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pymetrics Hard or Easy Game: How the Effort-for-Reward Task Works

Practise a pymetrics-style Hard or Easy task: pick $1.00 Easy or a bigger Hard reward at 12%, 50% or 88% odds, press fast, then see how you chose.

Practice: 2 minutes of roundsAlso called “pymetrics hard or easy task”Also called “easy or hard game”

How the practice module works

  1. 01Each round shows your chance of winning. It is the same for both tasks.
  2. 02Choose Easy (5 presses in 3 seconds for $1.00) or Hard (60 presses in 12 seconds for $1.24 to $4.30). After 5 seconds the game picks for you.
  3. 03Press Space, or tap the Press button, until the bar is full. Finish in time and the round pays out at the chance shown.
  4. 04Rounds continue for 2 minutes. There is no right answer: Hard pays more but takes longer.

Controls

  • Choose: E or ← for Easy, H or → for Hard, or tap a button
  • Press: Space or the big Press button
  • Holding a key down counts as one press

Included in 1 Game Platform Prep (when you choose Harver), All Games Platforms Prep and Full Access. See plans

Task
Choose an easy task with few spacebar presses for a fixed reward, or a hard one with more presses for a larger reward (official)
Research task
The Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task, described in pymetrics’ patent (official)
Rewards
$1.00 for Easy and $1.24 or more for Hard (prep sites)
Win chance
Shown each round, from about 10% to 90%, and the same for both tasks (prep sites)
Presses
Easy: 5 presses in 3 seconds; Hard: 60 presses in 12 seconds (prep sites)
Choice time
The game picks for you if you do not choose within 5 seconds (prep sites)
Length
About 2 minutes; the number of rounds is not confirmed (prep sites)
Right answer
None: pymetrics says its games have no right or wrong answers (official)
Practice version
2 minutes of rounds at the research task’s 12%, 50% and 88% win chances, Hard rewards of $1.24–$4.30 (Candidate Falcon practice)

What the pymetrics Hard or Easy game looks at

Hard or Easy is pymetrics’ version of the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task, a research task from 2009. pymetrics’ patent describes the trade-off: the easy option needs fewer spacebar presses for a fixed reward, while the hard option needs many more presses for a chance at a much larger one. Each round also shows a chance of winning, which applies to whichever task you pick.

Prep sites describe a choice screen with the win chance and two buttons, $1.00 for Easy and a larger amount for Hard, and say the game chooses for you if you wait more than 5 seconds. They report 5 presses in 3 seconds for Easy and 60 presses in 12 seconds for Hard, over about two minutes. Because a hard round takes much longer, choosing it often leaves time for fewer rounds.

pymetrics says there are no right or wrong answers. In the research task, the main measure is how often someone picks the hard task at each win chance and reward size, which describes how they weigh effort against reward. pymetrics uses its game measures to compare your play with people who do well in the job, so there is no target number of hard choices.

How the Hard or Easy practice works

  1. Read the win chance at the top of the round. It is the same for both tasks.
  2. Choose Easy ($1.00, 5 presses in 3 seconds) or Hard ($1.24 to $4.30, 60 presses in 12 seconds) with the buttons, E or H, or the arrow keys.
  3. If you do not choose within 5 seconds, the game picks for you.
  4. After a one-second get-ready screen, press Space or tap Press until the bar is full. Holding the key counts as one press.
  5. Finish in time and the round pays out at the chance shown. Rounds continue for two minutes, then you see a review of your choices.

Hard or Easy tips

  • Decide quickly. The choice screen gives you 5 seconds before the game picks for you.
  • Find a press rhythm you can keep up: the Hard task needs about 5 presses a second for 12 seconds.
  • Use one finger on the spacebar and keep your hand still, rather than pressing with your whole arm.
  • Look at both the win chance and the reward each round, and choose the way you would naturally weigh them.
  • Remember the time cost: a Hard round takes about four times as long as an Easy one.

Common Hard or Easy mistakes

  • Treating the game as a test with a correct number of hard choices.
  • Letting the 5-second timer run out and having the game pick for you.
  • Choosing Hard without checking you can press fast enough to finish it.
  • Holding the spacebar down, which counts as a single press.
  • Playing on a phone when the real game is played on a keyboard.

A short Hard or Easy practice routine

  1. Read how the game works so the choice screen is no surprise.
  2. Play one two-minute practice run and notice how fast you can press.
  3. Read the review of how often you chose Hard at each win chance and reward size.
  4. Play once more on another day using a comfortable keyboard and a steady rhythm.

Hard or Easy FAQ

How many presses do the Easy and Hard tasks need?

pymetrics does not publish the numbers. Prep sites report 5 presses in 3 seconds for Easy and 60 presses in 12 seconds for Hard, and the practice uses those values. The original research task used more presses and longer windows.

What happens if I do not choose in time?

Prep sites report that the game picks for you after 5 seconds. The practice does the same and shows in the review how often that happened.

Should I always choose Hard?

There is no right answer. pymetrics says its games have no right or wrong answers and compares your play with people who do well in the job. Hard pays more but takes longer and you have to finish it in time, so choose the way you would naturally weigh effort and reward.

Do I win money for real?

No. The money only exists inside the game, in the real assessment and in this practice.

Is this the real pymetrics game?

No. It is an independent practice game built from the public research task and public descriptions, with original art and wording. It is not affiliated with pymetrics or Harver.

Independent practice by Candidate Falcon, based on pymetrics’ public patents and research and on prep-site descriptions. Not affiliated with pymetrics or Harver, and not their scoring. The game, its art and its wording are original, and practice results are not pymetrics scores. For all 12 games, timing, results and retakes, read the free pymetrics test guide.