Start with McKinsey
McKinsey's Solve careers page is short and worth five minutes. It has a link to see what the assessment feels like, a FAQ document, the rules (no apps, websites, AI tools or prepared notes during the test; sit it alone; no screenshots), and the support address for technical problems. It says there's no need to prepare. It doesn't offer a playable practice version, and it doesn't list the games or the timings; those come from your invitation email and from candidate reports.
What's free on SolveForge
Our entry, stated plainly. With a free account (no card):
- One full Red Rock Study scenario on a 30-minute clock, scored the moment you finish, with the answer key next to your answers.
- One full Sea Wolf scenario, three sites, 30 minutes, with the best available trio shown next to yours for each site.
- An optional emailed breakdown of which skills cost you points on a run.
- A place on the leaderboards.
- Every written guide, no account needed: the Solve guide, Red Rock, Sea Wolf, Sustainable Futures Lab, and the shorter pages like this one.
What isn't free: the scenarios are fixed, so a replay gives you the same numbers back; the Sustainable Futures Lab and the legacy Ecosystem game are Pro; and fresh scenarios on every run are Pro. Pro is $29 for 30 days, one payment, nothing recurring. Details on the pricing page.
What's free elsewhere
Checked by opening each site's own pages on 28 September 2026. Offers change; if something here is out of date, the site's own page wins.
Solve Games Guide
One free run of each of its three simulators (Red Rock, Sea Wolf, and the original-format Sustainable Futures Lab) with a free account and no card, each a full timed session with a score report. That's the most generous free tier we found for the Sustainable Futures Lab specifically. Repeat runs, a Sea Wolf scoring calculator and its simulator for the redesigned Sustainable Futures Lab are paid.
PSG Cracked
A free Sea Wolf simulation, a free Red Rock simulation and a free Sustainable Futures Lab simulation, each delivered by entering your email. The Sea Wolf one is a single scenario you can replay without limit, with feedback on how the 20% penalties applied. Its written Sea Wolf guide is long and free to read, and it cites McKinsey's own FAQ document. Multi-scenario packs and its Excel solver are paid.
SolvePrep
Advertises a free trial with no card required. We didn't sign up, so we can't say exactly what the trial contains; check its site.
CaseBasix
Its Sea Wolf page links to a free starter pack and a free Solve simulation course. We read the guide page, not the course, so we can't describe what the free course contains. The guide itself has an author byline and a table of contents but still describes an older, shorter version of Sea Wolf.
Written guides that are free to read
Hacking the Case Interview's Solve and Sea Wolf guides are free and written by a named former interviewer; its "free training" is a webinar about interviews, not a practice test. Prepmatter's Sustainable Futures Lab page was, as of September 2026, the most detailed public account of the redesigned format, and Prepmatter also has free mental-math drills. MConsultingPrep's game deep dives are free to read; its simulations are paid.
Reddit and YouTube
There's a well-ranked r/MBA thread titled "Free McKinsey Solve Practice Resources" and threads in r/McKinsey_BCG_Bain and r/consultingcareers that come up for Sea Wolf and the Sustainable Futures Lab. Useful for what candidates actually saw; check dates, since most older threads are about the retired Ecosystem game. The same goes for YouTube: many walkthroughs are of games no longer on the test.
What "free" usually means, and how to use it
Across the sites above, free almost always means one run per game, sometimes behind an email address, and the same scenario if you replay. That's not a trick; it's the honest limit of what anyone gives away. And it's enough for a specific purpose: learning the interface and the pacing so they don't cost you attention on the day. A sensible free week looks like this:
- Read the guides for the games on your invitation (check the length: 65, 85 or 95 minutes decides it).
- Play each game once, timed, on one site. Read the feedback.
- Play it once more on a different site, so you see a second set of numbers and a second interface. Two free runs on two sites beats one run replayed five times.
- If both runs went well, you're mostly done. If they didn't, that's when paid repetition on fresh scenarios earns its money, because a replay of a scenario you've seen tells you about your memory, not your readiness.
FAQ
Does McKinsey provide free Solve practice?
Not a playable practice test. McKinsey's Solve careers page has a short introduction to what the assessment feels like, a FAQ document, and the rules. It says no preparation is needed. Everything playable comes from independent sites.
What can I practise on SolveForge for free?
One full Red Rock Study scenario and one full Sea Wolf scenario, timed, scored, with the answer key and an optional emailed skill breakdown, plus every written guide. It takes a free account and no card. The scenarios are fixed, so replays give you the same numbers. The Sustainable Futures Lab and fresh scenarios are Pro.
What does free usually mean on McKinsey Solve practice sites?
One run per game, sometimes behind an email sign-up, sometimes behind a free account, and usually the same scenario if you replay it. That's still useful: one honest timed run teaches you the interface and the pacing, which is most of what practice is for.
Is free practice enough to prepare for McKinsey Solve?
For learning the format, yes. Read the guides, then play each game once on a couple of sites. What free tiers don't give you is repetition on fresh scenarios, which is what you need if your first timed runs go badly and you want to know whether you've improved rather than whether you've memorised the answers.
Keep going
Find out which games you'll face: what your invitation length means. Then the McKinsey Solve guide and the three game guides. Ready? Start the free Red Rock scenario or the free Sea Wolf scenario.
SolveForge is an independent practice tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to McKinsey & Company. "McKinsey" and "Solve" are trademarks of their respective owners. The other sites named here are independent businesses we have no relationship with; descriptions reflect their public pages on the date above. Practising here does not guarantee any assessment result.