Everything you need to know about McKinsey Solve

Format & timing

Solve is a set of ecology-themed mini-games that measure how you gather information, structure problems, and make decisions under time pressure. No consulting knowledge is required. The current (2026) live lineup, in order, is:

• 1 · Red Rock Study — data analysis (~30 min)
• 2 · Sea Wolf — the "ocean cleanup" optimization game (~30 min)
• 3 · Sustainable Future Lab — a behavioral, branching scenario (~20 min), included on longer invites

A 65-minute invitation is Red Rock + Sea Wolf; an 85-minute invitation adds the Sustainable Future Lab. McKinsey also captures process data — how you explore, revise, and pace yourself — not just your final answers.

📊 1 · Red Rock Study

Time: ~30 minutes · Type: data analysis / quant

Red Rock is the first and most "case-like" game. It has two parts and a strict, one-way flow — once you leave a phase, it locks.

Part 1 — Study (Investigation → Analysis → Report)

• Investigation: read a page of text, tables and charts. Only the Research Journal is available (no calculator yet) — you drag/collect the values you'll need into it, because they won't be available later.
• Analysis: the calculator appears. Solve 2–4 quantitative questions using your collected values; each answer is logged back into the Journal.
• Report: use your answers to fill blanks in a written summary, choose a chart type, and complete a table. You cannot return to earlier phases.

Part 2 — Cases

Six short, independent questions on the same theme. Roughly two-thirds of all Red Rock questions are math: percentages and percentage points, ratios, weighted averages, mean/median/mode, and simple probability. Nothing beyond arithmetic — the challenge is speed and not losing track of which number feeds which calculation.

→ Practice Red Rock now

🦠 2 · Sea Wolf

Time: ~30 minutes · Type: analytical / optimization

You clean up three contaminated ocean sites. Each microbe has three attributes (1–10) and one trait; each site defines target attribute ranges plus one desired and one undesired trait. You work each site through a fixed, one-way sequence of steps:

• Step 1 · Build profile — pick the two characteristics that matter most for the site.
• Step 2 · Categorize microbes — for each microbe, use it here, save it for the next site, or reject it (locks on confirm; saved microbes reappear at the next site's Step 0).
• Step 3 · Build prospect pool — you're given six prospects, then add four more by picking 1 of 3 across four rounds.
• Step 4 · Create treatment — choose exactly three microbes. Efficiency starts at 100% and loses 20% for each attribute mean out of range, 20% if no desired trait is present, and 20% for every microbe carrying the undesired trait.

Because it's the mean that matters, one extreme microbe can be balanced by two others — selection is a balancing act, not "pick the best individuals."

→ Practice Sea Wolf now

🌱 3 · Sustainable Future Lab

Time: ~20 minutes · Type: behavioral / judgment

The newest module (added in 2026). You lead an environmental research team through 13 prompts: one drag-and-drop priority ranking, then 12 branching scenario decisions. Each choice triggers a consequence and reshapes the next situation you face.

There are no objectively "correct" answers. McKinsey tracks consistency in how you weigh trade-offs across five traits: prioritisation, decision-making under uncertainty, interpreting messy information, balancing trade-offs, and stakeholder effectiveness. Pick a coherent decision philosophy and apply it consistently.

→ Practice Future Lab now

🐙 Ecosystem Building Legacy · retired 2025

Status: removed from the live assessment in 2025 · Type: constraint satisfaction

Once a core Solve game, Ecosystem asked you to build a food chain of eight species from a large pool and place it in one location where every species survives: each needs a food source, must tolerate the habitat, and must end with positive calories after feeding resolves top-down. It's no longer part of a real sitting, but it's a strong reasoning drill, so we keep it available for practice.

→ Practice the legacy Ecosystem game