Netflix Orders Competition Series Based on Playground Game ‘Simon Says,’ Set for 2027

Netflix announced on Thursday that it is developing a new reality competition series based on the playground game “Simon Says,” with a premiere date set for 2027. The news was shared as the company outlined the concept for a competition format derived from the widely recognized childhood rules.

The series is described as “this isn’t the Simon you remember from recess,” positioning the adaptation as an expansion of the familiar command-and-follow premise into a competition setting. Netflix said the new version will bring “mischievous and high-stakes” twists, indicating that the show will change the balance between obedience and risk compared with the classroom or playground version.

The announcement marks another example of Netflix’s continued focus on transforming recognizable, low-cost cultural material into large-scale unscripted programming. Playground games, catchphrases, and other everyday prompts have provided studios with a ready-made starting point for audience recognition, which can then be translated into structured challenges for broadcast and streaming.

Because Netflix is treating “Simon Says” as a competitive series rather than a traditional game show, the format is likely to rely on multi-step eliminations and rule enforcement mechanisms that fit competition production schedules. Netflix’s description emphasizes the show’s departures from the recess memory, suggesting that the stakes for participants will be formalized into the show’s structure.

Netflix did not, in the information released with the announcement, provide additional details about episode count, judging format, or casting. It also did not identify a specific host or network of partners for production in the summary associated with the announcement.

For viewers, the project will be one more addition to the streamer’s expanding slate of reality programming, arriving as audiences continue to look for recognizable concepts that can be followed episode by episode. For Netflix, the adaptation approach also offers potential cost advantages compared with building an entirely new premise from scratch, while still requiring legal, licensing, and brand-clearance checks for any protected elements of the underlying concept.

The series is scheduled to premiere in 2027, with Netflix serving as the distributor. Netflix’s next steps will likely include sharing more concrete production information closer to launch, such as talent, the episode structure, and how the “mischievous and high-stakes” framing will translate into on-camera rules.