pymetric test

Pymetrics Tests Explained: Assessments, Scoring, and Prep Guide

If you have applied for a role, you may have to take a pre-employment exam, typically in the form of a psychometric test.

Pymetrics testing is the newest type of psychometric testing to take its place among the vast array of tests available to employers, educators and assessors. The unique thing about pymetrics testing is that it uses games to assess candidates’ skills.

Take the Pymetrics Practice Test to improve your score.

If you have never taken a pymetrics test before, you might be wondering about what exactly it is and how you can prepare. But don’t worry, this guide will explain all you need to know and show you how you can prepare to land the job of your dreams.

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What is a pymetrics test?

Pymetrics tests are a type of psychometric personality test in the form of a game. The games test your attributes under the following headings:

  • Cognitive
  • Social
  • Behavioural

The test determines if you measure up to the standards required by a particular employer or organisation. Tests are specifically designed with the individual employer or organisation’s needs in mind.

What does a pymetrics test assess?

The games can test up to 90 different attributes, including but not limited to:

  • Attention to detail
  • Empathy
  • Your attitude to risk-taking
  • Your ability to prioritise
  • Your decision-making abilities
  • Your sense of fairness
  • Your generosity and attitude to altruism
  • Your ability to focus on the task at hand
  • Your problem-solving skills
  • Your memory skills and intellectual ability

How is a pymetrics test scored?

At the end of testing, you are provided with a report on your personality type divided into categories along the following lines:

  • Social
  • Cognitive
  • Emotional
  • Altruism
  • Trust

The report concludes with suggestions for self-development and an estimate of how you are likely to behave in the workplace.

What is on a pymetrics test?

This unusual style of testing works because we humans love playing games. They bring out a competitive streak encouraging us to give our best and achieve peak performance.

The 12 Games are:

  • Money Exchange Game 1
  • Money Exchange Game 2
  • Balloon Game
  • Tower Game
  • Keypress Game
  • Hard or Easy Task Game
  • Digits Game
  • Stop Game
  • Arrows Game
  • Lengths Game
  • Cards Game
  • Faces Game

When playing the games, it is useful to remind ourselves of how we judge a player in our favourite sport from how he behaves on the playing field.

Have you ever found yourself describing a player as driven, selfish, a team player, unable to concentrate? That is how the Pymetric test will be looking at you.

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What is Psychometric testing?

To fully understand Pymetrics testing, we need to explain what psychometric testing is and its purpose.

Psychometric testing is a method of testing skills you need to have in the workplace or in an educational setting. You may be tested on your literacy or numeracy skills, and other tests will assess your abstract reasoning abilities. Or you may be asked to do a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) to assess how you are likely to behave in a work setting.

What is Personality Testing?

Then, of course, there is personality testing, where a test draws up your personality profile.

Personality tests determine if an applicant is a good fit for a job or a training/education course. Tests can narrow down applicants for a job or in colleges.

Generally, psychometric tests are taken online and include multiple-choice questions.

For a free sample personality test, go here.

What is the format of pymetric personality testing?

The concept is the same. Tests are online. Candidates’ attributes are measured. The ideal candidates for a role are pinpointed and allowed to advance to the next selection stage.

But the method of testing is different.

Rather than selecting answers to a question from multiple-choice options, you play a game.

  • Twelve games in the entire suite test your skills and build your personality profile.
  • You have 25 minutes to play the 12 mini-games
  • You are allowed 2-3 minutes per game.

For more information on this innovative form of testing and the resources you need, continue reading.

How can I prepare for the pymetric tests?

Practising similar tests to the above is the best way to prepare.

A test preparation company will supply you with sample versions of the real games and teach you how to play them. For this, we recommend using Job Test Prep.

With 30 years of experience in helping candidates master pre-employment testing, they will give you the information you need. They will provide you with a Pymetric Games Test Bundle containing:

  • Samples of all twelve games
  • Detailed explanations of the games and what they are testing for
  • A means of checking your scores as you play

The sample games are modelled on the real assessments allowing you to become familiar with the style of questioning and undertake accurate preparation.

To get an idea of the types of tests they provide, try your hand at this free sample Situational Judgement Test. When you get your Pymetric Games Test Bundle from Job Test Prep, you will be in a position to begin your preparation.

Are pymetrics tests hard?

The games are not particularly difficult. However, you need to know what trait each game is testing for and decide how you will show yourself in the best light.
Another factor you have to consider is how little time you are allowed for each game.
Another major factor is that you can only take the test once every three hundred days. The test results can be used for many job applications making it essential to do as well as possible.

