Finger Band (iOS) Review

Simon is a toy many have fond yet frustrating memories of from their childhood. The devilish machine presented more and more complex patterns to instantly memorise, and one mistake meant instant defeat. It was a common game at any party before the shift of the millennium.

Finger Band adds a new element to the classic game: rhythm. This time around it is not simply enough to memorise the pattern, but to also do it in the rhythm the game does it in. While this certainly adds to the difficulty, thankfully, failing the rhythm does not instantly end the run, but rather resets a point multiplier in a way similar to how a missed note does in Guitar Hero. For casual playthroughs, this matters very little, but for those high score hunters, it matters - a lot.

This is a perfect way to add challenge to a classic in a way that hardly affects casual players, while it forces hardcore fans to stay on their toes, but it does also add a huge feeling of reward. Getting those massive multipliers feels truly wonderful, yet is not required to get to more challenging levels of the game.

If there is one thing that made Simon a fun and great experience, it was the fact that the difficulty scaling was constantly increasing, and that the punishment was harsh - but not harsh enough to scare off casual players. In other words, exactly what kept arcade games a hit in the 20th century. The fact that progression towards the more difficult levels with even more instruments to keep track of is not locked behind performance-based gates, but rather cumulative ones, ensures that everyone will keep playing and progressing - only that some progress will be made a little bit faster than others, and that is completely fair and fine. Finger Band has risk versus reward pinned down exactly where it should be. It keeps hardcores playing, and it does not scare off more casual players.