FAQs

Q. What is Simon Says Mobile?

A. Simon Says Mobile is, by all intents and purposes, a mobile game adaptation of the children's activity known as "Simon Says", in which someone becomes "Simon", issues a never-ending series of commands, one by one and other players must follow only the ones that start with "Simon Says", lest they be eliminated for failing to do so or obeying a fake command that did not start with such clause. In this mobile game, your device becomes Simon and you must perform the correct touch and gyro gestures decreed by Simon quickly while remembering to ignore any commands that don't start with Simon Says. It plays like an endless runner that only "ends" when you make a mistake, with the commands going faster and faster as you continue.

Q. When was Simon Says Mobile released? Why are you making a sequel?

A. This game was released in 2016. Our sequel is planned for a 2021 release to celebrate its fifth anniversary. We believe that this game should have been a unique trailblazer on the Google Play Store and hoped it would be a viral hit as it played like an endless runner. We made various improvements to turn it into a satisfying, fun game with lots of content. But our desire for a sequel doesn't merely stem from celebrating an anniversary. We chose to make one because we had a lot of ideas about how to implement the game mechanics that we ultimately had to cut from the first game and a brand new sequel would be a prime opportunity to show off some rejected ideas...as well as come up with new fun mechanics. It's more like why Rovio decided to make a sequel to Angry Birds.

Q. Will this game be free, or do you want my money?

A. Rest assured, friend. Like the first game, the sequel will be free to play with no compulsory in-app purchases. Even better, we've decided to do away with the "loot card" mechanic in the first game (especially with all the shenanigans about loot boxes these days) and we promise that our game will be feature-complete upon its initial release, unlike how our first game started out simple and had features built upon it over the many months after its release.

Q. Is this game going to be Android™ exclusive again?

A. Sorry...but yes, for the foreseeable future. We MIGHT look into porting the two Simon Says Mobile games to iOS some time at an undetermined date, so don't despair!

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about what's going to be in the sequel?

A. We understand that you don't want to be left in the dark about that, but we can't spoil everything and we want you to be pleasantly surprised. At least we can say now that if you're anticipating the sequel to be almost exactly like the first game, prepare for a rude awakening of sorts. Like we said, there's going to be stuff in there that's basically rejected game mechanic ideas that we contemplated while making and updating the first game. And there's going to be some new mechanics and features to go with it, some which might be challenging for us to program on our end. But that's pretty much all we can say at this point. Just be ready for what fun this game will deliver next year when it comes out.

Q. Will this game be put on Early Access or available for pre-registration ahead of its release?

A. No and yes, respectively. We intend to keep much of what's in our game a secret right up to when it's released, hence we are not going to be putting it up in Early Access. But we will take advantage of the pre-registration feature to help you all Simon-Followers build up some anticipation for the game's release a few months ahead of time. How we will do so is something we haven't decided yet. Stay tuned!

Q. So, what's the pre-registration reward?

A. The pre-registration reward will be an exclusive Starter Pack. It will contain a stock of several useful items and a small amount of in-game currency. We will give you more details when we officially begin pre-registration.

Q. When will pre-registration begin?

A. We will begin pre-registration on May 12, 2021. Before you pre-register, please have a look at our terms of service.

We were originally planned to start pre-registration on April 12th, but unfortunately, we hit a licensing snag in designing our trailer and there were more important, personal matters to deal with around the time. Thus, we have made the difficult decision to delay pre-registration by one month so that we can better decide whether to either rework the trailer or just pay the hefty licensing fee, but this will not affect our planned final release date. We are sorry for the inconvenience and hope to get the game out soon. Please bear with us.

Q. Do you have an exact release date?

A. Yes, but we will announce it when we start pre-registration. So wait a little longer.

Q. How is the development going? Are you almost finished?

A. Thanks for asking! We can fortunately say that we are at a point where development is nearly complete and we have high hopes of releasing our game on time.

Q. What will this game be rated?

A. We will announce this game's final ESRB rating when we start pre-registration. Rest assured, the rating won't really be a high one - as our teaser trailers don't carry the warning "May Contain Content Inappropriate for Children".

Q. Is there going to be a Simon Says Mobile 3?

A. We do have some ideas on what a third Simon Says game would be like, but don't expect it to come out for a long time after Simon Says Mobile 2. The biggest obstacles to making a third game right away include other pressing matters at hand, as well as the challenge of coming up with enough unique ideas that can make it stand out from the previous two games.

