Simon

How Simon works

In short: Watch the colours flash, then repeat the ever-growing sequence. The play area is a ring of colour pads that flash in a growing sequence, it is rated a memory endurance test, and reach the target sequence length to win; one slip ends the round.

Key facts about Simon

Learn Simon in five steps

The goal

Repeat the flashing colour sequence back correctly for as long as you can. Reaching the target length wins the round, and each round adds one more flash to remember.

Watch the sequence

At the start of every round the pads light up and play their tones one at a time. Watch and listen all the way through before you touch anything.

Your turn

Tap the pads in the same order they just flashed. The game waits for you, so there is no rush to begin, only the need to get the order exactly right.

One mistake ends it

A single wrong pad, or a pad out of order, ends the round immediately. There are no second chances within a round, which is what makes a long streak feel earned.

Winning

Match the sequence up to the target length to win. On expert the ring has more pads, so each new colour is harder to place and the pressure climbs faster.

Where Simon came from

Simon was launched by Milton Bradley in 1978 and quickly became one of the defining electronic toys of its era. Its glowing ring of four coloured pads, each with its own musical note, made it instantly recognisable and hugely popular through the late 1970s and 1980s.

The game was designed by Ralph Baer, often called a father of home video games, along with Howard Morrison. They took the core idea from an Atari arcade game called Touch Me, but Simon's clean design, catchy tones and portable shape turned it into a mainstream hit that Touch Me never was.

Named after the old children's game Simon Says, it has stayed in production for decades and been reissued in countless forms. Its simple, escalating memory test has proved timeless, and it remains a common example of an easy-to-learn game that quickly becomes fiendishly hard.

Tips to solve Simon faster

💡 Best move: Best move: turn the colours into sound or words, humming each pad's note or saying its colour aloud, because a rhythm or a spoken list sticks far better than a memory of flashes.

1. Only add the new colour to memory each round, since the sequence is last round plus one, so rehearse the ending rather than the whole thing from scratch.
2. Group the colours into small chunks of three or four, the way you remember a phone number, rather than one long undivided string.
3. Do not rush your reply, because the game waits for you, and slowing between taps costs nothing while hurrying causes almost every avoidable slip.
4. Watch the whole flash before you move a finger, since reaching for the first pad early makes you miss the colours at the end of the sequence.
5. If the pace rattles you, focus on the sound rather than the light, as the little tune the pads play is often easier to follow than the flashing colours.

Sharper tactics for Simon

1. Lean on the musical notes. Each Simon pad plays a fixed tone, so a long sequence becomes a short melody, and recalling a tune is something the brain does far more naturally than recalling colours.
2. Chunk the sequence as it grows. Break a run of nine into groups like three, three and three; short chunks rehearsed together survive pressure much better than one endless list.
3. Rehearse only the tail. Because each round repeats everything and adds one, your effort should go into locking the newest colour onto the end of a pattern you already know.
4. Keep a steady internal tempo. Replaying the sequence at an even beat, rather than in nervous bursts, keeps the order intact and stops you second-guessing a pad you actually had right.
5. On the six-pad expert ring, give each extra colour a distinct label or note the moment it first appears, so the two new pads never blur together with their neighbours.

Mistakes that trip people up

• Trying to picture the flashes alone - turn each pad into its note or colour name, because a tune or a spoken list sticks far better.
• Relearning the whole sequence each round - it is last round plus one, so rehearse only the new colour on the end.
• Rushing your reply - the game waits for you, so slow, even taps beat hurried ones that cause almost every avoidable slip.
• Reaching for the first pad before the flash ends - watch the entire sequence first or you will miss the colours at the end.

Ways to play Simon

Classic four pads

The original ring of four coloured pads, each with its own tone, flashing a sequence that grows by one every round.

Expert six pads

A wider ring with two extra colours, which makes every new step harder to place and the growing sequence tougher to hold.

Faster tempos

Speed modes that shorten the gap between flashes, cutting your thinking time and turning recall into a race against the pace.

Two-player Simon

Head-to-head versions where players take turns adding to the sequence or race to repeat it, turning the solo memory test into a duel.

Simon questions, answered

Still curious about Simon? Browse the full puzzle FAQ, look up a term such as memory puzzle in the puzzle glossary, or compare Simon with the other games in the rules for every puzzle.

Last updated 2026-07-04.