Posted ByJoe Don't Get Mad, Get Odd Spitzer on February 20, 2001 at 13:42:45:
The problem with the inclusion of dynamite in an "advanced" version of RPS is not dynamite in and of itself. The problem is inherent with playing with an even number of objects. A fair distribution of power can only be made with an odd number of objects so there is always the same chance of wins or losses per object. With the standard 3 objects, there is the chance of 1 win, 1 loss and 1 tie for each. When I was a child, my brother came home from school one day to teach me the 5 object version of RPS which included dynamite and string. With this version there is a chance of 2 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. The following is a breakdown the abilities of dynamite and string: Dynamite defeats scissors and rock but is defeated by paper and string. String defeats paper and dynamite and is defeated by rock and scissors. Granted, if you visualize some of these scenarios literally, they seem far-fetched but hey, paper covers rock? I suppose if some more creative thought were put into it, 2 other objects in place of dynamite and string could be used that would make more sense. I do not want to offend any RPS purists but that is how I remember it working from my youth and in fact I just recently taught this version to my wife.