Rock paper scissors lizard lightning
Everybody picks a gesture at the same time and they are revealed together. Each gesture beats two and loses to two. You score a point for every rival you beat in the round, and whoever collects the most points wins.
Play Rock paper scissors lizard lightning
The rules
What beats what
Scissors cut paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard dodges lightning, lightning melts scissors, scissors decapitate lizard, lizard eats paper, paper insulates lightning, lightning splits rock and rock crushes scissors.
Points
Each round you are compared with everybody else, not just one person. You gain a point for every rival you beat, so at a table of six you can take up to five points in one round. Identical gestures score for nobody.
The clock
You have a few seconds to choose and the round is revealed as soon as everybody has. If you run out of time the game picks for you at random; three rounds in a row without choosing and you are out of the match.
Draws
With sudden death on, if several players are tied at the top at the end, those players keep playing extra rounds until one pulls ahead. Without it, the prize is split between whoever tied.
Without lizard or lightning
Whoever sets the table up can leave it as plain rock, paper or scissors. It plays the same, just with three gestures and a lot more draws.