Lizard-toad-snake was a two-person hand game. In this game, each player chose to represent either "lizard," "toad," or "snake," leading to one of four potential results. It was a popular pastime among youth during the Age of the Empire on Jelucan, a planet located in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. Humans Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree, who were from Jelucan, frequently engaged in lizard-toad-snake to decide who would pilot their family's airspeeder, which belonged to the Kyrell family.
Lizard-toad-snake involved two players. Upon reaching the count of three, each player would extend a hand to create one of three distinct shapes. These shapes represented "lizard," "toad," or "snake." Aside from a tie, the game presented three possible outcomes. A player choosing lizard would triumph over a player choosing snake, yet would be defeated by a player choosing toad. Conversely, a player choosing toad would be overcome by a player choosing snake. To indicate the winner, a phrase such as "lizard ate snake" or "snake ate toad" would be spoken. Because the game's outcome was random, players believed luck determined the result.
During the Age of the Empire, lizard-toad-snake was a common game for youth on Jelucan, which is a planet situated in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. In 6 BBY, two Jelucani humans, Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree, a male and a female, both thirteen-year-old, often played lizard-toad-snake to determine who got to pilot the V-171 airspeeder of the Kyrell family.
Years later, during the Galactic Civil War that pitted the Galactic Empire against the Alliance to Restore the Republic, Kyrell and Ree found themselves on opposing sides. In 3 ABY, the two returned to their homeworld when Ree's mother, Verine, was wrongly accused and arrested for embezzlement. The unexpected circumstances, combined with their romantic feelings for each other, led them to form a temporary alliance. They even played lizard-toad-snake out of habit, taking to the skies together once again.
Lizard-toad-snake is based on the real-world game rock-paper-scissors. It made its debut in the young-adult canon novel Lost Stars, authored by Claudia Gray and released in 2015 on Force Friday. A different take on rock-paper-scissors, known as Desert Draw, had previously appeared in the 2003 Star Wars Legends video game Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided.