McKinsey Solve Practice Guide: Red Rock, Sea Wolf & 2026 Changes

McKinsey Solve is an interactive problem-solving assessment. Candidates report differing task lineups and durations, including a Sustainable Futures Lab module in 2026. A guide that promises one fixed exam for every applicant is too confident.

Our McKinsey Solve practice hub offers original data-study and constraint-team exercises, including public worked examples. The practice product covers those two skill families; it does not include Sustainable Futures Lab or the older Ecosystem Building game, and it is not a complete replica of every current Solve configuration.

Start with the official instructions

McKinsey says preparation is unnecessary and considers Solve alongside the rest of your application. Its public video shows Red Rock Island research, a journal, a provided calculator and report conclusions, followed by Sea Wolf database searches, sorting and microbe treatment selection. Both have guidance before timed work. Start with that video on the official Solve page.

Your invitation gives the assessment duration. McKinsey's Solve FAQ confirms untimed tutorials before each task, PC or Mac access, and no requirement for prior business knowledge or gaming experience. Reserve the time specified in your invitation, including its instructions for setup.

Which Solve games should you expect?

The evidence supports these distinctions as of September 2026:

In March 2026, separate firsthand threads described an additional scenario-based module, with one naming Sustainable Futures Lab and reporting an 85-minute assessment. A later publicly shared invitation specifies approximately 95 minutes, plus additional instruction time. These are individual reports, not a representative sample or an official schedule. They are enough to make a universal 65- or 85-minute claim unreliable. March candidate account, named Sustainable Futures Lab account, 95-minute invitation report.

Red Rock: investigate, calculate and explain

In our original data practice, the central challenge is choosing the right calculation from the available evidence. Arithmetic is only one part of that decision. Before calculating, identify the population, time period, unit and comparison the question asks for. A correct calculation using the wrong denominator still answers the wrong question.

Consider this original example. A project treats 240 of 600 samples in its first period and 330 of 750 in its second period:

• The treatment rate changes from 40% to 44%.
• That is an increase of 4 percentage points.
• Relative to the original 40% rate, the increase is 10%.
• The number treated rises by 37.5%, from 240 to 330.

All four statements are compatible. The wording of the question determines which number belongs in the answer. This is why our practice makes units and rounding instructions explicit and explains the denominator in the review.

Use a journal selectively: keep a number with its label and unit, along with what you expect to calculate from it. Copying every visible number can make a small study harder to navigate. Before submitting a conclusion, check that it follows from the evidence rather than adding an unsupported explanation. An increase after an intervention does not, by itself, prove that the intervention caused it.

Sea Wolf: check the combination, not just each card

Our constraint practice uses three separate ideas: a team's numeric averages must satisfy stated ranges; at least one member must carry a required trait; and no member may carry a forbidden trait. These are explicit rules of our exercises. Always follow the instructions shown in your actual assessment if they differ.

For an original simplified example, suppose a three-member team's average resilience must be between 6 and 8, at least one member must have a filter trait, and none may have a toxin trait. Members with resilience values of 3, 7 and 11 average 7. The low and high values balance each other. Rejecting every individual value outside 6–8 would discard that valid numeric combination.

The trait conditions need separate checks. One filter carrier is enough under an “at least one” rule; three are unnecessary. A single toxin carrier fails the “none” rule even when every numeric average is perfect. A good numeric match cannot repair a forbidden trait.

Some July 2026 takers said their commercial Sea Wolf practice felt easier than the assessment and described difficulty fitting team averages to target ranges. That supports practicing complementary values and near-miss combinations. It does not prove that their candidate pools had no perfect solution or reveal the employer's grading formula. Firsthand difficulty discussion.

Our review explains satisfied and missed constraints using the exercise's actual pool. A local practice result is feedback on those published rules, not a McKinsey treatment score or hiring prediction.

What about Sustainable Futures Lab?

Candidates describe a further task involving project scenarios, ambiguous information and choices about how a team should proceed. The March reports differ in how difficult and intuitive they found it. Those accounts establish a coverage gap in two-task preparation; they do not give us an authenticated employer answer key. Firsthand SFL discussion.

Sustainable Futures Lab is not included in this release. We would need a clearer basis for its current mechanics before presenting a simulation, and any future original judgment exercise would require its own transparent educational rationale. Our preferred response to a fictional workplace scenario should never be presented as McKinsey's secret correct answer.

How to use our practice

Start with the public worked examples. Then use the practice page to choose a focused untimed drill or the combined timed sitting.

The combined practice allows 35 minutes for the data study and 30 minutes for the constraint task. This 65-minute structure is our practice design, not a promise about your invitation's duration or complete task lineup. Untimed drills let you examine a method without needing another long sitting.

A useful sequence is:

1. Learn the rules untimed. Complete a data exercise and a constraint exercise, and check the explanations even when your answer is correct.
2. Find the specific error. Separate misreading, choosing the wrong formula, arithmetic, overlooking a trait, and running out of time. Each needs a different adjustment.
3. Retry the weak skill. For percentage errors, state the denominator before calculating. For constraint errors, check averages and traits separately.
4. Use the timed sitting for pacing. Notice where you stall and which work remains unfinished. Review accuracy and completion together.

Our scenarios, data and explanations are original. Familiarity may make these exercises more comfortable, but we have not established how much practice changes actual Solve performance or recruitment outcomes.

Public examples are free. Signed-in practice follows the access terms shown for your account, which may require a pass before the first sitting. A McKinsey Solve pass covers this practice category only, including its supported modes, for the selected period. It does not unlock other assessment categories or grant access to McKinsey's actual assessment.

How to read your practice results

Our practice does not reproduce official scoring. We do not assign a hidden process score to your journal clicks, penalize every revision, or offer a supposed qualifying decile.

The useful questions are concrete: was the calculation correct, did the selection satisfy the requirements, and what remained unanswered? We report educational results under our own rules, without converting them into an official score. Treat any claim that a particular simulator result guarantees an interview with skepticism.

FAQ

Is this a complete McKinsey Solve simulation?

It is focused original practice for data reasoning and constraint selection. Sustainable Futures Lab and Ecosystem Building are not included. Read the coverage description before choosing a pass.

Is Solve always 65 minutes?

No single duration should be assumed. McKinsey's FAQ directs candidates to their invitation. Our combined practice uses 65 minutes as an editorial pacing choice; it is not the length of every official assessment.

Is the Ecosystem game definitely retired?

We cannot establish that for every role and location. A January 2025 candidate account included Ecosystem alongside Redrock and Sea Wolf. Follow your invitation and tutorials rather than treating a dated online account as a guarantee.

Do I need to buy preparation?

No. McKinsey says preparation is unnecessary. Our worked examples are available without purchasing practice; a pass is an optional way to work through our original exercises.

Can I use this practice, an AI assistant or saved notes during the real assessment?

No. McKinsey's integrity rules prohibit outside assistance, apps, websites, AI and prepared notes during Solve, except for an approved accommodation. They also prohibit capturing the assessment. Use preparation resources beforehand and close them before starting.

What if I have a technical problem or need an accommodation?

The official FAQ directs candidates to Solve support when a technical issue occurs and to their recruiter for accommodation requests. It does not support assuming that a poor result entitles you to an immediate retake.

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