Sage
Harver quotes Sage’s talent acquisition lead on using pymetrics for its Early Careers programmes worldwide.
Source: Harver gamified assessments page
What Is pymetrics? The Games, the Trait Report and How to Prepare
pymetrics is a set of 12 short online games that employers use to screen applicants. Each game is based on a psychology experiment, such as pumping balloons for money or remembering a string of digits. pymetrics says there is no right or wrong answer: the way you play is compared with the way people who do well in the job play.
This guide explains the pymetrics test game by game, how results work and how to prepare. It is based on pymetrics' own patent, research and candidate FAQ, and on Harver, which now owns pymetrics. Where only prep sites describe something, we say so.
pymetrics at a Glance
| What is it? | A game-based assessment of behavioural and cognitive traits. Harver has owned it since August 2022 and sells it as its gamified assessments. |
|---|---|
| How many games? | 12 core games. Some employers add four numerical and logical games. |
| How long? | About 25 minutes for the 12 games, 1 to 3 minutes each. You cannot pause a game, but you can rest between games. |
| Right answers? | None in the core games, pymetrics says, and it is not an IQ test. The four extra reasoning games do have correct answers. |
| Results? | You get a trait report; the employer sees how well you fit its job model. No pass mark is published. |
| Retakes? | Only your first results count. pymetrics' terms allow each game once in any 12-month period. |
What Is the pymetrics Assessment?
pymetrics turns classic psychology experiments into short games for hiring. Its patent and a 2021 research paper co-written by pymetrics staff describe how it works. The games record how you behave, such as how often you pump a balloon or how quickly you react, and a model compares your pattern with an “in group” of 50 to 100 high performers in the job and an “out group” drawn from other players.
That is why pymetrics' candidate FAQ says there is no right or wrong answer and that it is not an IQ test. The same way of playing can fit one job well and another less well, so the pymetrics assessment is closer to a behavioural profile than to an exam.
Since August 2022 the games have been sold by Harver. If your invitation comes from Harver or mentions gamified assessments, it may well be the pymetrics games. Our Harver assessment guide covers the other Harver tests.
The 12 pymetrics Games
These are the 12 core games in the order candidates commonly report; the order can vary. The tasks come from pymetrics' patent where it describes them. Amounts, counts and timings come from prep sites, because no official source publishes them, and prep sites sometimes disagree. Each game links to Candidate Falcon's practice page, which has a free guide to the game.
| Game | What you do | What it measures | Timing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balloons | Pump a balloon to add money ($0.05 a pump, prep sites say) and collect before it pops. A pop loses that balloon’s money, and colours pop at different sizes. | Risk taking and how you react to losses (Balloon Analogue Risk Task) | About 3–4 minutes; 39 balloons on most prep sites, 24 on one | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Money Exchange 1 | You hold $10 and send any part of it to a partner. It is tripled, the partner sends back an amount you do not control, and you rate how fair that was. | Trust and how you judge fairness (trust game) | One short exchange (prep sites) | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Money Exchange 2 | You and a partner start with $5 each and one of you gets an extra $5. First a partner splits it and you rate the fairness; then you choose to give, keep or take. | Generosity and how you judge fairness (dictator game) | Two short rounds (prep sites) | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Keypresses | Press the spacebar as fast as you can from GO until STOP, possibly over several rounds. | Motor speed (finger-tapping test); prep sites add steadiness and early or late presses | GO windows reported from about 10 to 60 seconds | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Digits | Digits flash one at a time and you type them back in order. A correct answer makes the next list longer. | Working memory: the longest list you can repeat (digit span) | 1–3 minutes; prep sites say three wrong answers end it | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Hard or Easy | At a shown chance of winning, choose an easy task (few presses for $1.00) or a hard one (many more presses for more money), then press the spacebar to complete it. | How much effort you put in for rewards of different sizes and chances (Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task) | About 2 minutes (prep sites) | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Stop | Circles appear one at a time: press the spacebar for red and do nothing for green. Red comes far more often. | Impulse control and sustained attention (go/no-go task) | About 2 minutes, 70 to 80 circles (prep sites) | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Cards | Draw cards from four face-down decks. Every card wins money and some also lose it, and some decks pay better over time. | Learning from feedback and decisions under risk (Iowa Gambling Task) | 80 draws from a $2,000 start on most prep sites | Prep sites (not in the patent) |
