How the Pathfinder game works
Each level is a grid of pieces with two endpoints. Each piece carries part of a road, and you move the pieces until the parts join up into one unbroken route from one endpoint to the other. The pieces are reported to slide, like a sliding-tile puzzle.
It is one of HireVue’s ability games, so it uses the same ladder: solve a level and the next one is harder, fail one and you drop back, up to level 100. At five minutes it runs longer than HireVue’s three-minute games.
How to solve a Pathfinder level
Plan before you touch anything:
- Find both endpoints and note which side the road has to leave each one from.
- Trace a possible route in your head and spot the pieces that already fit it.
- Place the pieces next to the endpoints first. They have the fewest options.
- Bring each next piece into place without disturbing the ones you have already set.
- If a move undoes your work, stop and re-plan rather than shuffling pieces at random.
Tips for the real Pathfinder game
- Plan, then move. Five minutes leaves room to think, and a failed level sends you back down the ladder.
- Warm up on sliding-tile puzzles. The knack of moving one piece without disturbing the rest carries over.
- Watch the instruction video to the end. It shows how pieces move in your version, and you can replay it from the pause screen.
- If you are interrupted, pause. HireVue’s games can be paused at any time.
Practise Pathfinder on CogniPrep
Our Pathfinder runs for five minutes on a ladder capped at 100, up two levels for a win and down one for a loss. Each board is a grid with one empty square, growing from three by three to five by five, with the start and end in opposite corners. Tap a tile next to the empty square to slide it in; tiles joined to the start light up. Each level has a move budget, and running out loses the level. Your score out of 100 is four fifths how you do on the ladder and one fifth how few moves you use.