pymetrics Easy or Hard Game: The Effort Task Explained

The pymetrics Easy or Hard game, also called Hard or Easy, asks you to choose again and again between a quick task for a small reward and a longer task for a bigger one. You then press the spacebar fast enough to finish the task you chose. It is based on a research task about effort and motivation, and pymetrics says there is no right or wrong way to play it.

pymetrics is owned by Harver, which completed the acquisition in August 2022 and now sells the games as its gamified assessments. This guide explains what you see, the research behind the game, what it is thought to measure and how to approach it.

What you see and do

• Official (pymetrics' patent): the easy option needs fewer spacebar presses for a fixed reward; the hard option needs more presses for a chance at a much larger reward.
• Prep sites report: a "choose your task" screen showing the win chance, with one button for Easy at $1.00 and one for Hard at a higher amount, such as $1.24. If you do not choose within 5 seconds, the game chooses for you. Most prep accounts describe Easy as 5 presses in 3 seconds and Hard as 60 presses in 12 seconds, with win chances between about 10% and 90%.
• Not known: the exact press counts and time windows (one video walkthrough describes different numbers), the set of win chances, and whether the game ends after a set number of rounds or a set time. pymetrics has not published these.

The research task behind it

The game follows the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task, or EEfRT, published by Treadway and colleagues in 2009. In the original:

• Easy was 30 presses in 7 seconds with the index finger of the dominant hand, for $1.00.
• Hard was 100 presses in 21 seconds with the little finger of the non-dominant hand, for between $1.24 and $4.30.
• Win chances of 88%, 50% or 12% were shown at the start of each trial and applied to both options.
• Choice time: anyone who did not choose within 5 seconds was given a task at random.
• Finishing mattered: only a task completed in time could win.
• A time limit: 20 minutes to play as many trials as possible, so every hard choice used up time.

The main measure was the proportion of hard choices at each win chance and reward size. The authors proposed it as an objective measure of motivation, and linked fewer hard choices with anhedonia, a reduced drive to pursue rewards. The values prep sites report for pymetrics ($1.00 for Easy, $1.24 and up for Hard, 5 seconds to choose) match this task, although the press counts are much lower.

What it is thought to measure

Harver lists effort, decision making and risk tolerance among the nine trait areas its games cover, but does not say which game feeds which. In research terms, the game looks at:

• Willingness to put in effort for a larger reward.
• Sensitivity to odds and reward: whether you choose Hard more when the chance or the reward is high.
• Follow-through: whether you finish the task you chose.

pymetrics' model compares your game measures with people who do well in the job, and it does not publish which measures it takes from this game.

Is there a right answer?

No. pymetrics says its games have no right or wrong answers. Choosing Hard every time is not "right" and choosing Easy is not lazy: Hard pays more, but its press window is four times as long and you have to finish it. There is no number of hard choices to aim for, and our article on pymetrics games answers explains why no list of best moves exists.

How long it takes

Prep sites report about 2 minutes, and pymetrics says each game takes 1 to 3 minutes with no pausing. The Hard task prep sites describe needs about 5 presses a second for 12 seconds.

A worked example

These numbers are for illustration only, using the press counts prep sites report.

1. Round 1: 88% chance, Hard pays $4.10. You choose Hard and finish just before the 12 seconds run out. This time the round pays out.
2. Round 2: 12% chance, Hard pays $1.40. The extra reward is small and the chance is low, so you choose Easy and finish your 5 presses in under 2 seconds. This time the round does not pay out.
3. Round 3: 50% chance, Hard pays $2.80. You hesitate, the 5 seconds run out, and the game picks a task for you.

Over a whole game, this shows how your choices move with the odds and the reward. The research task reads that pattern, not your total.

Tips

• Know the controls before you start, so the choice screen does not eat into your 5 seconds.
• Find a press rhythm you can hold, pressing with one finger and your wrist resting.
• Read both numbers each round: the win chance and the Hard reward.
• Choose the way you would naturally weigh effort against reward, not by a rule from a forum.
• Use a keyboard if you can, as prep sites advise for the pymetrics games.

Common mistakes

• Treating the game as a test with a correct number of hard choices.
• Letting the 5-second timer run out.
• Choosing Hard without checking you can press fast enough to finish it.

Practising the format

Candidate Falcon's Hard or Easy practice is an independent version built from the research task and prep-site descriptions. It runs for two minutes of rounds at the research task's win chances of 12%, 50% and 88%. Easy is 5 presses in 3 seconds for $1.00; Hard is 60 presses in 12 seconds for $1.24 to $4.30. You choose with E or the left arrow for Easy, H or the right arrow for Hard, or a button, and after 5 seconds the game picks for you at random. Holding a key down counts as one press.

The review shows how often you chose Hard overall, by win chance and by reward size, how many tasks you finished, your presses per second on Hard and how often the game picked for you. It uses neutral words and is not a pymetrics score or trait report.

It is not pymetrics' game, and it uses original wording and art. Playing needs a plan that includes Harver, which comes with the pymetrics-style games; see pricing. The Keypresses game also uses the spacebar, and the free pymetrics guide covers all 12 games.

FAQs

Is it called Easy or Hard, or Hard or Easy?

Both names are used for the same pymetrics game. It is based on the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task.

How many presses do the Easy and Hard tasks need?

pymetrics does not publish the numbers. Most prep sites report 5 presses in 3 seconds for Easy and 60 in 12 seconds for Hard; the research task used 30 in 7 seconds and 100 in 21 seconds.

Should I always choose Hard in the pymetrics easy or hard game?

There is no right answer. Hard pays more but takes longer and has to be finished, and pymetrics compares your pattern with people who do well in the role, not with a target.

What happens if I do not choose in time?

Prep sites report that the game chooses for you after 5 seconds, as the research task did.

Do I have to finish the task to win?

In the research task, only a finished task could win. pymetrics does not publish its rule, so treat every task you choose as one to finish.

Sources

• pymetrics patent WO2015200880A1: the easy and hard spacebar task.
• Wilson et al. (2021), Building and Auditing Fair Algorithms, with pymetrics co-authors: how game measures are compared with high performers.
• Harver: gamified assessments (read October 2026): trait areas and the games after the acquisition.
• pymetrics candidate FAQ, employer-hosted copy (2018): no right or wrong answer and timing.
• Treadway, M. T., Buckholtz, J. W., Schwartzman, A. N., Lambert, W. E. and Zald, D. H. (2009). Worth the 'EEfRT'? The Effort Expenditure for Rewards Task as an objective measure of motivation and anhedonia. PLoS ONE, 4(8), e6598.
• Prep sites (descriptions, not official): JobTestPrep and Psychometric Success.

Candidate Falcon is independent and not affiliated with pymetrics, Harver or any employer.