| Arrows | Five arrows appear in a row. Blue or black: answer the direction of the middle arrow. Red: answer the side arrows. | Selective attention and flexibility when the rule changes (flanker task) | About 3 minutes; 90 or 135 rounds (prep sites) | Patent for the task; prep sites for the colour rule |
| Lengths | A cartoon face flashes and you say whether its mouth was short or long. Some correct answers win money, one length more often than the other. | How rewards shape your choices, and attention to fine detail (probabilistic reward task) | 60 or 90 faces (prep sites) | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Tower | Move coloured discs between three pegs, one top disc at a time, to copy a target in as few moves as you can. | Planning: your number of moves and thinking time (Tower of London) | A 2:00 timer in one prep-site simulation; the number of puzzles is not public | Patent; prep sites for details |
| Faces | Name the emotion a person feels from a photo of their face, sometimes after a short story about their situation. | Recognising emotions and using context (facial emotion recognition) | About 14 faces (prep sites) | Patent; prep sites for details |
The measures column names the research task behind each game and what that task is used to study. pymetrics does not publish how each game feeds its model.
The Four Extra Reasoning Games
pymetrics' research paper mentions an additional suite of numerical and logical reasoning games that some employers add. Prep sites name four of them. Unlike the core games, they have correct answers, so accuracy and speed matter. Prep sites put the whole assessment at about 30 to 35 minutes with them.
| Game | What you do | Reported length | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magnitudes | Pick the larger of two quantities, shown as fields of dots or as fractions. | 14 items, about 5 seconds each | Prep sites |
| Sequences | Find the missing number in a series. | 12 items, 30 seconds each | A prep site |
| Shapes | Find which small shape is hidden in a complex figure, without rotating it. | 10 items, 45 seconds each | Prep sites |
| Letters | Letters appear one at a time; respond when a letter matches the one two letters back (2-back). | 45 letters | Task in the patent; count from a prep site |
pymetrics Game Examples
Four short examples show how the games feel. The amounts and rules are the ones prep sites report.
- Balloons: each pump adds $0.05, so after 20 pumps a balloon holds $1.00. Collect, and the $1.00 is banked for good. Pump again and the balloon may pop, losing that $1.00 but nothing you banked earlier.
- Arrows: five blue arrows point → → ← → →. For blue arrows you answer the middle one, so you press ←. If the same row is red, you answer the side arrows and press →. The colour can change on any round.
- Money Exchange 1: you send $4 of your $10. It is tripled, so your partner receives $12 and decides how much to send back. You then rate how fair the exchange was.
- Hard or Easy: the screen shows a chance of winning that applies to both tasks. Easy pays $1.00 for a few quick presses; Hard pays more for many more presses in a longer window. Finish the presses and you win at the chance shown.
pymetrics Results and the Trait Report
There are two kinds of result. You receive a report: pymetrics' candidate FAQ promised a full report of everything it assesses, and Harver's page says every job seeker receives immediate results and feedback, and shows a candidate trait report. Prep sites say the report explains each trait and where you fall; one prep site says some employers give only a yes or no.
The employer sees how well your pattern fits its job model. pymetrics' patent and research paper describe a fit score from 0 to 100%, built by comparing your play with the employer's high performers. No pass mark is published. Prep sites report that BCG saw three bands: Highly Recommended, Recommended and Not Recommended.
Harver groups the traits into nine categories: attention, decision making, effort, emotion, fairness, focus, generosity, learning and risk tolerance. pymetrics' 2018 FAQ spoke of more than 50 traits, and prep sites count about 90. In the data described in pymetrics' research paper, players who missed more than 2 of the 12 games were treated as incomplete, so finish every game.
