What Is McKinsey Solve? A Guide to Redrock, Sea Wolf and SFL
How McKinsey Solve works now: Redrock, Sea Wolf and Sustainable Futures Lab, scoring, timing by invitation, tools allowed and a 3-week prep plan.
Updated · 18 min readTopic · 7 articles
McKinsey Solve: articles and guides
McKinsey Solve is the game-based assessment McKinsey sends to many applicants before the first interview. It replaced the older Problem Solving Game (PSG), and it is built to measure how you reason through a problem rather than what you know about business. McKinsey itself says no business knowledge is needed.
This hub collects everything we have written on Solve. Start with the complete McKinsey Solve guide if you are new to the test, then go game by game. Each article shows the date its format facts were last checked, because McKinsey changes the games more often than most prep material admits.
Which games are in McKinsey Solve?
Most candidates now report two games: Redrock, a research-and-calculation case study, and Sea Wolf, where you pick microbes that meet a set of conditions. Some invitations add a third game, the Sustainable Futures Lab, which is why invitations come with different total times. Older games such as the Ecosystem Creation task still show up in older guides. Our article on what changed in the Solve format tracks those shifts.
How is McKinsey Solve scored?
McKinsey does not publish a pass mark, and candidates are not normally shown their score. What is known is that the games record both your final answers and how you got there. Our McKinsey Solve score explainer separates what is documented from what is estimated.
How should you prepare?
Practise the mechanics until they no longer cost you time: reading a data table fast, doing percentage and ratio maths without errors, and keeping a clean record of your working. Then rehearse the full timing once or twice. Our comparison of Solve prep tools covers where free and paid practice differ.
Top articles on McKinsey Solve
What Changed in the McKinsey Solve Assessment?
What changed in McKinsey Solve for the 2026 recruiting cycle: Redrock, the ecosystem game, scoring dimensions, and how to adjust your preparation.
Updated · 4 min readWhat Is McKinsey's Sustainable Futures Lab (SFL)?
What McKinsey's Sustainable Futures Lab is, which Solve invitations include it (65, 85 or 95 minutes), the five traits it reportedly scores, and examples.
Updated · 8 min readMore articles on McKinsey Solve
- Failed McKinsey Solve? How Long Until You Can ReapplyMcKinsey Solve · Sep 22, 2026
- Sea Wolf Microbe Math: How Does the Averaging Rule Work?McKinsey Solve · Sep 22, 2026
- Can You Use a Calculator on McKinsey Solve?McKinsey Solve · Sep 22, 2026
- McKinsey Solve Passing Score: How Is Solve Scored, and What Is the Pass Rate?McKinsey Solve · Sep 22, 2026
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