The 12 Pymetrics Games Explained

Every Pymetrics mini-game you will face — what it tests, how to approach it, and the trait it scores.

What the 12 games measure

Pymetrics scores you across roughly nine trait categories — attention, effort, fairness, learning, decision-making, emotion, focus, generosity, and risk tolerance. There is no single "right" score; BCG matches your trait profile against successful consultants from your target office.

The 12 games

1. Balloons — risk tolerance

Pump balloons to earn money; cash out before they pop. Different colors have different pop thresholds. Lesson: adapt to feedback, do not over-pump.

2 & 3. Money Exchange — trust and altruism

You play both sides of a trust game. Send money to a partner (it triples on arrival) and decide what they return. Aim for a balanced, prosocial profile — neither hoarding nor reckless.

4. Keypresses — effort

Press the spacebar as fast as you can. Just go all-out.

5. Arrows — attention and flexibility

React to a central arrow, but sometimes follow the surrounding arrows. Read the instruction line carefully each round.

6. Digit Span — working memory

Memorize and repeat sequences of digits. Practice forward and reverse spans before test day.

7. Faces — emotional intelligence

Identify emotions on faces. Context cues can mislead — focus on the face.

8. Towers of Hanoi — planning

Move discs between pegs. Think two moves ahead, never place a larger disc on a smaller one.

9. Stop Signal — impulse control

Respond to arrows, but stop when you hear a beep. Train yourself to wait a fraction of a second.

10. Cards (Iowa Task) — decision-making

Four decks; some pay more but punish harder. Track which decks penalize you and shift away from them.

11. Lengths — perceptual speed

Pick the longer of two lines, fast. Speed matters more than perfection.

12. Easy or Hard — motivation

Choose easy small-reward tasks or hard large-reward tasks. Mix shows ambition calibrated to probability of success.

Final advice

Do not try to game it — Pymetrics is built to detect inauthentic responses. Practice mainly to remove first-time anxiety so your real profile comes through.