“Simon is a short-term memory game. The beautiful simplicity of the game makes it an entertaining pastime for all ages, as well as a commonly referenced example project in the fields of programming, electrical engineering, and product design. This project will combine several broad skills concepts that are common to makers. If you’re worried your skills may not be up to par, fear not! I will break everything down as simply as possible while providing checkpoints along the way, as well as finished files, schematics, and code for those who are more interested in just making the game than learning the theory.
As a little bit of lore, I programmed a software version of Simon for my 7th grade science fair project. I made several versions of the game, which progressively incorporated more senses of the human body. The most sensory deprived version had a monochrome and monotone design, with all of the buttons laid out in a 1x4 line instead of in a 2x2 square. I had as many people as possible test different versions of the game, and aggregated their score data to back the hypothesis that short-term memory was greatly improved proportionally to the number of senses involved in creating the memory. Because of this connection to the game, I was excited to re-imagine it in a whole new way, especially as a physical game rather than a poorly-coded program.
This guide will be designed to encompass as many skill levels as possible. Those who are adept in the skills necessary will be able to breeze through this guide, cherry-picking the necessary files and resources. Those who are beginners — fear not! I will explain everything in simple terms. Part of what I think draws a lot of people to my channels is the fact that because I am not an engineer, I think I do better at explaining complex topics in a way that non-engineers can easily grasp.
The reason I say this in the supplies section of this guide is because I don’t want you to feel daunted by supplies that may sound complex or complicated. Additionally, the bill of materials may seem long, but many of the components are fairly generic, and the bulk of them can be found in your favorite Arduino or other electronics starter kit. This is the one I learned electronics with, it’s pretty comprehensive and I consider it to be one of the most impactful purchases I have made in my entire life (Link).
Lastly, I will link the exact materials that I used for this project, but many of them can be substituted for equivalents. Feel free to look around and see if there is anything you’d rather use. This project will have a plethora of materials provided to make it as easy as possible to adapt the project to your specific needs and component choices.
You will need…
- 4x 60mm LED Arcade Buttons
- 1x Arduino Nano
- 1x small speaker, or a passive buzzer
I used a buzzer, I found it to be loud enough. Thus, the project enclosure is designed to fit these buzzers.
- 1x SN74LS32n Quadruple 2-Input OR Gate IC
- 4x 2n222 Transistors
- A few different values of resistors, I recommend buying a resistor kit
1/4 Watt resistors will be fine for this project, but it’s not that much more for the 1/2 Watt variant, and you may find that more useful for future projects
- Access to Fusion 360
- PLA Filament
I linked my personal favorite brand, eSUN. I use their PLA+ almost exclusively, because it’s stronger, more durable, and less subject to warping. You don’t have to use this specific type, I just find that it goes longer because you can get away with using less.
- 1x toggle switch, I used an MTS-102
- 1x DC Barrel Jack
Optional if you only want to use battery power
- 1x 12v Wall Adapter I buy several at a time to save money, they’re very useful
Optional if you only want to use battery power
- 1x 9v battery
Optional if you only want to use wall power
Will also need a holder”