How to Play
Simon Says is inspired by the legendary electronic toy "Simon", released by Milton Bradley in 1978 with a midnight launch party at Studio 54 in New York City. Simon was invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison at toy design firm Marvin Glass and Associates (with programming by Lenny Cope), inspired by an Atari arcade game called "Touch Me" that they saw at a trade show in 1976. Simon became one of the best-selling toys of the year and peaked in popularity through the 1980s.
In this version, four colored panels light up one at a time in a sequence — watch closely, then repeat the exact same sequence by tapping the panels in order. Every time you succeed, one more color is added to the end of the sequence and the game moves to the next level. A single wrong tap ends the game, and your final score is the highest level you reached.
Tips
The sequence gets longer every level, so your memory strategy needs to change once it stretches past a few steps.
- Break a long sequence into small chunks (say, groups of 3-4 colors) instead of trying to hold it all as one long string.
- Name the color out loud or in your head as it flashes — turning a visual memory into a verbal one tends to stick longer.
- In longer sequences, watch for repeating sub-patterns — many random sequences still share short runs with earlier levels, and that overlap is a free memory aid.
- Don't rush your taps. A mis-tap from hurrying usually happens on a level you'd actually memorized correctly.