Read more in pymetrics results and the trait report explained and why there are no pymetrics games answers.
pymetrics and Harver
Harver completed its acquisition of pymetrics on 11 August 2022. Harver says the games, its science team's validation method and the results carried over intact, and no public source describes new core games since then. pymetrics.com now shows a notice about the change of ownership that points to harver.com.
Harver also sells its own tests, such as cognitive ability subtests and a situational judgement test, which are separate from the pymetrics games. Some prep sites still send candidates to pymetrics.ai, which was a parked domain when we checked, so always use the link in your invitation.
Which Employers Use pymetrics?
These employers are named on Harver's page or in their own hiring material. Checked 23 October 2026.
Chalhoub Group
Harver quotes Chalhoub Group’s VP Talent on its use of Harver’s gamified assessments.
Source: Harver gamified assessments page
Alfa Laval
Alfa Laval says it applies pymetrics assessments at the start of most of its recruitment processes, so you may be asked to play the games when you apply.
Source: Alfa Laval: How we hire
Kraft Heinz
Its UK trainee programme listing for 2027 puts pymetrics online games straight after the application, followed by a short pre-recorded video interview.
Source: Kraft Heinz Trainee Program UK 2027 listing (targetjobs)
Reported by prep sites only: JPMorgan Chase, BCG, Unilever, Accenture, AstraZeneca, EY and others. Prep sites say BCG now uses pymetrics only in some offices, and Standard Chartered's former pymetrics page now redirects to a “Skills Insight Assessment” page that does not mention pymetrics, so treat these lists as possibly out of date.
How Long Does pymetrics Take?
pymetrics' candidate FAQ and Harver both give about 25 minutes for the 12 games, with each game lasting 1 to 3 minutes. You cannot pause in the middle of a game, but you can take a break between games. With the four extra reasoning games, prep sites report about 30 to 35 minutes.
Devices, Languages and Accommodations
pymetrics' research paper says the games run in a browser or a mobile app, and that its data allows for the device you play on. It also says the games come in more than 20 languages, with built-in accommodations for colour blindness and dyslexia. Prep sites recommend a desktop or laptop with a keyboard, because several games depend on fast, accurate key presses. If you need an adjustment, ask the employer before you start.
Retakes: Only Your First Results Count
pymetrics' 2018 candidate FAQ said you could replay games, but only your first results would be used. Its terms of service, last updated in May 2019, go further: you may play each game only once in any 12-month period, you must not quit a game part-way to repeat it, and you must not create more than one account.
Prep sites add that your results are reused for about 330 days when you apply to other employers that use pymetrics, with no retake in that window. No official source gives that figure. Either way, treat your first attempt as the only one.
How to Prepare for pymetrics
- Read your invitation. It gives the deadline and the link to use, and may say whether the extra reasoning games are included.
- Learn the rules of every game first. With only one attempt, a misread rule, such as which arrows to judge in Arrows, cannot be fixed later.
- Choose a quiet half hour and a computer with a keyboard. You cannot pause mid-game, so close other tabs and silence your phone.
- Play the behavioural games naturally. Balloons, Money Exchange, Hard or Easy and Cards have no target number, and the employer's model compares you with its own staff, so a strategy copied from the internet may fit one job and not another.
- Concentrate in the accuracy games. Digits, Stop, Arrows, Lengths, Tower and Faces have measurable accuracy, and the reasoning games have correct answers, so attention and a steady pace help.
- Finish every game. Missing games can leave your profile incomplete.
- Play by the rules. pymetrics' terms ban bots, second accounts and restarting a game. Knowing the format is the only legitimate head start.
Want to try the pymetrics game formats?
