Repeat

Four coloured buttons, a sequence that grows by one colour every turn, one mistake and you start over. The game comes from Simon, an electronic toy from 1978, and ever since almost everyone stops around seven colours — which is exactly what working memory holds.

How it works

Four coloured pads. The game lights one, you repeat it. Then it lights two, you repeat them in order. Then three, and so on: the sequence grows by one colour each turn and always restarts from the beginning. One mistake ends the game, and your score is the length you reached.

On Pocket Games

Before you start you choose one of three speeds, and it stays for the whole game. Two timings change: how long each pad stays lit while the sequence plays, and the pause before the next one.

• While the sequence plays, “Watch…” appears and the pads do not respond; when it is your turn, “Repeat!” appears. There is no time limit on your answer.
• There are no lives: the first wrong tap ends the game.
• Your score is the number of rounds completed, meaning the longest sequence you repeated in full. The record is kept per speed and stays visible at the top during the game.
• If you open the pause panel while the sequence is playing, the sequence stops and carries on when you close it.
• If you leave halfway, the game is saved. When you resume, the game shows you the current round’s sequence again in full, and you repeat it from the start even if you had already done part of it.

Why people stop at seven

It is not a coincidence, and it is the most interesting thing about this game: human working memory holds about seven items, give or take two. Up to six or seven colours you really are remembering them one by one. Past that, the method that got you there stops working — and squeezing it harder will not help.

To go further you have to change which kind of memory you are using.

The techniques that work

Chunk it. Instead of seven separate items, remember two groups of three and one of one. It is the same reason phone numbers are remembered in groups rather than digit by digit: the capacity is seven units, and a group of three counts as one.

Use the rhythm, not the colours. With practice the sequence stops being a list of colours and becomes a cadence, with its own accents and pauses. Memory for rhythm has more room than visual memory and, crucially, it survives speed: on Hard there is no other way to keep up.

Repeat at the speed you saw it. Going slower feels careful and actually breaks the rhythm, which is the only thing you are really remembering. People who repeat in stops and starts make more mistakes than people who repeat in one flow.

Do not look at the pads while you answer. It sounds absurd and it is the tip that helps most: after a few turns your fingers know where to go. Watching the colours as you press makes you consciously double-check, which is slow, and makes you lose your place.

The fragile part is the beginning. At high turns people almost always fail in the first three colours, not the last ones: the new ones are fresh, the first ones you have been recalling for twenty turns. It is worth mentally rehearsing the opening while the game plays the sequence.

Frequently asked questions

Is the sequence always the same?

No. Every round adds one colour to the end, drawn at random from the four, and every game starts from scratch with a new sequence. The same colour can come up two or more times in a row. You do not learn the sequence: you learn the method.

Does the sequence speed up as it goes?

No. The speed is the one you chose at the start and does not change during the game: only the sequence gets longer. To train on a faster pace, choose Medium or Hard on the start screen.

Does my record count on another phone?

Yes. The record for each speed is saved to your account: sign in with the same account and you will find it on another device, with the higher of the two kept.

Is there sound, like the original 1978 toy?

Yes, and they are the real notes: the four pads play E, C♯, A and a low E — the A major chord of the 1978 original, picked so that any sequence, however random, stays consonant. A mistake gets its own sound, deliberately out of tune. That makes the rhythm advice above literal: the sequence is remembered as a tune. The volume is set in the settings and in the pause panel; at zero you play in silence, on the flashes alone.

More games to try

• Pairs
• Targets
• Stack

See the full list of games, or open Pocket Games in your browser: they are free and you don’t need an account.