As reported by Fast Company, other Simon spinoffs include 2005’s Simon Trickster, which added three gameplay options but was ultimately discontinued, per Hasbro senior director of marketing Jennifer Boswinkel, who said Trickster “stretched the gameplay from the core essence of Simon a bit too far.” In 2011, Hasbro introduced Flash versions of Simon as well as Yahtzee and Scrabble, incorporating handheld blocks with which players played Simon Shuffle by rearranging the blocks to fit an original color order and Simon Lights Out, which requires rearranging the blocks until the lights are all shut off.
From 2012 on, Hasbro has, according to Boswinkel, focused on combining nostalgia for older games with new technologies, for which Simon appears to be a perfect product. Newer game versions include Simon Swipe, in which the classic colorful buttons are now swipeable; the direction of the swipe is part of the game. Unlike the original Simon, Simon Swipe (as seen on YouTube) isn’t meant to be played on a table and instead is meant to change hands during group play. Said Boswinkel, “we made [Swipe] more pass-around from the insight that people want to gather and play together.” Other new versions include Simon Air, in which the push buttons are completely gone and players must replicate patterns via placing their hands near lights, and Simon Optix (shown above and as seen on YouTube), which introduced the first wearable Simon with which lights flash before players’ eyes via a visor and patterns are copied manually in the air.
