I have 8 switches or inputs and 8 leds or output.
for example I press switches 0 7 2 in that order and leds 0 7 2 light up in that order
when I press on on a Go button 3 times, ie I press the Go button the first tome 0 lights up, hit it again 7 lights up etc. I also imagine Id need a clear button.
One way to do it [the GO button needs to be de-bounced, but no switches]:
The switches connect to an 8 input OR gate that increments a counter whose outputs supply memory addresses, so as the counter counts up the switch closures are stored in memory.
The memory has 8 data lines and 3 address lines.
Then, when the GO button is first pressed the counter is reset to zero, then the memory contents of the lowest address is clocked out.
The next press of the GO button clocks out the next address without doing a reset, and so on. The reset is done only on the first press.
You'll need some more gates, invertors, pull-up resistors and/or one-shots to take care of startup and for when the next sequence of switch closures begins.
Post your prelim schematic or programming steps and the results you see and we all can help you fill in the missing gates or commands.
If you use CMOS and buy parts from Hosfelt or Allelectronics and power it from several 1.5v cells stacked to make a 6v to 12v battery, probably $10 has you covered for all parts except the battery and a box.