Free Pymetrics Games Practice: All 12 Games
Free Pymetrics games practice for all 12 neuroscience games. Learn what each game measures and go into your assessment knowing exactly what to expect.
Free Games
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Keypress
Press the spacebar as rapidly as possible for 40 seconds. Measures your processing speed, reaction time, and motor response consistency.
Digits Memory
Remember and reproduce increasingly long sequences of digits. Tests your working memory capacity and information processing speed.
Faces
Identify emotions shown in brief facial expressions across a series of rapid trials. Evaluates emotional intelligence and empathy.
All Games
Balloon
Pump a balloon for rewards but stop before it bursts. Pymetrics' version measures your risk tolerance and learning speed across 39 rounds.
Tower
Move a stack of discs from peg A to peg C following Tower of Hanoi rules. Measures your planning, problem-solving, and working memory across 8 rounds.
Money Exchange I
Decide how much of a sum to send to another player who can then return a portion. Tests your trust and generosity in financial decision-making.
Money Exchange II
Respond to offers from another player deciding whether to accept or reject splits of a sum. Measures fairness and altruistic punishment.
Hard or Easy Task
Choose between a hard task with a bigger reward or an easy task with a smaller reward across repeated rounds. Measures motivation and effort allocation.
Stop
Press a key when you see a shape - but stop yourself when you hear a signal. Measures your impulse control and ability to inhibit a prepotent response.
Arrows
Match or ignore an arrow's direction based on its color. Measures attention control and cognitive inhibition under time pressure.
Lengths
Judge which of two lines is longer across many rapid trials. Measures perceptual accuracy and consistency of attention.
Cards
Draw cards from four decks with hidden reward and penalty patterns. Measures your ability to learn from feedback and manage risk over time.
What is Pymetrics?
Neuroscience-based
Each game is grounded in decades of neuroscience and behavioural science research, measuring traits that predict job performance rather than testing knowledge.
Used by top employers
Companies like Unilever, LinkedIn, Accenture, and JPMorgan use Pymetrics to screen candidates at the early stages of hiring.
No right or wrong answers
Unlike traditional tests, Pymetrics measures your natural cognitive and emotional tendencies to find the best role fit rather than a pass or fail score.
Frequently Asked Questions
What games are in the Pymetrics assessment?
The Pymetrics assessment typically includes up to 12 games: Balloon (risk tolerance), Faces (emotional recognition), Arrows (attention), Digits (working memory), Cards (reward sensitivity), Stop (impulse control), Lengths (perception), Keypress (sustained attention), Money Exchange I and II (fairness and social preferences), Hard or Easy (motivation), and Effort (motivation). Most employers use a selection of these.
What is the difference between Pymetrics and Arctic Shores?
Both are game-based psychometric platforms but differ in focus. Pymetrics (now Harver) is rooted in neuroscience research from MIT and NYU, focusing on emotional and cognitive trait measurement. Arctic Shores is a UK-based platform with a stronger emphasis on behavioural traits and learning agility. Check which platform your employer uses before you prepare.
Is there a right or wrong way to answer Pymetrics games?
Pymetrics does not have right or wrong answers. The games measure your natural tendencies and compare them to the profile of high performers in the role you applied for. Trying to game the results often backfires because inconsistent responses are flagged.
Which companies use Pymetrics?
Pymetrics (now part of Harver) is used by companies including Unilever, LinkedIn, Accenture, JPMorgan, Kraft Heinz, and Vodafone, most commonly at the early screening stages of graduate and experienced hire recruitment.
How long does the Pymetrics assessment take?
The full Pymetrics assessment typically takes 25 to 30 minutes across all games. Individual games last 1 to 3 minutes each. Completing it in one focused sitting gives the most reliable results.
What Each Game Measures
Balloon
2-3 minutesPump a balloon to increase its monetary value without letting it burst. Measures risk tolerance and reward sensitivity. The optimal strategy is to pump to a consistent safe level, and deviations from that reveal your natural risk profile.
Faces
2-3 minutesIdentify emotions from facial photographs, including subtle and blended expressions. Measures emotional recognition and empathy - traits linked to interpersonal effectiveness and social intelligence.
Arrows
2-3 minutesRespond to the direction of a central arrow while ignoring flanking distractors. Measures attentional focus and inhibitory control, two traits strongly linked to sustained performance under cognitive load.
Digits
2-3 minutesMemorise and repeat sequences of numbers, with sequences increasing in length. Measures working memory capacity and information processing speed.
Cards
3-4 minutesDraw cards from decks with varying reward and penalty probabilities. Measures reward sensitivity and learning from feedback - key indicators of adaptive decision-making.
Stop
2-3 minutesPress a key when you see a target shape, but withhold the response when a stop signal appears. Measures impulse control, a core executive function linked to self-regulation.
Lengths
1-2 minutesJudge which of two lines is longer, presented at varying size differences. Measures perceptual precision and visual discrimination speed.
