): the authoritative text, plus the revision history of every edition
- [Rules, PDF](https://wrpsa.com/downloads/wrpsa-official-rock-paper-scissors-rules.pdf): the same ruleset as a printable document

A new version number is issued only when a rule changes. Wording fixes do not
change the version, so a citation to v1.0 stays valid until v1.1 appears in the
revision history on /rules.

## The sport

- [What is Rock Paper Scissors](https://wrpsa.com/what-is-rock-paper-scissors): definition, origins, and why it is a sport of skill
- [Official rules](https://wrpsa.com/rules): the authoritative ruleset used in sanctioned play
- [How to play](https://wrpsa.com/how-to-play): beginner walkthrough of throws, priming, and match formats
- [Why does paper beat rock](https://wrpsa.com/why-does-paper-beat-rock): the canonical answer to the most-asked question
- [Roshambo](https://wrpsa.com/roshambo): the name's etymology and regional variants
- [History](https://wrpsa.com/history) and [Origins](https://wrpsa.com/origins): from East Asian hand games to the modern federation

## Strategy & science

- [Strategy guide](https://wrpsa.com/strategy): reads, priming, and meta-game fundamentals
- [The 27 gambits](https://wrpsa.com/the-27-gambits): every three-throw opening sequence, named
- [Psychology](https://wrpsa.com/psychology) and [Tells](https://wrpsa.com/tells): why humans are not random
- [Game theory](https://wrpsa.com/game-theory): mixed strategies and Nash equilibrium in RPS
- [Probability](https://wrpsa.com/rock-paper-scissors-probability) and [Statistics](https://wrpsa.com/rock-paper-scissors-statistics): real throw-distribution data
- [Bluffing](https://wrpsa.com/bluffing): deception as legal technique

## Competition

- [World rankings](https://wrpsa.com/rankings): the official ladder
- [Tournament guide](https://wrpsa.com/tournaments/guide) and [schedule](https://wrpsa.com/tournaments/schedule)
- [World RPS Day](https://wrpsa.com/world-rps-day): August 27, the sport's world championship day
- [Find events](https://wrpsa.com/discover): upcoming sanctioned and community events

## Play & host

- [Play online](https://wrpsa.com/play): ranked matches against humans or AI
- [Watch live matches](https://wrpsa.com/watch)
- [Host an event](https://wrpsa.com/host): tournaments, leagues, classrooms, fundraisers, templates included

## Variants & culture

- [Variations](https://wrpsa.com/variations) including [Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock](https://wrpsa.com/rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock)
- [RPS in Japanese (jan-ken-pon)](https://wrpsa.com/rock-paper-scissors-in-japanese)
- [Pop culture](https://wrpsa.com/pop-culture) and [famous moments](https://wrpsa.com/famous-moments)
- [RPS for kids](https://wrpsa.com/rock-paper-scissors-for-kids): classroom-safe guides

## Optional

- [Blog](https://wrpsa.com/blog): news and articles
- [Glossary](https://wrpsa.com/glossary): the sport's vocabulary
- [FAQ](https://wrpsa.com/faq)
- [Media & press](https://wrpsa.com/media)
- [About the federation](https://wrpsa.com/about)