KAESHI (The Return)
KAESHI is a story game of late-throw rock-paper-scissors. REI, KIRI's old rival, has come back to the village with the Binding Art, which decides everyone's next move for them. He challenges KIRI to the game they played as students: he throws first, and you answer after seeing his hand.
Each chapter adds a trick: the hand vanishes in a blink, a fake hand appears on “paper”, his voice names a different hand, SHOOT comes three times in a row, and in the last chapter friends shout the order. In chapter 4 the roles flip: REI writes his hand on a scroll first and reads your habits. There are 3 endings, and clearing the story unlocks endless practice with Master HAKURO.
▶ KAESHI — Play free nowHow to play
- Enter a username and choose KAESHI
- Read the conversation, or tap Skip
- When REI says SHOOT, look at the hand in the gold ring
- Press the hand the order asks for: WIN = the hand that beats his, LOSE = the hand that loses, DRAW = the same hand
- Wrong, late, or pressing before SHOOT counts as a mistake. 3 mistakes end the run
Difficulty
The time to answer starts at 1.6 seconds and never goes below 1.05 seconds in the story. A hand stays visible for at least 0.35 seconds, and the whole screen never flashes. Fake hands and the lying voice are always different from the real hand. In the reading match, REI's hand is fixed before you choose; a simulation of 2,000 matches confirmed that random play neither wins nor loses on average, while fixed habits get read.
Tips
- Look only at the gold ring on SHOOT. The dashed hand on “paper” is a fake
- Read the order before SHOOT in early chapters; from chapter 5 it appears with SHOOT
- Don't press early: pressing after “Rock” but before SHOOT is a mistake
- In the reading match, avoid patterns such as repeating a hand or going in order
- Speed matters, but a wrong answer costs more than a slow right one
What KAESHI asks of you
In KAESHI you switch to the hand the order asks for the moment you see your rival's hand. WIN means the hand that beats his, LOSE the hand that loses, DRAW the same hand. Each time the order changes, you swap the table in your head.
As the chapters go on, you increasingly have to separate what to watch from what to ignore: a fake hand on “paper”, a voice naming another hand, three SHOOTs in a row, friends shouting the order. Chapter 4 flips it: REI picks his hand first in a reading match.
For fairness, there is always exactly one right hand, fake hands and voices always differ from the real one, and in the story you always have at least 1.05 seconds to answer. In the reading match, a simulation of 2,000 matches confirmed that REI's hand is fixed before you choose.
Common mistakes
Pressing the winning hand on LOSE. The stronger your habit of winning, the more this happens. Check the order's color (WIN gold, LOSE blue, DRAW white) and word before SHOOT.
Pressing at the fake. From chapter 3, a dashed hand appears on “paper”. Only answer the hand in the gold ring on SHOOT.
Following the voice. From chapter 5, the hand in the speech bubble may differ from the one he throws. Watch the hand, not the voice.
Repeating yourself in the reading match. REI reads habits such as repeating a hand or going in order. Always throwing the same hand loses about two times in three.
Before you play
The whole screen never flashes. Hands fade in and out.
The 7 chapters take about 5 minutes without the conversations. The practice with Master after clearing is endless and keeps getting faster. Take a break when you feel tired.
Your score is a score in this game. Late-throw rock-paper-scissors is a well-known brain game, but we do not claim that playing improves your brain or reactions.
FAQ
- Q. Is KAESHI free?
- A. Yes. It is free, needs no signup and runs in your phone or desktop browser.
- Q. Does REI cheat in the reading match?
- A. No. REI writes his hand on the scroll before you choose, and we confirmed in a simulation that his hand does not depend on the one you are about to throw.
- Q. How is the score decided?
- A. Each correct late throw scores 100 plus up to 100 for speed (full marks within 0.35 seconds). A reading match throw scores 300 for a win and 100 for a draw.
- Q. Is late-throw rock-paper-scissors brain training?
- A. It is often used as a brain game, but KAESHI is a game, not a training program. We do not claim that playing improves your brain or reactions.