WHEN DID THE GAME ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS BEGIN?

Rock, Paper, Scissors is a game of chance generally used to decide trivial matters between two people. Each participant shakes a fist three times, producing on the third shake either a clenched fist (Rock), an open hand (Paper) or two extended fingers (Scissors). Rock beats Scissors (because it can crush them), Paper beats Rock (because it can cover it) and Scissors beats Paper (because it can cut it). If the two players produce the same item, the game is replayed until the stalemate is broken.

Rock, Paper, Scissors is played in many countries and is known under many different names: in Japan, for instance, it is called Jan-Ken-Pon, while elsewhere it’s often known as Roshambo, except in Italy, where it has been played since the early eighteenth century and is now known as Mora. Some countries have variants of the Rock, Paper and Scissors elements; in Indonesia, for example, they are an elephant, a person and an ant.

With such widespread popularity, there are many theories as to when and where this game began. Some believe that it has been played in Japan since 200 BC and migrated to Europe in the eighteenth century, while others believe it began with Celtic settlers in Portugal in 600 BC, after which it spread to Europe when the Romans invaded Spain in around AD 100.

While it’s likely that the exact origin of the game will never be known owing to a lack of tangible evidence, the predominant theory is that it began on the Mediterranean coast and in the Orient thousands of years ago Lending weight to this theory are Egyptian hieroglyphic paintings from 2000 BC that indicate a similar finger-and-fist guessing game.