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Game-based assessments: what employers' games measure and how to get ready

Some employers screen with short games instead of, or as well as, questions. Publishers such as Harver (which owns pymetrics), Arctic Shores and Aon describe their games on their own pages. This page sets out what they say, and which of preplaud's games are the same kind of task. They are not the same games, and many of the real ones have no right answers, so what practice can do is limited. Read the last section before you rely on it.

Read the games guide Try reaction time Practise for this test

What the publishers say

Harver (pymetrics)

Games	"12+" interactive games
Time	About 25 minutes on average
What they look at	Behavioural attributes such as adaptability, attention and decision-making, and soft skills such as effort, risk tolerance, emotion, fairness and learning
Feedback	Candidates get immediate results and feedback

Arctic Shores

Tasks	Up to nine, instead of traditional questions
Right answers	No right or wrong responses: it is about showing your natural approach
Getting ready	Do the practice task first, read the instructions, find a distraction-free place, and approach the tasks in the way that feels natural to you

Aon (game-style tests)

Working memory	9 minutes, nine tasks of varying difficulty: keeping something in mind while processing other information
Complex planning	6 minutes, as many puzzles as you can: planning ahead and overcoming barriers between a start and a goal state
Concentration	2 minutes: concentrating over time and acting quickly when faced with certain signals
Numeracy	6 minutes, as many tasks as you can: basic arithmetic by mental calculation
Situational judgement	A 20-minute gamified test: replying to work-related messages that are sent to you

From each publisher's own pages (sources below). Harver's page does not say whether its games have right or wrong answers. Optiver also uses games in its hiring, but I found no description from Optiver itself, so none is given here.

Which preplaud games are the same kind of task

These are practice versions of classic tasks from attention and decision research, not copies of any employer's game.

Attention and speed: reaction time, tapping speed, colour sort, arrows and the stop signal. The nearest to Aon's concentration and signal task are reaction time and the stop signal.
Risk and decisions: the balloon, card flip, betting and four decks games. The risk guide explains what they look at and the maths behind a good bet. Harver lists risk tolerance and decision-making among what its games look at.
Planning: doughnut sort, a planning puzzle scored on the fewest moves (see the planning puzzles page), and Moon base, a turn-based grid puzzle where you plan several turns ahead to stop rovers reaching a dome.
Working memory: backward digit span is a related task, not the same as Aon's.
Mental arithmetic: timed arithmetic, for the numeracy-style tasks.
Checking and attention to detail: same or different, find the typo, count the differences and find the odd row. See the attention to detail page.

What practice can and cannot do

It removes the surprise. Knowing the controls, the rules and the trick in a kind of game means your real attempt is not also your first. That is the main benefit, and it is familiarity with the format.
It does not change who you are. Where a game has no right answer, there is nothing to score higher on, and preplaud makes no claim that practice raises a result on any employer's game.
The games differ. preplaud's games resemble the kinds of task such assessments use. They are not the same games, and employers set up and score theirs in their own way.
Practice transfers narrowly. Training on a task mostly improves that task and close variants, not general ability. The games guide cites the research.
Do the publisher's own practice task when one is offered, as Arctic Shores advises.

Start now

Read the games guide Try reaction time

Sources

Harver: Game-based behavioral assessments (12+ games, about 25 minutes, what they look at, feedback)
Arctic Shores: Support for candidates (up to nine tasks, no right or wrong responses, how to get ready, practice task)
Aon: Prepare for your online assessment (working memory, complex planning, concentration, numeracy and situational judgement tests, with times)

preplaud is independent. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Harver, pymetrics, Arctic Shores, Aon or any employer that uses their assessments. Its games are its own and are not copies of theirs. Those names are used only to describe what the practice is for. preplaud gives no pass marks, norms or score predictions.