Quick take: Echo Lights is our tribute to Simon, the 1978 Milton Bradley electronic game whose glowing disc became an instant icon.
Echo Lights is our tribute to Simon, the 1978 Milton Bradley electronic game whose glowing disc became an instant icon. It was invented by Ralph Baer, one of the fathers of video games, together with Howard Morrison, after they saw an Atari game called Touch Me.
The rule is beautifully simple: Simon flashes a sequence of colored lights and matching tones, and you repeat it back. Each round the sequence grows by one, until a single slip of memory ends your turn.
Simon Fast Facts
| Original title | Simon |
|---|---|
| Debuted | 1978 |
| Created by | Ralph Baer and Howard Morrison |
| Genre | Electronic memory game |
| Made by | Milton Bradley |
| Inspired by | Atari's Touch Me |
| Our tribute | Echo Lights |
Why Simon Mattered
- Released in 1978 by Milton Bradley and launched with a splash at a famous party in New York, becoming a runaway hit.
- Invented by Ralph Baer - widely called a father of video games - together with Howard Morrison, after the pair played Atari's Touch Me.
- Runs on one elegant rule: watch the sequence of colored lights and tones, then repeat it back in the same order.
- Grows more punishing every round, adding one more step to the sequence until your memory finally gives out.
- Paired each color with its own musical tone, so players memorized the pattern by sound as much as by sight.
- Became a cultural touchstone of its era, its round four-color disc instantly recognizable decades later.
Simon Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1978 | Simon launches from Milton Bradley with a headline debut at a New York club. |
| 1978 | The four-color memory game becomes one of the season's must-have items. |
| 1980 | Simon settles in as a lasting icon of electronic toys and party play. |
| 1990 | New editions and pocket versions keep the flashing-sequence format alive. |
| 2000 | Simon endures as a shorthand for memory challenges across games and toys. |
Why Simon Still Matters
Its genius was doing so much with four lights and four tones. Echo Lights keeps that ever-growing sequence and the single-slip finish, and adds a daily seeded pattern that every player shares plus a global leaderboard - so you can find out just how long a sequence your memory can hold.
