“If you’re not in the mood to read, no worries—I’ve got you covered. You can listen to this newsletter, narrated by none other than Alfred from Batman himself, the legendary Michael Caine. Enjoy!”

The Intro

One of my favorite things to do in college was scroll through Venmo transactions, trying to figure out which of my friends was using it to buy pot. How could I tell? Well, it takes one to know one. Let me walk you through the experience: you go to your friend’s house, grab the weed, they tell you the price, you open Venmo, find their profile, type in $50, and then… before you can hit send, Venmo asks, "What’s this for?" Shit, busted. Now you, the degenerate pot-smoking college kid, have a decision to make. Do you type "Marijuana"? Of course not. After about two seconds of thought, you settle for a few innocent-looking plant emojis.

After you’ve done this a few times, you start to notice something: the Venmo transaction feed with all your friends starts to look pretty different—and that’s exactly where I liked to spend my time scrolling.

You’d typically see a lot of basic purchase captions like these:

• “☘️” – The most popular because it looks like a pot leaf.

• “🌸” – Some people call weed "flower."

• “😙💨” – A classic combo that looks like you’re smoking.

But the best ones were more disguised with some misleading context…

• "Lawn Mowing Service 🌱" – Who has a lawn in college?

• "House plants 🪴" – When was the last time anyone bought a house plant with Venmo?

• "Baked 🍪" – Could’ve been actual cookies… or maybe something a little stronger.

If you knew what to look for, you'd spot plenty of people getting creative with emojis for their weed purchases, and I always found that entertaining. But lately, now that those days are behind me, I’m kinda over emojis. It feels like we, the users, have been getting creative with emojis to express ourselves for far too long—and that makes sense, because emojis were designed for exactly that: creative expression. But it’s starting to feel like a movie I’ve seen too many times, and I’m getting burnt out on clever emoji use-cases.

Which got me thinking: there aren’t many digital products actually building fun or interactive ways to use emojis beyond basic expression. Sure, you can react to a text message, Instagram DM, or Slack message with any emoji, and iOS 18 now lets you add preset animations to your texts, which works even better with emojis. But again, that’s just more creative expression.

Don’t get me wrong, I love creative expression—but is it too much to ask for emojis to do something? I think we’ve reached a point where, if I send my wife "😘💋", there should be a whole product experience tied to that, a true wow moment—something more than just a couple of icons on her screen.

The Question

How can these beautifully detailed icons jump off the screen and break free from being mere tools for creative expression to become actionable drivers? We’re so used to emojis expressing our feelings, but what if they could do more? Imagine sending the music note emoji “🎶” in your group chat, and it instantly triggers your favorite song to play for everyone—MySpace profile style. Or picture your partner sending you dinner plans on OpenTable, but the reservation doesn’t actually get booked until you send back a thumbs-up emoji “👍”.

These symbols are everywhere, and there’s an emoji for almost every physical or social action we take but yet they do nothing. Don’t believe me? Take a look:

• Action: Raising your hand
  Trigger: Lets people know you have a question or an answer
  Emoji: 🙋‍♂️

• Action: Snapping your fingers
  Trigger: Gets someone’s attention
  Emoji: 🫰

• Action: Shaking hands
  Trigger: Seals the deal
  Emoji: 🤝

There’s an emoji for all of this and more, yet these lazy little shits just sit there in your keyboard, never fulfilling their true potential. WE DESERVE MORE FROM EMOJIS!

It’s time to stop thinking of emojis as a way to juice up your birthday texts and start seeing them as tools that trigger real action. The possibilities for transforming them into something dynamic are endless—and it’s time we build experiences that make them more than just expressions. Alright, fine, I’ll build one.

The Game

Earlier, I mentioned some real-life actions that have corresponding emojis, but let’s be honest—those feel a little too 'blah.' Emojis are inherently fun, and I love creating fun experiences, so let’s take this up a notch. Remember when decision-making as kids was a lot more fun? We had creative ways to settle things like who got to hide and who had to seek. Games like Nose Goes, Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe, or the classic Thumb War made decisions quick, easy, and entertaining. These simple, two-player games were actionable drivers in real life because both parties knew the rules, agreed to them, and—most importantly—had fun.

