McKinsey Solve: the games, the timing, the scoring and how to prepare

What McKinsey Solve is

McKinsey Solve is a set of short game-based tasks that McKinsey uses to screen applicants before interviews. It replaced the paper-style Problem Solving Test (PST) from around 2020. You take it online, at home, in a desktop browser, usually within days of submitting your application. The result goes to the recruiting team with your CV, and together they decide whether you are invited to the first round of case interviews.

The games are set in the natural world (an island's wildlife, ocean microbes, a sustainability lab) so that no candidate starts with industry knowledge the others lack. You do not need any gaming experience; the controls are simple. What the games measure is how you solve a problem you have not seen before: whether you find the information that matters, use it correctly, make reasonable trade-offs and finish in time. McKinsey describes it as measuring how you approach problems, not just whether you reach the answer.

Solve is used across McKinsey's generalist consulting roles and many specialist ones, for graduate, MBA and experienced hires. For most applicants it is the first real test in the process. Our McKinsey recruitment process guide shows where it sits in the full funnel from application to offer.

How Solve differs from the old PST

The PST was a timed set of multiple-choice questions about a written business case: read the exhibits, pick the answer. Solve changes three things. The setting is a natural system, not a company, so a finance or strategy background gives no head start. The tasks are open, so you decide which information to use rather than being handed it with each question. And because the games record how you work, not only what you answer, a lucky guess earns less than a clear line of reasoning. What has not changed is the core: reading data quickly, doing simple arithmetic accurately and reaching a sound conclusion against a clock. Candidates who were good at the PST tend to do well at Solve once they know the games.

The games in 2026

Every current invitation includes Redrock and Sea Wolf. Longer invitations add the Sustainable Futures Lab, in one of two versions. The table shows the line-up as candidates report it in 2026.

Redrock

Redrock is the closest thing in Solve to a consultant's day. You get a research objective about the wildlife of a fictional island, some notes and a data table. In the investigation you drag the facts the objective needs into a research journal; in the analysis you answer a few calculation questions with an on-screen calculator; in the report you fill the blanks in a short summary and choose the right chart. Then come six short cases, each with its own exhibit. The maths is percentages, growth rates, ratios and averages, and the hard part is the 35-minute clock. Our Redrock guide works an example of every stage.

Sea Wolf

In Sea Wolf you treat pollution at three ocean sites, one after another, about ten minutes each. Each site needs three microbes whose traits suit its conditions. You set filters for the site's requirements, sort the microbes the game offers into likely and unlikely candidates, build a shortlist, and choose a final three whose combined traits do the job. It tests whether you can hold several constraints at once and narrow a large set quickly. The Sea Wolf guide covers the selection logic and the Sea Wolf simulation guide covers timed practice.

Sustainable Futures Lab

The third game comes in two versions, and your invitation's length tells you which. The original, on 85-minute invitations, is 13 multiple-choice questions in 20 minutes, built around a sustainability lab's charts and trade-offs. The redesigned version, on 95-minute invitations since August 2026, is a three-day team leadership simulation of about 30 minutes: you allocate a small team, respond to support requests as they arrive and balance competing goals. Both are covered, keyed to your invitation, in the Sustainable Futures Lab guide.

Games you will not see

Ecosystem, the food-chain game where you chose eight species that could survive together, has dropped out of current invitations. Sources differ on the exact date, from 2024 in some offices to July 2025 in others; candidates in 2026 do not report it. Plant Defense, a tower-defence style game, left earlier. If you are reading older prep material built around Ecosystem, skip those sections. Our Ecosystem guide stays online for anyone who meets it, but it is not where your time should go.

Which version you will get

The quickest way to know which games you face is the length stated in your invitation email. Candidate reports through 2026 line up with three formats.

Invitations also suggest setting aside extra time, around 20 minutes, for instructions, tutorials and the technical check. So a 95-minute invitation is closer to two hours at your desk. Book the longer block.

Does the version depend on the role or the region? Nobody outside McKinsey has a reliable answer. We have found no source that ties a format to a particular role, level or office; candidates applying to the same programme in the same cycle have reported different lengths, and several sources say only that the line-up applies "in most regions". The safe reading is that McKinsey runs different versions side by side while it tests changes, and that you should prepare for whatever your own invitation states. If your invitation names a game this guide does not, trust the invitation.

Timing and the day itself

Each game runs on its own clock, and once a game starts its clock does not stop. Within a game there is no per-question timer: you decide how to spend the minutes, which is exactly where most candidates lose marks. Plan a split before you start (our game guides give one for each) and check the clock at fixed points rather than whenever you feel rushed.

