Rule type in matrix reasoning tests

Three values distributed

How the rule works

Three values, for example three shapes or three fills, each appear once in every row and once in every column. The order may shift between rows. The principle is the same as in a sudoku.

The rule looks like chance until you count. Anyone looking for a direction, something that grows or turns, finds none and moves on to the options without a rule. That is when the mistakes come.

Solved example

The bottom right cell is the answer, marked. The explanation below the matrix is the same text the app gives.

Rules in the example

  • Three sets of arrows each appear once in every row and every column.
  • Everything else is the same in every cell.

Level 1 in the app. The same example is shown in the app after a wrong answer on this rule. Rules in the example: Three values distributed.

How to recognise it

  1. Are there exactly three different values in the whole matrix? Then it is probably this rule.
  2. Check that every row has all three. Then check the columns.
  3. The empty cell must take the value missing from both its row and its column.

More about the format: what a matrix reasoning test is and how logical reasoning tests are used in recruitment.

Practise for real.

In the app the tasks are generated on the phone and the answer explains every rule. Five tasks are free; the rest unlocks with a one-time purchase.

Get it on the App Store

Requires an iPhone with iOS 17 or later.