What if we could simulate that same fun decision-making process with emojis? I’ve always liked Rock, Paper, Scissors, and we could create a virtual game using the rock "🪨", the paper "📜", and the scissors "✂️" emojis. But where should we play this game? Think about where we spend most of our time making decisions—whether it’s planning events, chatting with friends, or settling debates. That sounds a lot like iMessage, doesn’t it? So, let’s build it there.

Now that we’ve settled on creating a virtual game of Rock, Paper, Scissors in iMessage using emojis, the next step is designing the game mechanics for the best user experience. In real life, both players reveal their choices at the same time, but in a digital environment like iMessage, we face a challenge—two people can’t send texts simultaneously. We also need to make sure the game is engaging and feels fair, even if only one person is actively texting while the other isn’t. And just like in real life, a tie is possible in rock, paper, scissors. Keeping all that in mind, the game needs to be simple, fair, and clearly show who wins, loses, or ties in a way that’s as fun as the real-life version.

The Rules

Let’s quickly remind ourselves of the basic rules of rock, paper, scissors (R.P.S.):

• Rock “🪨” beats Scissors “✂️” but loses to Paper “📜”

• Paper “📜” beats Rock “🪨” but loses to Scissors “✂️”

• Scissors “✂️” beats Paper “📜” but loses to Rock “🪨”

To play R.P.S. virtually, we need to work around the digital obstacles while maintaining the same excitement as playing in person. Here’s how it works: one player initiates the game by sending one of the three emojis (🪨, 📜, ✂️). Let’s say they choose Paper “📜” and hit send. Now it’s up to player two to respond by selecting one of the remaining emojis. Player two picks Rock “🪨” and sends it, and the game is on.

Now, if you’re paying attention, you’re probably thinking, “Wait, this is a dumb game—player one automatically wins because Paper beats Rock.” And to that, I say, “Let me cook.” The digital obstacles prevent us from experiencing a true, simultaneous game of R.P.S., yes—but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun or effective. A virtual R.P.S. game works more like betting on a virtual horse race. Player one is betting on Paper to win, player two is betting on Rock, and the wild card, Scissors, is still in play.

This setup keeps the game fair because we’ve already acknowledged that two people can’t text at the same exact time. Plus, it’s user-friendly—even if player two doesn’t respond right away, the game won’t start until they see that player one has selected Paper and it’s their turn to play. Following now?

At this point, you might be thinking, “Wait, how has Rock, Paper, Scissors turned into a virtual horse race?” And to that, I say, “Let me cook.” Here’s how it works: Player one sends Paper to signal they want to play, and player two responds by sending Rock to start the game. Now the game begins.

Once the game starts, 60 emojis populate the screen—20 Rock emojis, 20 Paper emojis, and 20 Scissors emojis—all bouncing around randomly. Every time a Rock emoji touches a Paper emoji, it transforms into Paper. If that same Paper emoji then touches a Scissors emoji, it becomes Scissors. It’s pure chaos—a battle royale of emojis, each trying to convert the others.

Right before your eyes, it’s an emoji bloodbath, with each trying to dominate the screen. The game keeps going until all 60 emojis are the same—and that’s when a winner is declared. Get it now?!?

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking, “Uhh, yeah, I guess I get it? But it’d be cool to actually see it in action.” And to that, I say, “Here, I’ve cooked this up for you.”

Below, you’ll find a simulated text chat between you and me, where you can experience the game I just described—plus a little surprise I forgot to mention. In this simulation, we’re in the middle of a debate over who gets to ride shotgun in the Uber because we both get car sick. To settle it, I ask the age-old question… “Rock, paper, scissors?” To start the game, select one of the three emojis below and hit send. Have fun!

It might be shit.

Thanks for reading.

Building notes:

I built this prototype using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, focusing on dynamic interactions and resetting game states. The biggest challenge was getting 60 emojis to move and interact in real-time based on the game’s logic. Syncing animations with JavaScript, especially for resetting rounds and re-enabling buttons, took some effort. Timing event listeners was key to keeping the game smooth, responsive, and fun.

I wish the emojis responded more dynamically. Right now, they move randomly, but I envisioned each emoji chasing its target and changing course if caught. Turns out tracking opponents in real time caused a huge lag and complicated animations, especially with 60 emojis recalculating distances rapidly. If you're curious or have ideas for improvement, let me know!