How the two games work
Pymetrics’ 2017 US patent names the research task behind each of its games. It lists Money Exchange 1 as the trust task and Money Exchange 2 as the dictator task. Pymetrics publishes no newer description, so the patent is the best public account of the mechanics, and the live games may differ in detail.
In the patent’s trust task you are paired with a random participant. You receive money and they receive none. You choose how much to send them, knowing it will triple by the time it arrives, and they can then send none, some or all of it back. Sending more is read as more trusting.
In the dictator task you and a random participant start with the same amount. You are then given an extra sum and told to give the other person none, some or all of it. The amount you give is used as a measure of altruism, and the other person has no say.
What they measure
The trust task cited in the patent comes from Berg and colleagues’ 1995 study of trust and reciprocity. The patent links performance on trust tasks with personality measures such as Machiavellianism and with relational motives like high concern for others. Pymetrics reported test-retest reliability of .59 for its trust task and .62 for its dictator task.
Harver, which has acquired Pymetrics, lists fairness and generosity among the traits its game-based assessment covers. As with every Pymetrics game, your choices are compared with a model built for the role rather than marked against a correct amount.
How to approach them
Decide what you would actually do with real money and a real stranger, and do that in both games. Pymetrics says the more you are yourself, the more helpful your results will be, and since there is no right answer there is no amount worth aiming for.
How our practice version works
Our Money Exchange I follows the patent’s trust task closely: 12 rounds with $10 each round, whatever you send is tripled, and a simulated partner returns part of it. The partner is given one of three dispositions at random (fair, generous or stingy) and keeps it all game. The round count and stake are ours.
Our Money Exchange II is not a dictator task. It is an ultimatum-style game over 10 rounds: you and the partner each start with $5, a $5 bonus alternates between you, and you propose to give money to the partner or take money from them. On some rounds the partner can refuse, and then neither of you keeps anything. The patent’s dictator task has no refusal, so treat our version as practice at deciding how to share, not as a copy of the real game.