Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Raise physical room energy and practice supportive team cheering through rapid paired elimination.

Use it when: Use as a quick physical energizer after a lunch slump or between intensive working sessions.

Skip it when: Skip when the working environment requires quiet, when space is too tight for movement, or when group members prefer low-sensory activities.

Group arrangement: Simultaneous pairs merging into cheering squads until two finalists remain

Timing: 5 to 10 minutes matches SessionLab documentation; 10 minutes allows setup, play, and a brief debrief

Materials and tools

• No required physical materials
• Optional: hand bell or whistle to pause rounds

Before participants arrive

1. Clear an open standing space where participants can move freely and form clusters without blocking exits.

Say this to open

We are going to play a rapid tournament of Rock, Paper, Scissors with one simple rule change: when you lose a match, you instantly become that winner's biggest fan. Pair up with someone nearby right now.

How to run it

1. Establish initial pairs and standard rules 2 minutes

   Explain the standard hand gestures: Rock beats Scissors, Scissors cuts Paper, Paper covers Rock. Count together: 'One, two, three, shoot.' Each pair plays until one person wins. If there is an odd person out, designate that person as the roving referee for the first round.

2. Run preliminary rounds and build cheering squads 3 minutes

   All pairs play simultaneously. The non-winning player immediately falls in behind their winner, chanting that winner's first name. Winners find another winner to play. When two winners face off, their entire trailing cheer squads merge behind whichever player wins that round.

3. Conduct the final showdown 3 minutes

   Bring the final two contestants to the center of the room. The entire group is now divided into two cheering sections behind them. Have the two finalists play a best-two-out-of-three match while their squads cheer them on. Announce the tournament champion.

4. Debrief group support dynamics 2 minutes

   Bring the room to sitting or quiet attention. Ask two quick questions to reflect on the experience. Take two or three brief observations from volunteers.

Debrief questions

• What did it feel like to transition immediately from competing to cheering for the person who beat you?
• How did the atmosphere change as individual players merged into larger cheering sections?

Finished output: A single declared tournament winner and an energized group transition back to the main agenda.

Remote

Online delivery alters the physical squad dynamic. To adapt, have all participants keep cameras on in gallery view. Randomly assign initial match pairs via public chat list. Pairs play via camera on count of three while non-active participants watch. Eliminated players turn off their cameras and use chat to cheer for the person who defeated them until the final two battle on screen.

Hybrid

Split hybrid groups into separate in-person and remote tournament tracks, then have the final remote champion play the final room champion via the main room video monitor while both squads cheer.

Access and participation choices

• Participants with limited upper-body mobility may call out their choice verbally on 'shoot' instead of making hand signs.
• Participants who prefer to avoid loud noise or physical roaming may opt to act as scorekeepers, timekeepers, or neutral match referees from the start without giving reasons.

If the session gets stuck

Two winning pairs cannot find another open pair because numbers are uneven.

Step in to play the odd winner yourself, or have them play the referee so that play never stalls.

The noise level escalates too high for nearby working teams.

Introduce a silent cheering variation where squads wave hands, jump, and make expressive silent faces instead of shouting.

Terms used here

• Shoot: The moment both players reveal their hand gesture, delivered on the fourth count.