Shlomik, Pymetrics Games Expert at at JobTestPrep.
Have a question? Contact me at: ask_the_team@jobtestprep.com
What Is the Pymetrics Balloon Game?
The Pymetrics Balloon Game is the most famous game in the set of 12 Pymetrics games. It assesses your risk-taking and learning abilities through a series of 39 rounds that go as follows:
- You begin with a deflated balloon in one of 3 colors.
- You pump the balloon as many times as you wish. Each pump earns you $0.05.
- At each point, you may bank the sum you’ve earned and move on to the next balloon.
- However, if you have pumped too much and the balloon pops – you lose all that round’s money.
The game has no time limit, and you must complete all 39 rounds to finish it.
Pymetrics Balloon Game Guide [Video]
What Does the Balloon Game Measure?
As mentioned, the Pymetrics Balloon game measures two traits – risk-taking and learning.
Risk-Taking
This trait is pretty clear – how much risk will you take before banking.
A candidate who manages to collect all the balloons but earns very low sums will be classified as cautious, whereas a candidate who tends to pop plenty of balloons but gains higher sums will be considered adventurous.
Learning
Unlike risk-taking, it is not as intuitive to understand how the Pymetrics Balloon Game assesses learning.
However, when you look at the backstage of this game, this becomes apparent:
The balloons’ explosion patterns are not random. Well, at least not entirely.
What does this mean?
If you remember, I previously mentioned that balloons come in one of 3 colors. Each balloon color has a different explosion pattern (or probability). For instance, blue balloons have a chance of 1:10 to explode, and yellow ones have a chance of 1:25 to explode (these are not the real numbers, BTW).
While playing the game, if you put close attention and apply a methodical approach, you will begin to make sense of these patterns, and change your behavior accordingly.
What Is the Best Pymetrics Balloon Game Strategy?
The preferred strategy for the Pymetrics Balloon Game depends on the desired profile for your position – cautious or adventurous.
If you don’t know what the position requires, look at the role ad, description, and core values of your potential employers to understand what they value in their employees.
After you have determined the required profile, I’d recommend following one of two paths accordingly – Max Money vs. Max Balloons.
The Max Money Strategy for the Adventurous Type
If you are required to demonstrate an adventurous personality, you should opt to maximize your profits, even if it costs you at losing more rounds and collecting fewer balloons.
To do so, it is recommended to use the following strategy:
- Go all-in in the several first attempts to try and estimate each balloon color’s explosion probability.
- In the following rounds, pump a bit more each round than you normally would, and note the high range of the number of pumps required to cause an explosion.
- You should aim to collect fewer balloons than average – around 18-19 balloons.
- You should aim to collect more money than average – around $20-$23.
The Max Balloons Strategy for the Cautious Type
On the other hand, if you are required to demonstrate a cautious personality, you should opt to maximize your balloon collection, even if it means losing possible gains.
To do so, it is recommended to use the following strategy:
- Collect the first balloons quickly to create a “low threshold” for their explosion probability.
- In the following rounds, steadily and slowly increase your pumps to find the balance between gaining money and preventing explosions.
- You should aim to collect more balloons than average – around 30-31 balloons.
- You should aim to collect the average sum of money – around $17-$18.
While highly effective, this is not a one-strategy-fits-all situation. Learn additional researched Pymetrics game Balloon strategies and apply the one best suited to your position's profile! Practice the game as many times as you need to gain confidence. Master the actual test and land your dream job!
What Is a Good Score in the Pymetrics Balloon Game?
Pymetrics does not provide any accurate information for this question, partly because the answer varies between positions (more on that later).
However, from the research of over 500 test-takers we have recently conducted, we can give you some important insights:
- The average test-taker collects 24-25 balloons of 39.
- The average test-taker banks around $18.
- The average time to complete the test is around 4 minutes.
But a good score is not only how much money or balloons you have collected - it is how well these results fit with your desired position candidate profile.
And all that requires a good strategy to accomplish.
Summary
Despite its innocent appearance, the Pymetrics Balloon Game is a highly sophisticated measurement tool for assessing risk-taking and learning.
With the appropriate strategy and focused practice, you can highly increase your learning ability, money gains, and balloon collection.
Each of the 12 Pymetrics Games holds different challenges and assesses different cognitive and personality traits.
Make sure you are ready for them all. Start practicing the Balloons Game and 11 Other Pymetrics Games.
Start practicing Now with our Free Pymetrics Test Practice!
Read More About the Pymetrics Games
The Pymetrics Games Assessment Guide
The Pymetrics Money Exchange 1 Game Guide
The Pymetrics Tower Game Guide
The Pymetrics Digits Game Guide
The Pymetrics Cards Game Guide
Looking for a new job?
Upload your CV into our AI, data-based CV Analyzer System, and get offers specifically tailored to your skillset and experience!
In 2022 Harver – the talent acquisition and talent management company – purchased the Pymetrics games. They added these gamified tests to their platform with data-driven recruitment solutions to enhance their innovative Harver Assessments.