Q. Can you now tell me more about the pre-registration reward?

A. The pre-registration award is a celebratory 5th Anniversary starter pack that marks 5 years since Simon Says Mobile first hit the Google Play Store. Thus, expect plenty of fives to be in it: five Recharges (which refill your power-up energy), five Revives (which save you from a mistake), five Head Starts (which gives you some free points and energy at the start of the next game) and 5,000 Simon Credits. All of this should be a nice gift to get you started on the sequel.

Q. How do I get the pre-registration reward?

A. Just hit the "pre-register" button on this game's Google Play Store listing, wait until July 11th and then you will be notified by the Play Store that it's ready to download. When you open the game for the first time, make sure you do so with an internet connection and grant this game permission to your contacts. You will then be notified that your reward has been instantly dispensed and you can confirm that you have it by going to the Shop. Remember to abide by our Terms of Service.

Q. Whoa, there! If this is a kids' game, why is it rated Everyone 10+?

A. We are firmly committed to providing family-friendly entertainment with our Android games, and our Simon Says Mobile games are no exception. Unfortunately, the sequel will be receiving a higher ESRB rating because it will contain some violent content that comes with some of the new features we wanted to introduce, but had to cut from the first game because it would fall just outside what its Everyone rating would allow. Rest assured that the Fantasy Violence descriptor only refers to just two things: a photo still of one cowboy shooting another in a menu screen and the occasional appearance of a scary, red face that fills up the screen during gameplay that you can beat up with your fingers.

Q. What countries will this game be available in?

A. Owing to a lack of manpower for a localization team, we can only release the game in countries where English is a spoken or official language. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Q. What do I need to install the game when it comes out?

A. This game is compatible with Android 5.0 or later, and you'll need several dozens of megabytes (about 50, give or take) of free space to install it.

Note: Due to periodic updates to modernize the game for later Android devices, the minimum Android OS and free space requirement will change over time. Check our Google Play Store listing for the current requirements.

Q. Is there any chance that this game may be delayed?

A. We hope not and we pray not. We've had some trouble trying to finish up development of the game, but we are determined to finish our game on schedule on a date that means so much to us. Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride.

Q. Did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the game's development in some way?

A. We've also been aware of the increase of video game play during this difficult time as those quarantining look for ways to pass the time while awaiting the restoration of normal public activity. With more free time available to stay at home, people looking for something fun to play while quarantining, the fifth anniversary of the original game coming up and nascent, yet substantial ideas for a sequel, we decided that it's pretty much about time we go ahead and make one.

Q. Can you enjoy this game without playing the first game?

A. We can't definitively answer that question for you, but we're gravitating towards "yes". There are both similarities and differences with the two Simon Says Mobile games. Try both and see which one you like better.

Q. What are some of the major ways this sequel is different from the first game?

A. Okay, here's a list:

• Difficulty level settings are removed altogether.

• There is a new "Frenzy" mode.

• The "loot card" mechanic from the first game is also removed. You can collect "Last Chance Cards" during a game for a chance to earn end-of-game prizes, including a second chance to keep going.

• Power-ups work differently and there are new boosts implemented that you can stock up on.

• While in the first game, power-ups can be temporarily boosted while background abilities are permanently upgraded, it's the other way around in the sequel.

Q. Why is the game subtitled "Reloaded"?

A. It's meant to highlight one new major game mechanic: a refillable energy bar for your power-ups. To use your power-up, you have to load up the energy bar by following Simon's commands correctly and staying alive. Once it's full, you tap an icon on the top right corner of the screen to empty out the energy bar and use your power-up. And then you refill the bar again with correct commands. On and on it goes. And if you're wondering if we called it "Reloaded" because we're fans of The Matrix (especially when one of the power-ups is "slow motion" and one of our Rare Remixes in the first game pays homage to it), let's just say that we really aren't. But we do admire how its eponymous sequel's title came to be.

Q. Congratulations on meeting your release date. How much was crunch time a problem for you during development?

A. Crunch time was a significant issue in developing this game. We wanted to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the original game in some way and a sequel was probably a good way to do just that. But we were pretty much on the fence on whether or not to make a sequel by the time everyone started quarantining. It wouldn't be until September did we start development. But it turns out that we should have started a little earlier. Personal matters, some difficult programming challenges, as well as additional work needed to find and prepare publicity material (including the search for good free stock music for our trailers) all conspired to make developing this game in time for the anniversary somewhat of a nightmare. We had to push ourselves to get this thing out the door on time. But in spite of this, we assure you that our product will have many features for you to enjoy right out of the box with few, if any, significant bugs or glitches. If you see any of them, contact us. We will try out best to investigate them and deal with them.