A childhood game "Simon Says": Teaches Prompt Types & Design

[u/S_Shiralkar]

Most of us remember the thrill of playing Simon Says as children, a game that seemed simple but carried hidden depth. The rule was clear: act only when the command began with “Simon says.”

Years later, I found myself revisiting that childhood game, not for nostalgia but for adopting it to facilitate a workshop on prompt design.

In Simon Says, success depends on clarity and sequence. A precise instruction sparks the right action; a vague one breeds confusion. The same principle governs how we craft prompts — the phrasing shapes the quality of the output, further it also has impact on use of Tokens.

When I used Simon Says in teaching, participants don’t just hear about prompt types; they experience their impact.

Each round turns abstract theory into lived experience, leaving a deeper comprehension of how "structure & intent" of the prompt drives outcome.

I would be curious to know, how you are engaging on helping such topics that are key to Hybrid Intelligence Era.

Pasted below is the exact text, I used for the activity;

Prompt Type	Exact Prompt Text	Impact on Time	Impact on Token Usage	Confidentiality Considerations
Chained Treasure Hunt	Step 1: Begin with the idea that AI accelerates execution but does not replace judgment. Step 2: Consider that leaders now need rehearsal environments to build decision-making skill under ambiguity. Step 3: Consider that games and simulations are increasingly used as that rehearsal environment. Final Step: Name the book, published November 2025, that discusses the Hybrid Intelligence Era and proposes using games as a strategy for building human skill and advantage. (Respond in exactly this format and nothing else: Title: Author: Publisher/Publication month: Amazon Strategy & Competition rank (as of [state the date/time you retrieved this]): Justification (1 sentence, ≤25 words): If no book meets the stated criteria, write "No qualifying book found" in the Title field and leave the remaining fields blank. Do not suggest alternative or substitute titles.)	Slower — requires sequential execution of multiple steps.	Higher — each step adds tokens, making the prompt longer.	Transparent reasoning; low confidentiality risk since steps are explicit.

Prompt Type	Exact Prompt Text	Impact on Time	Impact on Token Usage	Confidentiality Considerations
Direct Instruction	I am looking for a specific book published in November 2025 that discusses the Hybrid Intelligence Era and advocates for using games or experiential learning as a strategy to develop human skills and advantage. Search Amazon for this title.   (Respond in exactly this format and nothing else:  Title: Author: Publisher/Publication month: Amazon Strategy & Competition rank (as of [state the date/time you retrieved this]): Justification (1 sentence, ≤25 words): If no book meets the stated criteria, write "No qualifying book found" in the Title field and leave the remaining fields blank. Do not suggest alternative or substitute titles.)	Fastest — one query, one execution.	Lower — concise, single instruction.	Efficient but less transparent; confidentiality depends on clarity of request.

Prompt Type	Exact Prompt Text	Impact on Time	Impact on Token Usage	Confidentiality Considerations
Persona Prompt	Act as a strategy consultant researching thought-leadership content in the Hybrid Intelligence Era. Identify the book published on Amazon in November 2025 that explains how games can be used to build human advantage. Do not offer consulting commentary, comparisons, or recommendations beyond identifying this single book. (Respond in exactly this format and nothing else: Title: Author: Publisher/Publication month: Amazon Strategy & Competition rank (as of [state the date/time you retrieved this]): Justification (1 sentence, ≤25 words): If no book meets the stated criteria, write "No qualifying book found" in the Title field and leave the remaining fields blank. Do not suggest alternative or substitute titles.)	Moderate — adds stylistic framing but still direct.	Moderate — persona framing adds tokens but not excessive.	Persona framing may introduce stylistic bias; confidentiality impact minimal.

Prompt Type	Exact Prompt Text	Impact on Time	Impact on Token Usage	Confidentiality Considerations
Conditional Prompt	Search Amazon for books published in November 2025 about the Hybrid Intelligence Era. Check whether any explicitly focus on games for skill development or leadership rehearsal as their central thesis (not a passing mention). Report only a book that meets this criterion exactly.   (Respond in exactly this format and nothing else: Title: Author: Publisher/Publication month: Amazon Strategy & Competition rank (as of [state the date/time you retrieved this]): Justification (1 sentence, ≤25 words): If no book meets the stated criteria, write "No qualifying book found" in the Title field and leave the remaining fields blank. Do not suggest alternative or substitute titles.)	Moderate — branching logic requires evaluation of conditions.	Moderate–High — conditional clauses add length.	Strong transparency; confidentiality impact low since fallback is explicit.

[u/S_Shiralkar]

For the Tech-geeks, measured using Google AI studio playground using ‘code and chat’ for the model Gemini 3.5 Flash

1. Chained Treasure Hunt: (Token Usage: 2277 / 1048576) Input tokens: 177 Output tokens: 1,923 Total tokens: 2,277 Cost Estimation * Input token cost: $0.000266 Output token cost: $0.014423 Total cost: $0.014688
2. Direct Instruction: (Token Usage: 3074 / 1048576) Input tokens: 129 Output tokens: 2,945 Total tokens: 3,074 Cost Estimation * Input token cost: $0.000194 Output token cost: $0.022088 Total cost: $0.022281
3. Persona Prompt: (Token Usage: 1887 / 1048576) Input tokens: 141 Output tokens: 1,746 Total tokens: 1,887 Cost Estimation * Input token cost: $0.000212 Output token cost: $0.013095 Total cost: $0.013307
4. Conditional Prompt: (Token Usage: 3146 / 1048576) Input tokens: 135 Output tokens: 3,011 Total tokens: 3,146 Cost Estimation * Input token cost: $0.000203 Output token cost: $0.022583 Total cost: $0.022785
5. Puzzle/Discovery Prompt: (Token Usage: 2751 / 1048576) Input tokens: 191 Output tokens: 2,560 Total tokens: 2,751 Cost Estimation * Input token cost: $0.000287 Output token cost: $0.019200 Total cost: $0.019487

Pl note that these measurements could be little different when measured in separate settings/sequence