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Pymetrics example questions

To get an idea of how these work, the following example will show you one particular game, how to play it and what information about your personality it will give a prospective employer.

Money Exchange Game #1

In the Pymetrics Money Exchange Game #1, you are assigned to work with an AI-based player. The game goes as follows:

  • You have $10.
  • You transfer a sum of your choice to your fellow “participant”. Any amount transferred will be tripled.
  • Your partner gives a certain amount back to you.
  • You are asked to rate how fair your partner was in this transaction.

The game is played digitally. See the following diagram.

Now try playing this game against David, your imaginary competitor, then sit back and study your answer. What is it telling you about yourself?

For example, if you gave David $1, does that show you in an altruistic light (note David had $o, to begin with) or are you somebody afraid to take risks?

If you gave him $10, i.e. all of your money, does that show you as somebody who enjoys taking risks? Could it show you as somebody who would be a good team player in the workplace?

How much would somebody who is kind but cautious give David?

Money Exchange Game #2

The second Money Exchange Game is designed to measure your altruism and generosity.

As in the first Money Exchange Game, you will be playing with a virtual partner.
In round one, you both receive $5, but one or the other of you receives an extra $5. If you get the extra money, you must decide if you will give your partner some of it and then decide how fair you were with him.

In round two, you are playing with a different partner. You both again start with $5 each, but this time you alone will receive the extra $5. Now you must decide how much you will give your partner or if you will perhaps take some money from him.

Again you must decide on the fairness of the transaction. Leaving the game with the greatest amount of money is not the purpose here. The game assesses how well you can balance generosity with self-interest.

Balloon Game

The Balloon Game is designed to judge how likely you are to take risks, how impulsive you are, if you can make decisions quickly, and if you are good at recognising patterns.

In each round, your task is to pump a balloon, and you are awarded $o.o5 for every pump. But you have decisions to make. Will you continue pumping the balloon and earning money even though you know the risk of the balloon exploding increases with every pump you give it?

An exploding balloon will cause you to lose the money you have gained. Or will you move on to the next round quickly, retaining the money you have won?

Throughout the games, coloured explosions pop up on the screen. You have to study the colours and decide which ones are warning you that the balloon is on the verge of exploding.

So, not alone are you pumping a balloon, but you have to call on your cognitive skills to decide when exactly you need to leave the round.

If you don’t leave on time, does that project you as a risk-taker? If you are applying for a job on the stock exchange, that might be an admirable trait. But for a job where you are responsible for health and safety, it might work to your disadvantage.

Tower Game

How good are you at planning things? This game will tell you.

You will be presented with an example of a Lego-type tower and three other Lego-style towers. Your job is to take the three towers and structure them to match the sample. This has to be done in the least number of moves possible.

A prospective employer will be looking at your behaviour as you complete this task. Do you rush in headlong without giving some thought to the task? Conversely, do you spend too long thinking and run out of time? Your score and report will answer those questions.

Keypress Game

This incredibly simple game measures a key cognitive skill; how long it takes you to process something.

In the game, you are asked to start pressing a key on your keyboard. A start button will tell you when to start pressing the key, and a stop button will tell you when the game is over.

But behind the scenes, the number of times you press the key in the one-minute duration of the game is being assessed to discover if you meet the targets required for a good score.

From your score, your processing ability is measured and also your motor functioning and lateralised coordination. You can consider this a very good example of how an apparently simple game can gather essential information about you.

Arrows Game

This is a test of your attention, your ability to learn from experience and if you can adapt to changing situations.

For this test, read the instructions carefully. When the arrows are blue or black, you have to indicate the direction of the middle arrow. If the arrows are red, indicate the direction of the side arrows.

You have 3 minutes to play this game, and the arrow images will be repeated on the screen 100 times, forcing you to use your powers of concentration.

Lengths Game

Here your attention to detail, your learning ability and your motivation all come under scrutiny.

In each round of the game, you will be presented with two almost similar pictures of the same thing. Your task is to find the one difference in length between them and decide if it is longer or shorter than in the almost similar picture.

Your answer will show if you are able to pay attention to detail. How your answering improves as you go through the game will highlight how quickly you are able to learn from experience.

Test yourself with the following Lengths question.

Cards Game

Here you will have to draw cards out of each of the four decks of cards you are presented with. You will win or lose money depending on the cards you draw. Your task is to end the game with as much money as you can.

The game measures how likely you are to take risks and how quickly you learn something.

