Simon is the classic electronic memory game: four coloured pads light up in a sequence, and you repeat it. Each round adds one more step, and one wrong press ends the game. The original handheld was launched by Milton Bradley in 1978 and is still sold today, and you can play our version free in the browser at Simon game online. Below are the rules, what counts as a good score, and the memory techniques that take most people from rounds in single figures into the teens and beyond.
The game plays one coloured pad, with a tone.
You press the same pad.
The game replays the whole sequence and adds one new pad at the end.
You repeat the full sequence from the start.
Keep going until you make a mistake. Your score is the longest sequence you repeated correctly.
In our version the pads are green, red, yellow and blue, and on a keyboard you can press 1, 2, 3 and 4 instead of clicking. Three speeds are available: slower playback gives more time to encode each colour, faster playback is a sterner test.
Simon is a test of visual and auditory working memory span, the same kind of capacity measured by the digit span test. Research on short-term memory suggests most adults can hold roughly four to seven items without a strategy, so first attempts often end somewhere between 6 and 10 rounds.
Scores beyond the low teens almost always come from strategy rather than raw memory, which is good news: strategies can be learned.
| Rounds completed | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Under 6 | Warming up; try the slowest speed |
| 6 to 10 | Typical without a strategy |
| 11 to 15 | Good; you are probably chunking |
| 16 to 20 | Very good, with a reliable technique |
| 20+ | Excellent; a well-practised strategy |
Name the colours aloud or silently. "Green, red, red, blue" adds a verbal code to the visual one, and two codes are easier to hold than one.
Chunk in threes or fours. Hear "green-red-red, blue-yellow-green" as two groups, the way you remember phone numbers. Our chunking tool shows why this works.
Use the positions. The pads sit in a square, so sequences make shapes: a clockwise sweep, a zig-zag, a back-and-forth. Shapes are easier to recall than lists.
Listen to the tones. Each pad has its own note, so a sequence is also a short tune. Many strong players rely on the melody.
Only learn the new step. The sequence never changes between rounds; it just grows. Rehearse the old part as one unit and add the new colour to the end.
Use initials for long runs. G-R-R-B-Y can become a made-up word or phrase, such as "GRR BY".
Do not rush your input. There is no time limit on repeating, so press at a steady rhythm and use each press to recall the next.
Practise little and often. A few games a day for a week does more than an hour once; see our working memory training guide.
The electronic game borrowed its name from the playground game Simon Says, but they are different. In Simon Says, a leader gives instructions and players only follow those that begin "Simon says"; anyone who follows an instruction without the phrase is out. It trains listening and inhibition rather than sequence memory, closer to our Go / No-Go game than to Simon.
Sequence Recall: repeat a lit-up sequence on a larger grid.
Color Sequence: a colour-only sequence test without the tones.
Audio Tone memory: remember the order of sounds alone.
Pattern Sequence: spot and continue patterns.
Digit Span: the classic number-span test used by psychologists.
If you prefer the physical toy, our guide to the best electronic memory games compares the handheld Simon versions available today.
Watch the coloured pads light up, then press them in the same order. Each round adds one more step to the end of the sequence, and one mistake ends the game.
Our online Simon has no cap; the sequence keeps growing until you make a mistake. Classic handheld versions offered skill levels that ended at fixed lengths.
Most people reach 6 to 10 rounds at first. Reaching 11 to 15 is good, and 20 or more usually means a practised strategy such as chunking.
You will get better at Simon and similar sequence tasks with practice. Benefits to everyday memory are smaller and less certain, so treat it as a fun working memory workout.
Milton Bradley launched the electronic Simon in 1978.
Name the colours, chunk the sequence, and listen to the tune, and your Simon score will climb within a few sessions. Start at the slowest speed, learn only the new step each round, and move up a speed when you clear 15. Play Simon free online and see how far you get.