How motionChallenge works
motionChallenge is the planning game in Aon’s smartPredict set, listed on Aon’s candidate page as Complex Planning Capability. Aon says it measures your ability to plan ahead and to overcome barriers between a given and a desired state, and gives you 6 minutes to solve as many puzzles as possible. Like the other smartPredict games it was designed with phones in mind, though Aon highly recommends a PC or laptop.
Aon does not publish what the board looks like. Prep sites describe a grid with a ball, objects blocking its way and at least one exit. Blocks slide horizontally or vertically along their own line while the path is clear, and the aim is to get the ball out in as few moves as possible, much like the sliding-block game Rush Hour. Difficulty is reported to rise as you go, with immovable cells at later levels, a move counter on screen and a control to skip a puzzle.
How the test is scored is not published. Aon says its performance tests usually add a point for a right answer and take one off for a wrong one, but how that applies to a puzzle you solve or skip is not stated.
How to solve a board
Plan the whole chain before the first move:
- Find the ball’s route to the exit first, ignoring the blocks.
- Name the block sitting in that route, then whatever stops that block from moving out of it.
- Work backwards along that chain: the first move is usually the block furthest from the ball.
- Count the moves in your head before you make any. If fewer moves score better, trial and error costs you.
- If no route shows itself within about 40 seconds, move on: a quick easy solve is worth more than a long stare at a hard one.
Worked example
A 6 by 6 board has the ball in row 3, column 1, and the exit on the right edge of row 3. An upright block three cells long fills column 4 from row 1 to row 3, against the top edge. A flat block two cells long sits in row 4, columns 4 and 5.
The upright block is in the ball’s way and cannot go up, so it has to go down three cells, to rows 4 to 6. The flat block is in the way of that, so it moves first: one cell right, to columns 5 and 6. Then the upright block slides down and the ball goes right to the exit. Counting a slide of any length as one move, that is three moves, and no shorter answer exists.
Tips for the real motionChallenge
- Sit it on a PC or laptop if you can, as Aon recommends. Exact slides are easier with a mouse.
- Look for the block that cannot move at all before you plan around it. Immovable cells are reported at later levels.
- Aon asks you to solve as many puzzles as possible, so keep going for the full six minutes.
- Warm up on sliding-block puzzles beforehand. The habit of working backwards from the exit carries over.
Practise motionChallenge on CogniPrep
Our motionChallenge runs on one 6-minute clock with boards generated as you play, starting at level 1 on a 5 by 5 board. Solving a board moves you up a level and skipping one moves you down. From level 3 boards are 6 by 6 and more crowded, from level 9 grey cells that never move appear, and from level 15 there are two exits. Tap a piece, then tap where it should go; a slide of any length is one move, the ball’s included. Each solved board earns its level, scaled by the fewest moves it needed over the moves you used, and a skip earns and costs nothing. Reset puts a board back as it started, but moves made before it still count. Your points are measured against our target of 60. The board, the level ramp and the scoring are our design of the reported task, not Aon’s, so the real screens will look different.