Simon says is a children's game for three or more players where one player takes the role of 'Simon' and issues instructions, (usually physical actions such as 'jump in the air' or 'stick out your tongue') to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase 'Simon says', for example 'Simon says jump in the air'. Players are eliminated from the game by either following instructions that are not immediately preceded by the trigger phrase or by failing to follow an instruction which does include 'Simon says'. It is the ability to distinguish between valid and invalid commands, rather than physical ability, that usually matters in the game, and in most cases, the action only needs to be attempted, rather than completed accurately.
The object for the player acting as 'Simon' is to get all the other players 'out' as quickly as possible, and the winner of the game is usually the last player who has successfully followed all of the given commands. Occasionally however, two or more of the last players may all be eliminated by following a command without "Simon Says", thus resulting in no winner at all.
The game is well embedded in popular culture, with numerous references in films, music and literature.
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'Simon says' originated from Latin, the Latin version was "Cicero dicit fac hoc",[1] meaning "Cicero says do this" (Cicero was a powerful Roman politician).
The tradition behind the use of 'Simon' as the controller of the game may trace back to the year 1264, when Simon de Montfort captured King Henry III at the English town of Lewes. For the next year, any order Henry III gave could have been countermanded by de Montfort until Henry's son Prince Edward took Simon's castle by force.
This game has translated across multiple cultures from seemingly common routes and some international versions also use the name Simon such as the Spanish "Simón dice", "Símon segir" in Icelandic, "Szymon mówi" in Polish, "시몬 가라사대" ("Simon says") in Korean, In Arabia: for example, "الجنرال عمل كده" (General commanded - Egypt version) or "قال المعلّم" (the teacher says - Lebanon version) and "سلمان يقول" (salmon says - Iraqi Version) in Arabic, "Kommando Pimperle" (or with similar rules "Alle Vögel fliegen hoch") in German, "Jacques a dit" ("James said") in French, "Jean dit" (John says) in Québec, "Commando" (the Dutch noun for "command") or "Jantje zegt" in Flemish parts of Belgium, in Dutch, "הרצל אמר" ("Herzl said") in Hebrew, "Deir Ó Grádaigh" ("O'Grady says") in Irish, "Razvan spune" (Razvan says) in Romanian, "Yakup der ki" in Turkish, "船長さんの命令" ('Senchosan no meirei' "Ship Captain's orders") in Japanese, "Kongen befaler" ("the king commands") in Norwegian, "Kapteeni käskee" ("the captain commands") in Finnish, "老師話" ("the teacher says") in Cantonese, "O rei manda" ("the king orders") in Portuguese, and "O mestre mandou" ("The master ordered") in Brazilian Portuguese. A version also exists in India and Hungary where an analogy to what can fly and what cannot is emphasized instead of Simon saying or not, i.e. "Chidiya ud" (Hindi) which translates to Bird fly. The term 'bird' can then be replaced with a thing that cannot fly. This game is usually played more with gestures than actual jumping.
A command starting with "Simon says" means the players must obey that command. A command without the beginning "Simon says" means do not do this action. Anyone who breaks one of these two rules is eliminated from the remainder of the game. It is also often played that anyone who talks is eliminated.
There can be very complex and difficult command chains, such as "Simon says: Arms up. Simon says: Arms down. Arms up." Anyone ending with their arms up is eliminated, because you can not obey a command without beginning with "Simon says".
It is considered cheating to give impossible commands ("Simon says 'lift both of your legs up and keep them there!'.") or phrase the commands in such a way that the other player has no option but to 'go out' ("Simon says 'jump up'. Come down."). However, at least in some versions, it is allowed for Simon to eliminate players by asking them to do something seemingly unrelated to the game (example: "Anyone remaining join me up here.")
A recent psychological study found that the game can be a healthy way to help children to improve self-control and restraint of impulsive behavior.[2]
Various musical artists have produced songs with the title 'Simon says' including the 1910 Fruitgum Company, Pharoahe Monch, Clawfinger, Drain STH, Laleh and Jimi Hendrix.
The phrase has been used multiple times as a plot device in films and television dramas including Die Hard with a Vengeance, Police Academy, Demolition Man and the TV series Underdog as well as being played in television game shows including 1970s show Superstars and Battle of the Network Reality Stars.
Simon Says is a character in Shrek 2.
The Peanuts special It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown includes a song/dance number called "Lucy Says" where Lucy plays the role of Simon, but uses "Lucy Says" instead of "Simon Says".
A stunt played on the game show Fun House also played Simon Says, but was changed to "Tiny Says" to match the name of the show's announcer giving the commands.