The invitation usually gives you a window of several days to start. Use it: pick a time when you are fresh, not the last evening before the deadline. On the day, the practical points matter more than they seem:

• Use a laptop or desktop with a current browser and a stable connection. Solve is not built for phones or tablets.
• Have pen and paper. Writing down a site's requirements in Sea Wolf, or a figure in Redrock, saves rereading.
• Close everything else. Notifications and other tabs cost attention you need for the clock.
• Ask about adjustments before you start. If you need extra time or another accommodation, contact the recruiter named in your invitation first; it cannot be added afterwards.
• Take the tutorials seriously. Each game opens with a short walkthrough. Skipping it to save time usually costs more time later.

Between games you usually move straight on, so if you want a pause to reset, take it on the screen between one game ending and the next beginning, never inside a game. A glass of water and a minute away from the screen before Sea Wolf is a better use of time than starting it tired from Redrock's cases.

How Solve is scored

McKinsey does not publish its scoring. What it does say is that Solve looks at how you solve problems as well as the result. Prep sites usually describe this as two parts: a product score for your answers (the microbes you chose, the numbers you entered, the options you picked) and a process score for how you got there (the information you used, how directly you worked, whether your choices were consistent). The split between the two is not public, so treat the process part as real but unspecified. In practice the same habits help both: read what the task asks, use the information it gives, work in a straight line and finish.

Your games combine into one overall score. Recruiters will usually tell you the score and its decile if you ask the contact named in your invitation, though not every office does. There is no published pass mark. The ranges below come from candidates who shared their results publicly; they are a rough guide, not an official table.

Candidates on r/McKinseyAndCompany most often report interview invitations from the seventh decile upwards, but the score is never the whole decision. Offices weigh it with your CV, and a strong background can carry a middling score, just as a top score cannot rescue an application that does not fit the role. That cuts both ways for preparation: a few points matter, but they are not worth neglecting your CV or your case practice for.

How to prepare

Solve rewards knowing the games in advance more than any amount of general aptitude practice. A week of focused work is enough for most candidates; our 7-day practice plan sets it out day by day. In short:

1. Learn each game's rules and structure first. Read the Redrock, Sea Wolf and Sustainable Futures Lab guides before you play anything. Knowing that Redrock's report is fill-in-the-blanks, or that Sea Wolf's three sites share one clock, changes how you spend your time.
2. Drill the specific skills. For Redrock, percentages, growth over several years without compounding, ratios, and choosing a chart. For Sea Wolf, holding a site's requirements in mind while filtering. For the Lab, reading a chart quickly and weighing a trade-off.
3. Play each game against its clock. The Redrock Simulation, the Sea Wolf Simulation and the Sustainable Futures Lab run the games on their real timers with a scored report, so you can practise the time split, not just the logic.
4. Review every run. After each attempt, find where the minutes went and which answer you would change. One reviewed run teaches more than three unreviewed ones.
5. Finish with a full sitting. In the last two days, play the games back to back at the length on your invitation, to get used to the fatigue of the full session. Our Solve tips cover the timing tactics.

Every McKinsey guide

Each guide is kept current with the 2026 formats.

Frequently asked questions

How long is McKinsey Solve in 2026?

65, 85 or 95 minutes, depending on your invitation. 65 minutes covers Redrock and Sea Wolf; 85 minutes adds the original Sustainable Futures Lab; 95 minutes adds the redesigned one. Invitations suggest about 20 extra minutes for instructions and the technical check.

Is Ecosystem still part of McKinsey Solve?

No. Ecosystem has dropped out of current invitations, from around mid-2025 in most offices. Every format reported in 2026 is built on Redrock and Sea Wolf.

What is a good McKinsey Solve score?

McKinsey publishes no pass mark. Candidates who shared results report scores from about 499 (4th decile) to about 558 (top decile), and most report interview invitations from the seventh decile upwards. The score is weighed with your CV, not on its own.

Can I find out my Solve score?

Usually, if you ask. Candidates report that the recruiter named in the invitation email will share the overall score and decile on request. McKinsey does not send it automatically.

Can I use a calculator in McKinsey Solve?

Redrock has an on-screen calculator from its analysis stage. Candidates commonly use pen and paper alongside the games. Check your invitation for any rules that apply to you.

Does the Solve format depend on my role or office?

There is no reliable evidence that it does. Candidates for the same programme have reported different lengths in the same cycle. Prepare for the format your own invitation states.

How long should I prepare for McKinsey Solve?

About a week of focused work is enough for most candidates: learn each game's rules, drill the skills each one uses, and play each game at least twice against its real clock before the day.