Last Updated on Sep 10, 2026 @ 15:57:33 PM.
One of the most popular games everyone around the world has ever played is the intense game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, where they use their hands to make these shapes in order to beat their friends, often to make a decision, but now this game has been made even more intense and even torturous in the form of Rock, Paper, Severed.
If you haven’t heard of Rock, Paper, Severed, you should count yourself unlucky, as this game is a very unique game with a fun concept that will have players running to play it with their friends. The reason behind this is that Rock, Paper, Severed can be played in up to 4-player co-op, where the players sit around a table and make the hardest decisions of their life.
One click and you're done. Thank you!
I was able to play Rock, Paper, Severed during my time at Gamescom, where I went toe-to-toe with one of the developers, where I was absolutely demolished while also having so much fun while also being afraid of losing each round and losing a finger as the cost of it.
Straight from the get-go upon loading into a multiplayer match, I was thrown into the deep end, with the game providing me with a simple decision: do I pick rock, paper, or scissors? But this decision wasn’t so simple, as during this decision-making process, I am also able to talk to my opponents through the in-game voice chat in order to try and persuade them to either choose a certain way or lie that I am going to pick a certain option.
Because of this, a rather large amount of social deduction was required, as I had to figure out if the developer was lying. What will this person use against me? Do they know what I will use? With so many other questions flooding my head, let’s just say the developer read me like a book.
Now don’t worry, Rock, Paper, Severed isn’t just about winning a game of rock, paper, scissors, as there are items you can acquire during the game that will help you out, but it is a scramble to acquire these items as they drop from the ceiling onto the table you are playing on, where you then have to do a mad grab at whatever looks helpful to you at the time while also worrying about your opponents who are also obtaining these items.
While I played with the developer, he was very kind in allowing me the time to look at some of these items that were available and even allowed me to pick certain ones that would aid me in furthering the game so that I could experience all I could with the game. So for example, one item I was continuously grabbing was a healing stim that provided me with one finger back per use, but there were plenty of other items, like a mirror that showed me my opponent’s selection of items, a cursed doll that if I won a round had a chance to chop an extra finger off my opponent’s hand, or even if I lost it could still do that, a gun to threaten my opponent to give me one of their items, and according to the dev, there are plenty of others we didn’t even see.
Due to this, each round of the game was entirely different, with us constantly duking it out and planning ahead as to who has what. What decision will they make? Will this item save my life? Will this item hurt my opponent? And so much more, making the game extremely fun to play and likely a blast when up to 4 people are playing together.
However, if you aren’t looking to jump straight into the game with your friends, there is another option in the form of a single-player mode where you will be able to play against NPCs that embody the different characters in the game, as the actual characters you play as do have backstories that you can learn by doing this single-player mode while also battling towards duking it out with the strange entity that has set this entire game up.
At the time of writing, Rock, Paper, Severed doesn’t have a set release date but is currently aiming to release sometime in 2026.
For your next read, why not check out our interview with the producer and creative director behind the game Eventide, or check out our experience with Blackwood during Gamescom?
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