Keypress
2-3 minutesPress a key as fast as possible in response to a visual cue. Measures sustained attention and processing speed over time, tracking whether your performance degrades.
Money Exchange I
3-4 minutesDecide how to split a sum of money between yourself and another person. Measures fairness orientation and prosocial behaviour - relevant to teamwork and ethical decision-making.
Money Exchange II
3-4 minutesDecide whether to accept or reject offers made by another party. Measures trust, reciprocity and tolerance for perceived unfairness - social preference traits relevant to negotiation.
Hard or Easy
2-3 minutesChoose between a hard task with a larger reward or an easy task with a smaller reward. Measures intrinsic motivation and willingness to take on challenge.
Effort
2-3 minutesExert effort by pressing keys rapidly to earn rewards of varying sizes. Measures motivation and physical effort exertion, providing a behavioural signal of drive and persistence.
Companies That Use Pymetrics (now part of Harver)
Pymetrics neuroscience games, now delivered through Harver, have been used by large global employers to screen candidates fairly at the early stages of graduate and experienced-hire recruitment.
Standard Chartered
Banking & FinancePymetrics assessment used in early-stage candidate screening.
JPMorgan Chase
Banking & FinanceGame-based screening for graduate and analyst programmes.
Unilever
Consumer GoodsPioneered Pymetrics games in the Unilever Future Leaders Programme (UFLP).
View Unilever guide →Hyatt
HospitalityPymetrics games used in candidate assessment.
Kraft Heinz
Consumer GoodsNeuroscience games used in graduate and management-trainee hiring.
Colgate-Palmolive
Consumer GoodsGame-based assessment used in early-careers screening.
McDonald's
Food & RetailPymetrics games trialled in candidate screening.
Pymetrics was acquired by Harver in 2022. Some employers have since changed or retired the assessment, so confirm the current process on the employer’s careers page before you prepare.
US Employers That Use Pymetrics
Each guide below is written for candidates applying in the United States, and says what the published evidence actually establishes about that employer, where the source says the assessment sits, and where the source stops short. Every association is backed by a page we opened and cited, and several of them name a vendor without naming a product, which the guides say plainly rather than filling in. Hiring processes change and vary by role, so treat your own invitation as the final word.
Colgate-Palmolive
Consumer GoodsNamed by MIT Technology Review in 2021 as an employer whose applicants might be asked to play the pymetrics games. Not confirmed by Colgate-Palmolive or by the vendor.
Colgate-Palmolive assessment guide →Kraft Heinz
Consumer GoodsNamed by MIT Technology Review in 2021 as an employer whose applicants might be asked to play the pymetrics games. Not confirmed by Kraft Heinz or by the vendor.
Kraft Heinz assessment guide →McDonald's
Food ServiceNamed by MIT Technology Review in 2021 as an employer whose applicants might be asked to play the pymetrics games. Not confirmed by McDonald’s or by the vendor.
McDonald's assessment guide →Guides and Tips
Read up before you practise: what the tests reward, what catches candidates out, and why shortcuts do not work.
Can You Cheat Pymetrics? What the Games Measure
Matching is not ranking. Why a faked Pymetrics profile aims you at the wrong role, not a better one.
Phone or Laptop? Which Assessments Survive a Small Screen
Some assessments will not open on a phone at all and some are built for one. What the publishers actually say about devices, and a recommendation per test type.
Pymetrics Tips: What the 12 Games Measure and How to Sit Them
There is no good Pymetrics score, only a profile compared against a role model you cannot see. That changes what preparation means, and makes strategic answering actively risky.
Game-Based Assessments vs Traditional Aptitude Tests: What Actually Changes
A game-based assessment records how you behave, not what you answer. That single difference explains almost everything candidates find strange about them.
About CogniPrep Pymetrics Practice
CogniPrep provides authentic simulations of all 12 Pymetrics neuroscience assessment games. Each practice game replicates the real mechanics, timing and feedback used by employers. After completing a game, users receive a percentile score and a trait breakdown with improvement tips. Free users can access the Balloon and Arrows games to try for free. A one-time provider unlock gives you all 12 games with unlimited practice, and the optional premium upgrade adds scores and statistical feedback reports. Pymetrics (now part of Harver) is used by employers including Unilever, LinkedIn, Accenture, JPMorgan, Kraft Heinz and Vodafone at the early screening stage of graduate and experienced hire recruitment. The full Pymetrics assessment typically takes 25 to 30 minutes across all games. There are no right or wrong answers; the games measure natural cognitive and emotional tendencies and compare them to a profile of high performers in the applied-for role.
- 12 Pymetrics games available to practice
- Free tier includes Balloon and Arrows
- Assessment duration: 25 to 30 minutes
- Employers: Unilever, LinkedIn, Accenture, JPMorgan, Kraft Heinz, Vodafone
- Measures: risk tolerance, emotional recognition, attention, working memory, reward sensitivity, impulse control, fairness, motivation, processing speed
- No right or wrong answers; results compared to high-performer profiles per role
Ready to Start Practising?
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