Talk Paper Scissors

Rock Paper Scissors on the phone

I made a new game with my friend greg technology. It’s called Talk Paper Scissors. It’s rock paper scissors over the phone.

No, really. Dial 1-515-762-5762 (aka 1-515-ROCK-ROCK) to play. You’ll be paired with a stranger, asked to say rock paper or scissors, briefly put on hold, and then hear what your opponent said + whether you won or lost. Games are 3 rounds long.

we worked hard on the mascot

Part of the goal here was to take the idea behind Stranger Video and recreate it in a new medium. I wrote more about how I’m thinking about stranger-interaction games on my blog, so check that out if it sounds interesting. The blog also has some technical details if you’re looking for that.

Building this was a ton of fun. It’s been particularly fun to test this with people in person, see them realize what the game is about, and then *run across the room* so that their opponent can’t hear their move.

If you want to see TPS in action I previewed it at Wordhack, a delightful tech/language event at Wonderville in New York.

Greg was an incredible collaborator on this project and had his hands on the keyboard for 95% (at least) of the code. Thanks Greg :)

And, uh, that’s it! I hope you enjoy the game. This is my first post - let me know if you’d like to see something different (in particular I’m not sure how to balance linking to my blog with embedding it here).