pymetrics Keypresses Game: The Tapping Task Explained

The pymetrics Keypresses game is the simplest game in the battery: you press the spacebar as fast as you can from a GO signal until a STOP signal. It is based on the finger tapping test, one of the oldest measures in neuropsychology. This guide explains what you see, the research behind it, what it is thought to measure and why there is no speed you have to reach.

pymetrics is owned by Harver, which completed the acquisition in August 2022 and now sells the games as its gamified assessments. Prep sites usually report Keypresses as the second game, straight after Money Exchange 1.

The short answer

• Wait for GO, then press the spacebar as fast as you can.
• Stop as soon as STOP appears. This may repeat over more than one round.
• The game is thought to look at your motor speed, how steady it is, and how cleanly you start and stop.
• pymetrics says there is no right or wrong answer, and it publishes no target speed.

What you see and do

• Official (pymetrics' patent): you press the spacebar again and again with your dominant hand for a set time. In the touch version, you tap a circle on the screen with your index finger for 60 seconds.
• Prep sites report: a GO signal, pressing as fast as you can, and a STOP signal. One prep site says the game alternates between start and stop, so there may be several cycles. Reports of the GO window range from about 10 to 20 seconds up to 40 to 60 seconds. One site cites 5 to 6 taps a second as typical, and several mention that presses before GO or after STOP may be noted.
• Not known: the length of the GO window, the number of rounds and exactly what is scored. pymetrics has not published them.

One prep site describes a game where you press whichever key lights up. That conflicts with every other description and the patent, so it is probably a mistake.

The research task behind it

Keypresses follows the finger tapping test, also called the Finger Oscillation Test. Ward Halstead developed it in 1947, and his doctoral student Ralph Reitan later refined it and set much of its clinical interpretation and norms, as part of what became the Halstead-Reitan battery. In the classic version:

• You tap one finger as fast as you can for 10 seconds.
• You repeat this several times with each hand.
• The score is the average number of taps.

It is a long-standing measure of simple motor speed, and it is still used in clinical assessments. pymetrics' patent applies the same idea to the spacebar.

What it is thought to measure

Harver lists nine trait areas for its games, including attention, effort and focus, but does not say which ones this game feeds. In research terms and according to prep sites, Keypresses looks at:

• Motor speed: how many presses you make per second.
• Consistency: whether your speed holds up within a round and from one round to the next.
• Starting and stopping: whether you press before GO or keep pressing after STOP, which prep sites link to impulse control.

pymetrics compares your game measures with those of people who do well in the job, so speed on its own is not the point. It does not publish how this game is scored.

Is there a right answer?

No. pymetrics says its games have no right or wrong answers, and there is no published norm for this game. The 5 to 6 taps a second one prep site quotes is not a pass mark. The instruction is simply to press as fast as you can, so the honest approach is to do exactly that, from GO to STOP.

How long it takes

pymetrics says each game takes 1 to 3 minutes. Prep sites disagree about the GO window, from about 10 seconds to a minute, which is why a steady rhythm matters more than an all-out start.

A worked example

These numbers are for illustration only. Suppose the game has three 10-second rounds.

• Round 1: 58 taps, or 5.8 a second.
• Round 2: 55 taps, or 5.5 a second. You also press once before GO, because you expected it.
• Round 3: 51 taps, or 5.1 a second.

Your average is about 5.5 taps a second, and your fastest and slowest rounds are 0.7 taps a second apart. You never pressed after STOP. Read plainly: you were fairly steady, slowed down a little as you tired, and jumped the start once. None of that is right or wrong; it is simply what the game records.

Tips

• Sit comfortably with your wrist resting and press with one finger, not your whole hand.
• Use the spacebar on a physical keyboard if you can. Prep sites advise a computer with a keyboard.
• Keep a rhythm you can hold for the whole window rather than starting flat out.
• Watch the screen, not the clock. Wait for GO rather than guessing when it will come.
• Lift your finger as soon as STOP appears.

Common mistakes

• Starting before GO because you expect it.
• Carrying on for a moment after STOP.
• Holding the spacebar down instead of pressing it.
• Tensing your arm, which tires you before the window ends.
• Treating the game as a test with a speed you must reach.

Practising the format

Candidate Falcon's Keypresses practice is an independent version built from the patent and prep-site descriptions. It has three rounds with a 10-second GO window each. Before each GO there is a wait of 2 to 4 seconds that changes from round to round, so the start cannot be timed, and presses in the 2 seconds after STOP count as late. You press Space or tap the on-screen button, and holding a key down counts as one press.

At the end, a review shows your taps per second overall and by round, your total taps, the gap between your fastest and slowest round, whether you slowed down or sped up within a round, how often you pressed before GO or after STOP, and how quickly your first tap followed GO. It describes how you played in 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 Easy or Hard game also uses spacebar presses, and the Stop game is the one built around holding back a press. The free pymetrics guide covers all 12 games.

FAQs

How long is the pymetrics keypresses game?

pymetrics says each of its games takes 1 to 3 minutes. Prep sites disagree about the GO window, from about 10 seconds to a minute, and about the number of rounds.

How fast should I tap?

As fast as you can, which is the instruction. There is no target: pymetrics says its games have no right or wrong answers and publishes no norm. One prep site cites 5 to 6 taps a second as typical.

Which hand should I use?

pymetrics' patent describes pressing with your dominant hand. Use the hand and finger you would naturally tap with.

Does pressing before GO count against me?

pymetrics does not publish how early or late presses are used. Prep sites say they may be noted, so wait for GO and stop at STOP.

Can I play Keypresses on a phone?

The patent describes a touch version where you tap a circle on the screen. Prep sites still advise a computer with a keyboard for the pymetrics games.

Sources

• pymetrics patent WO2015200880A1: spacebar and touch tapping tasks.
• 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.
• Millisecond test library: Finger Tapping Test (read October 2026): origin with Halstead (1947) and Reitan, 10-second trials, motor speed. The original reference is Halstead, W. C. (1947), Brain and Intelligence, University of Chicago Press.
• Prep sites (descriptions, not official): JobTestPrep, MBB Prep and Psychometric Success.

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