Imbellus continues to enhance the experience of McKinsey Solve Game by developing new and innovative challenges. Introduced in June 2024, Ocean Cleanup exemplifies the commitment to improving the interviewing experience. Designed to test candidates in dynamic and engaging ways, this new game evaluates problem-solving skills in a context similar to what McKinsey’s consultants actually work.
As McKinsey pushes the boundaries of their recruitment tools, Ocean Cleanup promises to be an exciting and impactful component of their selection process. Dive into this article to learn more about this newly released game.
Ocean Cleanup in a nutshell
Ocean Cleanup, as its name states, offers a fresh challenge centered around marine pollution. Applicants are required to select and combine various microbes to clean plastic from the ocean. Each of the available microbes possess unique traits such as heat resistance, pH and photosensitivity.
Game's objective is to devise the most effective microbial combination to tackle the pollution problem. This requires players to strategically analyze and manage microbes based on their characteristics, showcasing their problem-solving and analytical skills in a novel context.
The game is divided in two moments:
- Microbes selection: at this step, applicants are required to select 10 microbes among a pool of 20 options. It’s essential to understand which ones offer the best characteristics for the task.
- Microbes combination: now it’s time to combine 3 of the 10 chosen ones, that will bond chains and remove the plastic from the water. A caveat: the average of characteristics of the chosen 3 need to reconcile with the average of remaining 7 microbes.
Key facts about Ocean Cleanup
- Duration of the game: 20 minutes.
- Position: Ocean Cleanup comes after Ecosystem and Redrock games, as the third one.
Game status
It’s important to know that at this moment Ocean Cleanup is only a beta game. This means that your performance at this game won’t be considered for your application.
That might change in the future, if McKinsey and Imbellus decide to stick with this game, potentially replacing Ecosystem Game, that was released years go.
Comparison with other Solve Games
Ocean Cleanup offers a distinct experience compared to McKinsey's previous Solve Games, such as Ecosystem and Redrock.
- Ecosystem: focuses on managing resources within a balanced environment, requiring players to strategize around various elements like animal populations and plant growth. The game emphasizes choosing the right producers and animals among a set of 39 species to build a sustainable food chain.
- Redrock: involves creating predictions about the evolution and population dynamics in an island environment. It challenges players to navigate different kinds of math calculations (as we explained in Redrock’s math) to achieve a sustainable outcome.
- Ocean Cleanup: shifts the focus to marine pollution, tasking players with selecting and combining microbes to remove plastic from the ocean. This game emphasizes understanding and leveraging microbial traits for the best cleaning performance.
User experience and feedbacks
Early user feedback on Ocean Cleanup has been predominantly positive, with players appreciating the innovative approach and the enhanced playfulness of the game.
Some testers have remarked that the tutorial introducing the game rules and goals might be unclear and harder to understand, especially in understanding the various microbial traits and their effective combinations. Certainly, this aspect of the game will be shortly improved by Imbellus.
Ocean Cleanup FAQs
We have curated some questions around the new game to further help you.
- What is the main objective of the Ocean Cleanup game? The game involves selecting and combining different microbes to clean plastic from the ocean, focusing on environmental problem-solving.
- What challenges do players typically face in Ocean Cleanup? Players might face difficulties while matching microbes according to their characteristics such as photosensitivity and pH.
- How can candidates prepare for the Ocean Cleanup game? At this moment preparing for the game shouldn't be a concern, since it is still a beta. For this reason, it won’t be taken into consideration in any application. Also, it is not presented equally to all applicants.
Stay tuned for more
As we collect more game data from our students we will be publishing it in this article. Please keep checking for more granular information.
With this release, McKinsey reaffirmed its commitment to its recruiting process by improving continuously Solve Game experience from both applicant and company’s sides. Stay tuned for updates as more information is disclosed about this exciting new game.
