I spend more time than I'd like to admit playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" with my kids. This includes some of the variants like "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock" and other items that we've added to the mix (each with their own strength and weakness)
It can actually be a great way to kill some time when you have to wait with kids somewhere, like in line at an amusement park, or waiting to bail your significant other out of jail.
My claim is that the cooperative version is far more fun than the competitive version, and less prone to cause injury (seriously though, my kid is brutal to my poor "scissor" hand when he gets rock, and don't get my started on the aggressive lizard when it poisons my Spock)
Anyway, getting to the point here... Why limit yourself to rock, paper and scissors? In fact, why limit yourself in any way? Allow the thing you choose to be a random surprise. And then have a conversation about which one might "win", but allow for multiple possibilities and explanations.
For example, my son and I came up with "garlic" vs. "a siren". There's no obvious answer there.
There are some major upsides to this
a) It spurs creativity to come up with completely random stuff
b) It's can be very funny.
c) It kills time much more effectively than the other version, due to the conversation aspect
d) It (may) give some insight to your child about power dynamics & what makes something truly powerful
(OK, maybe that last one is a reach. And maybe makes me seem a smidge "new-agey".)
The main downside I can think of is fighting, if your kids are inclined to do so (which, as I understand, most of them are).
I mean, they have to be able to comprehend the idea that there doesn't have to be a winner to have fun. I make no judgments if your kids are quarrelsome. Well, except that surely this would never have happened if you were doing these cooperative games since they were small. (Please don't anyone take that last line seriously. I have that problem far too often.)
P.S. An "adult" version would also be quite fun, just sayin'.