Candidate Falcon has all 16 pymetrics-style games: the 12 core games and the four reasoning games. They are independent simulations rebuilt from the research tasks in pymetrics' public patents and from prep-site descriptions, with original art and wording. They are not the real test, the review after each game describes how you played in our own words rather than giving a pymetrics score, and Candidate Falcon is not affiliated with pymetrics or Harver. The games come with the Harver platform: they are included in 1 Game Platform Prep when you choose Harver, in All Games Platforms Prep and in Full Access. See pricing.
Explore pymetrics practiceFrequently Asked Questions
What is pymetrics?
pymetrics is a game-based assessment that employers use to screen applicants. You play 12 short games based on psychology research, such as pumping balloons, remembering digits and sharing money, and your behaviour is compared with that of people who do well in the job. Harver has owned pymetrics since August 2022 and sells the games as its gamified assessments.
What games are in the pymetrics test?
The 12 core games are Balloons, Money Exchange 1, Money Exchange 2, Keypresses, Digits, Hard or Easy, Stop, Cards, Arrows, Lengths, Tower and Faces. Some employers add four numerical and logical games, which prep sites call Magnitudes, Sequences, Shapes and Letters. pymetrics’ research paper confirms that this extra suite exists.
Are there right or wrong answers in pymetrics?
pymetrics’ candidate FAQ says there is no right or wrong answer and that it is not an IQ test. The games describe traits such as risk tolerance, attention, effort and fairness, and the employer’s model compares your pattern with its own top performers. Some games still have measurable accuracy, such as Digits, Stop and Arrows, and the four extra reasoning games have correct answers.
How long does the pymetrics assessment take?
About 25 minutes for the 12 games, according to pymetrics’ candidate FAQ and Harver. Each game lasts 1 to 3 minutes. You cannot pause in the middle of a game, but you can take a break between games. Prep sites report about 30 to 35 minutes when the four extra reasoning games are added.
How is pymetrics scored, and is there a pass mark?
No pass mark is published. pymetrics’ patent and research paper describe a model that compares your gameplay with a group of high performers in the job and gives a fit score from 0 to 100%. You may also receive a trait report describing your results. Prep sites report that some employers, such as BCG, saw bands like Highly Recommended, Recommended and Not Recommended.
Can I retake the pymetrics games?
Not to improve your result. pymetrics’ 2018 candidate FAQ said only your first results are used, and its terms say you may play each game once in any 12-month period, must not quit a game part-way to repeat it and must not create a second account. Prep sites report that results are reused across employers for about 330 days.
Is pymetrics part of Harver?
Yes. Harver completed its acquisition of pymetrics on 11 August 2022. Harver says the games, the validation method and the results carried over, and pymetrics.com now shows a notice about the change of ownership that points to harver.com.
How can I prepare for pymetrics?
Learn the rules of each game before you start, because only your first attempt counts and a misread rule cannot be undone. Use a quiet room and, as prep sites advise, a computer with a keyboard. Play the behavioural games the way you naturally would, and concentrate in the games that have measurable accuracy. Ask the employer early if you need an adjustment.
Related Resources
- pymetrics games answers: Why there is no answer key, and what honest preparation looks like.
- pymetrics results and the trait report: The candidate report, the employer's fit score and what to do after a rejection.
- pymetrics balloon game example and what a good balloon game score means: A worked example of the Balloons game.
- Game-by-game guides: Faces, Arrows, Cards, Digits, Tower, Money Exchange, Hard or Easy, Lengths, Keypresses, Stop.
- Arctic Shores vs HireVue games vs pymetrics: How the three game-based assessments differ.
- Harver assessment guide: The other Harver tests, from typing to situational judgement.
- All free guides: Guides for other assessments and video interview platforms.
Sources: pymetrics patent WO2015200880A1, Wilson et al., FAccT 2021 (pymetrics co-authors), Harver gamified assessments, Harver's acquisition announcement, pymetrics' candidate FAQ (an employer-hosted copy, 2018), pymetrics terms of service and the employer pages linked above, checked 23 October 2026. Game details not in these sources come from prep sites and are labelled. Candidate Falcon is independent and not affiliated with pymetrics or Harver.