Playing the game, you will find yourself attempting to decipher a pattern in the decks and decide which ones are likely to give you the highest reward.

Stop Game

The Stop Game, which assesses your attention to detail, appears quite simple. You press the spacebar when a certain symbol or shape appears on your screen. For other symbols, you quite simply do nothing.

Missing the designated shape or pressing the spacebar when a shape not designated appears will cause you to lose points.

However, don’t be taken in by this apparent simplicity.

Lack of concentration, not paying enough attention to detail, losing your focus on the game can all drag down your scores.

Practising with sample Stop Games will train you to maintain your focus before you have to play the real game. Bear in mind that we all have our strengths and weaknesses. While you practise, you will recognise yours and learn to use your strengths.

Digits Game

In this game, digits will flash quickly on your screen, and you have to type them in the order in which they appear.

The game is adaptive, meaning it responds to your performance. The digits will flash in increasing or decreasing quantities as you play. When you are doing well, you are presented with more difficult challenges.

In a similar fashion, questions become easier if you are not performing well.
This game is testing your memory. Because of the speed at which digits flash on the screen, you will need to remember them to type them in the sequence in which they appeared.

Working on practice games will enable you to hone your memory skills and train you to remember lines of digits when playing the real game.

Hard or Easy Task Game

This game tests the amount of effort you are willing to make, your motivation and your decision-making skills.

If you look at the following Hard or Easy Game question, you will notice that you have to choose between two tasks.
The easy task comes with a small reward. The hard task offers a bigger reward. And notice you have an 89% chance of winning in this particular game.

However, you are the person who is going to have to decide on the best option in your situation.

Are you motivated enough to take the harder task in return for a possible higher payout? And even more importantly, will you be able to make a decision while under time pressure?

Faces Game

The purpose of this game is to get a picture of your emotional intelligence.
You will be asked to study photos of people with different expressions and will have to decide what emotion they are experiencing.

Some of the photos may have an accompanying short text that you will have to use in your choice of the emotion being displayed as well.

Try the following faces game, and be sure to take the text into account. Keep an eye out for any contradictions between the text and photo.


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Research your prospective employer

In a world where business owners aim high, they are very aware of the type of employee who can help their company perform to the optimum.

For that reason, companies have a profile of the ideal employee’s personality and pymetric tests help them find that person.

The tests are developed with the employer’s specific needs in mind. Employers are generally looking to fill specific positions and different positions demand different personal attributes. For example, a person working in a management role will need very different personal qualities to the person who works in sales.

For you, the prospective employee, your primary task before attempting the test is to find out as much as you can about the company you have applied to. A search on the company website should give you that information or you could try keeping up with reports on something they have done.

With that information to hand, you are putting yourself in a better position to decide how you are going to play the games.

Doing your preparation

Don’t allow the fact the tests are called Games to lull you into a false sense of security. These are very sophisticated psychometric tests designed to let a prospective employer know if you are a good fit for his company.

They are also highly regarded tests, as evidenced by the list of companies that use them. Unilever, Hyatt and Accenture are listed among the 60 companies using Pymetrics testing today.

Take an organised approach to your preparation

Equip yourself with your Pymetric Games Test Bundle.
Make sure you have the details you have gathered about the companies you are applying to before you begin preparation.

Use your sample games

This will ensure:

  • You become familiar with the games
  • You hone your skills
  • You get a clearer idea of what you are being tested on
  • You learn how to play the games in the time allowed. You will find this difficult at first but with practice, you will improve
  • Check your scores after each game and identify areas you are having difficulty with
  • Double-check if you are producing the results your prospective employer is looking for

Having spent some time playing the games in your Games Test Bundle you will find your skills improving and your confidence increasing.

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Playing the real Games

Before you sit down to play the real games, there are a few factors to bear in mind.

You need to approach this:

  • As you would, any regular test
  • Well-rested, clear-headed and with the confidence of knowing you can do this
  • Knowing your digital equipment is in good working order
  • In a distraction-free space

Be aware that it is easier to become flustered and make errors in this type of test than in a regular assessment. Make sure you are relaxed before taking the test and have nothing else to focus on for the duration.
Maybe do some stress-busting exercises before starting, then go into that quiet space and give it your all.

If the Pymetrics test is on the horizon for you, you will find all the resources you need to ace it here.

Written by Elizabeth O Mahony

With 25+ years’ experience as a teacher and state examinations corrector, Elizabeth now writes for the education and careers industry. Her experience preparing students for examinations and running an academy for supplementary education give her invaluable insights into what it takes for job seekers and graduates to succeed in assessments.