McKinsey Sustainable Futures Lab Simulator
Practice McKinsey's newest Solve module in both versions: the standard 20-minute SFL or the new 30-minute one from 95-minute invitations. Connected decisions, team scenarios and consistency-based scoring.
11,000+ candidates trained
8 practice runs is the average for passing candidates (SolvePrep user data)
"Failed at 38%. Two days on SolvePrep and I passed the real Solve." — Priya S.
The 20-minute lab, step by step
The 20-minute lab matches 85-minute invitations and follows the shape candidates describe for the real module: a ranking, then 12 connected decisions. Each run draws one of 8 research missions, each with its own team, and 12 of 52 decisions, so runs don't repeat. The briefing is untimed; the clock starts when you begin:
Mission briefing
four tabs (overview, team, data and emails) set out the project, the people and the constraints. Everyone who speaks or writes to you later is on the Team tab; outside senders are marked External. Nothing here is scored.
Priority ranking
put four actions in order by dragging or with the arrow buttons. After the run you see each placement against a defensible order: 3 points for an exact match, 1.5 if it's one place off, 0.5 if it's two.
Connected decisions
12 situations, each with three or four responses, and you pick one. From the second decision on, each opens with a line on how your previous choice landed, and some react to the approach you've shown so far.
In-story updates
three times per run an update lands mid-story, such as an equipment failure or a partnership offer with strings attached, and you're expected to weigh it in the decisions that follow.
Your result is a percent of 68 points across three pillars: priority ranking (12), judgment (36) and consistency (20).
Want a harder test of your judgment? The most/least drill keeps our original format: rank six actions, then pick both the most and the least effective of four responses in 11 scenarios, while a panel tracks how four stakeholders see you. It's scored out of 108 and has its own leaderboard.
The 30-minute lab, day by day
The 30-minute lab matches 95-minute invitations. You run a four-person research team on an island for three working days, in one of 6 missions. It's modeled on public descriptions of the format; McKinsey hasn't published its mechanics or scoring.
Mission briefing
meet the four researchers, with their skill bars, energy and a work-style trait. Morale and preferences stay hidden until an intel card reveals them.
Morning intel
you can open three of six sealed cards on Days 1 and 2, and two of five on Day 3. Some change the plan; some are noise.
Assignments
place one researcher at each of four stations, weighing skill fit against energy cost. On Day 2 a disruption hits one station, and promises you made earlier fall due.
Live decisions
two problems a day, from your team or from outside, each with four responses. Some responses commit you to a promise that's checked later.
End-of-day ratings
rate each person Below, Met or Exceeded, judged on what you saw rather than on station output alone.
Your result splits into six pillars: mission outcome (30 points), allocation (15), judgment (25), consistency (15), information use (10) and team read (5).
Check the length on your invitation before you pick: 85 minutes means the 20-minute lab, 95 minutes the 30-minute one, and 65 minutes means Red Rock Study and Sea Wolf Game only. Here's how the 85- and 95-minute versions differ.
What you see after each run
The 20-minute debrief shows your score and band, the three pillars with the weakest one flagged, where you lost points by scenario type, your ranking against a defensible order and a review of every decision next to the strongest option. The 30-minute debrief replays each day against the strongest possible plan, then goes through every decision, the intel you opened, the promises you kept and how your ratings compared with how each person actually performed. After a paid run you can retry the exact same run to test a new approach; retries show on your dashboard but never count on the leaderboard.
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