Simon Game: Rules, Scoring and the Versions on Amazon US

What the Simon game is

Simon is a memory game in a box with four colored buttons. The unit flashes a color and plays a tone. You press the same color. Then it plays that color again and adds a new one, and you press both, in order. Every time you get it right, the pattern grows by one.

That's it. There's no board, no cards and no dice. The game ends when you press a wrong color or forget what comes next. The unit plays a fail sound, shows your score, and dares you to go again.

Simon is a 1-player game in both Hasbro rulebooks we read, with ages 8+ on the cover. It works for a family by passing the unit around and comparing scores. The person who repeats the longest pattern holds the high score until somebody beats it.

Here are the box facts from the two Hasbro rulebooks:

• Players: 1 on both rulebooks; Hasbro's B7962 product page says 1 or more, solo or against a friend
• Ages: 8+
• Contents: the Simon game unit and instructions
• Batteries: included as demo batteries; replace them with alkaline batteries before you really play
• Co-op or competitive: solo, with a stored high score to compete against

The batteries differ by edition. Hasbro's page for the B7962 Simon says it takes 3 AA batteries. The page for the newer E9383 Simon says 3 AAA. Both rulebooks say you need a Phillips screwdriver to open the battery cover.

How Simon plays

The rules below are in my own words, from two Hasbro rulebooks: the Classic Simon rulebook (product B7962, dated 2015) and the newer Simon rulebook (product E9383, a 2019 refresh). They describe the same game with slightly different wording. The other versions on Amazon US may add modes or change controls, so read the sheet that comes with yours.

Getting the unit ready

1. Swap the demo batteries for alkaline batteries. You'll need a Phillips screwdriver.
2. Press the power button to turn the game on.
3. With it on, press the power button again to step through the volume levels: loud, medium, quiet and mute.

Mute is a real setting, and it's the most considerate button on the unit. If someone in your house sleeps during the day, you'll use it more than you expect.

The unit also turns itself off after 15 seconds with no button presses. Press the power button to wake it back up. Fifteen seconds feels short until you realize it's longer than anyone has ever needed to decide what to press.

A game, start to finish

1. Press the power button. Lights and sounds play to show it's ready.
2. The green light flashes. Press it to start.
3. Simon flashes one color. Press that color.
4. Simon replays the pattern and adds one more color at the end. Repeat the whole pattern.
5. Keep going. After every pattern you repeat correctly, one more light gets added.
6. When you press the wrong color, or miss the sequence, Simon plays a fail sound and shows your score.

That's the game. The goal, in both rulebooks, is to complete the longest sequence you can and set a new high score.

Holding the unit

The B7962 rulebook has a tip I didn't expect: put your thumbs on the front and your fingers in the dip on the back, or just set the unit on a table. Table play is easier for small hands and for anyone who likes to point at the buttons while they think.

Reading your score

Simon doesn't have a screen. It shows your score with lights and sound:

• All four lights flash at once: 10 points
• The green light flashes: 1 point

So you count the big flashes, then the small ones. The B7962 rulebook gives an example: two all-light flashes and seven green flashes means you repeated 27 sequences, for a score of 27.

Yes, after a long game, reading the score is one more memory test. You just finished remembering 20-some colors, and now you have to count flashes. Have someone else watch the readout. It's a good job for the player who's waiting.

The high score

Simon remembers the best score. To see it, press and hold the power button for two seconds. The rulebooks give one warning worth reading twice: replacing the batteries or pressing the reset button on the back erases the high score.

In our house, that turns a battery change into a political event. Depending on whose record was on the unit, a fresh set of batteries is either a tragedy or a full amnesty.

If the unit acts up

Both rulebooks say to try new batteries first. If that doesn't help, press the reset button on the back, near the battery compartment. A paper clip fits. You'll lose the high score, but you'll get a working game back.

Lucho's take, from across the garage: "Lights, a tone, and a fail sound when you get it wrong. That's half the diagnostic tools at my shop. The other half just beep."

Getting better at Simon

None of these are rules. They're habits that help most players get past the first ten.

• Say the colors under your breath. "Green, red, red, blue" is easier to hold than four flashes.
• Listen as well as look. Each color has its own tone, so the pattern is also a short tune.
• Group the pattern. Remember it in chunks of three or four instead of one long line.
• Don't rush the first presses. The early colors are the ones you've heard the most. Get them right and spend your focus on the new one at the end.
• Play on a table. Your hands stay still, and your eyes stay on the lights.

