Rock, Paper, Scissors

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Rock, Paper, Scissors

Remember playing Rocks, Paper, Scissors back when you couldn't choose

"who gets the last piece of pie"? Where you good, or did you not use the right

strategy? Yeah that's right, strategy! Before analyzing your opponent everyone

has some sort of strategy. Due to the complexity of the game there is room for

multiple strategies for a player to follow. But which one is the best? In my

version of the day old game of Rocks, Paper, Scissors I can display the potential

outcomes for many potential strategies.

"Score one for the Skipper!"

I logically assigned an arbitrary score to each tool. Each tool's score was

assigned in coordination to its value of destruction. These psychological presets

grant a rock a score of 5 points. A rock is easily the most destructive of the

tools. Scissors would be granted 3 points for being more destructive than paper

but less destructive than a rock. Consequently paper is assigned a 2 point value.

"Can I have directions to. . ."

Rocks, Paper, Scissors is a zero sum game always resulting in a collective

total of zero. The two players play simultaneously through three games. The

player with the higher score at the end of the third game wins. Rock beats

scissors, scissors beats paper, and paper beats the rock. The victor is granted

the points of the dominant tool. i.e. Player 1 uses a scissors and Player 2 uses a

rock. Player 2 has just won 5 points for beating a scissors with a rock. The two

players have two more games to play until they can decide on who is the winner.

"The Matrix is life"

This game, because of the three tools, can be broken down into a 3x3

game matrix. Display 1 is an example of what the matrix would appear to Player

1. The matrix for Player 2 would look very similar despite the fact that all of the

numbers in the matrix will be opposite that of what is in Player 1 matrix. The

matrix provides no dominance for either player meaning there is no saddle point.

The game provides for several mixed strategies that can get very complicated.

It also provides for simple strategies that players may decide on using.

(Display 1)

"Ya'll play rational now, ya hear!?"

A rational player plays to win with the highest score. There are only three

moves that a player can make.

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