A house rule for a group, not a Hasbro rule: everybody plays one full game in a row, and the player with the lowest score picks who goes first next round. It keeps a younger player from always going last.

Simon versions on Amazon US right now

Our data for this page lists six Simon versions and bundles on Amazon US as of October 2026. The table above shows what each listing states. Where a listing leaves out a field, the table shows a dash.

One more listing turned up in our search because of a shared maker name, a Bop It game, but it isn't a Simon game, so it isn't covered here.

The full-size Simon

Hasbro Simon Handheld Electronic Memory Game. The listing calls it an electronic game for ages 8+. It doesn't give a player count. This is the version closest to the two rulebooks above, by name, but the listing doesn't name its product code, so check the box.

Simon Micro Series

Hasbro Simon Micro Series. Listed as an electronic game for ages 8+, 1 or more players, with a solo mode. The name says smaller. The listing doesn't give a size or battery type.

Simon Micro Series + Bop It Micro Series Bundle. A Hasbro bundle that pairs the Simon Micro Series with a Bop It Micro Series. The listing doesn't give ages or player counts. Bop It is a different game, so this is the pick if you want two small electronic games in one order. I'm not covering Bop It's rules here.

Simon Harry Potter Edition

Hasbro Simon Harry Potter Edition. Listed for ages 8+, 1 or more players, with a solo mode. The licensed line on the listing is Harry Potter. The listing describes it as an electronic game; it doesn't say whether the play differs from classic Simon, so I won't guess.

Simon Jump Game Mat

Hasbro Simon Jump Game Mat, by Just Play. The listing names a game mat and calls it electronic. It doesn't list ages, player counts or how the mat is played. If you want a version that gets kids moving, read this listing closely before you order, because our data doesn't say how it works.

Pocket Simon

Milton Bradley Electronic Handheld Pocket Simon. Listed as an electronic handheld with a solo mode. The listing doesn't give an age or player count. It's the one listing in our data under the Milton Bradley name. Check the battery details and the seller notes on the listing before you buy.

Which Simon fits

A few quick matches, from the listings:

• The classic game, as the rulebook describes it: the Hasbro Simon Handheld Electronic Memory Game
• A small one for a backpack or a stocking: the Simon Micro Series
• Two small electronic games at once: the Micro Series bundle with Bop It
• A fan of the licensed line: the Simon Harry Potter Edition, ages 8+
• A game that leaves the table: the Simon Jump Game Mat, after you've read its listing

All the versions with a stated age list 8+. None of the listings in our data state a younger starting age.

Who the Simon game suits

Simon fits a player who likes a short, clear challenge. Every game asks the same question, and the answer is always a number. That makes it easy to pick up for a few minutes and easy to put down.

• One player with a few minutes: the stored high score turns it into a personal record to chase
• A family that takes turns: pass the unit, compare scores, no rules to argue about
• Long car rides: a version with a mute setting is kind to the driver
• Kids 8 and up who like beating grown-ups: memory doesn't care who's older

It also doesn't need a table full of people or a long setup. You turn it on, press green and go.

Battery care

Simon runs on batteries, so the rulebooks include battery instructions. In short: use the batteries the unit calls for, don't mix old and new batteries or different types, and take dead batteries out. If the game will sit for a long time, remove the batteries. Recharge rechargeable batteries only outside the unit and with an adult. Keep the battery cover screwed shut.

Who should skip it

Skip Simon if you want a game the whole table plays at once. It's one player at a time, and a long game means everyone else waits. Skip it, too, if the beeping will bother someone in your house more than the mute button can fix.

And skip it for a child under 8, going by the listings. The game needs focus over a long sequence, and the ages on every listing that states one start at 8.

If you like Simon, look at these

Pages chosen by what they share with Simon: quick rounds, memory and playing on your own or in turns.

• Mastermind: a code to crack, one guess at a time
• Hedbanz: a quick guessing game for a group
• Travel games: small boxes for the road
• Family board games: bigger games for the whole table

Most Simon listings in our data are Hasbro boxes, and Pocket Simon carries the Milton Bradley name. See the Hasbro and Milton Bradley brand pages for the rest of each lineup.

Press green, listen hard, and let somebody else count the flashes.