Matrix Reasoning test online: find the missing piece
20 grids of 3 by 3 shapes, each with its bottom-right cell empty. Work out how shape, color and size change along the rows and down the columns, then choose the piece that completes the grid.
Start the Matrix Reasoning testYour result appears after item 20, and a free account keeps it.
Works best on a computer.
How it works
There is no practice round: an example grid explains the idea, then 20 items run in a fixed order from easy to very hard. No item has a time limit.
- 1 · Each item
A grid with a gap
8 cells hold one shape each: a circle, square or triangle, in red, blue or yellow, large or small. The ninth cell shows a question mark.
- 2 · Your answer
1 click, 6 options
6 pieces sit under the grid. Click the one that completes the pattern. The screen tints green or red for a moment and the next item appears; you cannot go back.
- 3 · Items 1 to 18
Rules stack up
In items 1 to 5 each row has one shape and each column one color. Items 6 to 12 add a size change from row to row, and items 13 to 18 alternate size along each row.
- 4 · Items 19 and 20
Each shape in every row
The last 2 items work differently: every shape and every color appears once in each row and each column, and size alternates like a checkerboard.
A label above each grid shows the item number and its level: easy, medium, hard or very hard. The items are built from fixed rules and a fixed seed, so every attempt shows the same 20 grids in the same order.
Grids like these go back to Raven's Progressive Matrices, a test given across many countries and decades (Raven, 2000). This is not Raven's test and uses none of its items: the test draws its own shapes, rules and answer pieces.
What it measures
Each item shows a few examples of a rule and asks you to apply it to the one case you cannot see.
Finding the rules
- Comparing cells along a row and down a column to see which feature stays put and which one changes.
- Separating shape, color and size, which each follow a rule of their own.
- Using the last row and the last column together to describe the missing piece.
Holding them together
- Keeping 2 or 3 rules in mind while you check 6 options.
- Rejecting pieces that are right on 2 features and wrong on the third.
- Switching to a new kind of rule on the final items, where each value appears once per row and column.
Psychologists call this fluid reasoning: working out new relationships rather than drawing on stored knowledge, a split studied by Horn and Cattell (1967) in their work on age differences. A detailed analysis of how people solve Raven's items named 2 demands, inducing the rules and keeping track of several goals in working memory (Carpenter, Just and Shell, 1990).
Matrix items are also popular in online research. The International Cognitive Ability Resource offers public-domain items built for that use (Condon and Revelle, 2014). The grids here are different again, so results from those studies do not carry over.
A test, not a diagnosis.
20 puzzles are a narrow sample of reasoning. This is not an IQ score, and it cannot diagnose or rule out any condition.
What you get
The result screen appears right after item 20.
On the result screen
- Correct answers out of 20 and your average time per item, in seconds.
- A short reading in 3 bands, with a marker on a bar labelled strong, mixed and difficult.
- A few observations, for example how the easy and hard levels went and whether you slowed down on harder items.
- Your accuracy at each level: easy, medium, hard and very hard.
- A table of every item with its result and time, and a CSV download.
When you keep it
- A free account saves your answers and times, ready to open on any device.
- Listed under fluid reasoning in your results, next to Pattern Completion if you take it.
- Continuing from the hub brings up a suggested next test.
How this version is scored
Each click is stored with the item, its level, whether it was right and how long you took.
- Correct answer
- The one option that fits every rule in the grid. Each item offers the answer and 5 pieces that are wrong on shape, color or size. There is no partial credit.
- Score
- The number of correct answers, from 0 to 20. The reading uses 3 bands: 15 or more, 9 to 14, and below 9.
- Accuracy by level
- Your percentage correct within each level: 5 easy, 7 medium, 6 hard and 2 very hard items.
- Time per item
- From the moment the grid appears to your click, averaged across the 20 items. It is shown and saved but does not change the score.
Why there is no clock. The test asks how far your reasoning reaches, not how fast it runs, so each item waits for you. Time is recorded only to describe how you worked.
Not a percentile. The result screen does not convert your count into a percentile or an IQ-style score. Its bands are fixed cut-offs written into the test.
Before you start
Calm conditions matter more than speed here.
For a cleaner attempt
- Use a computer or tablet if you can; on a narrow phone the grid and the options shrink.
- Read the last row and the last column before you look at the options.
- Check every option, since several differ from the answer in a single feature.
- Stay on the tab until the result appears: leaving loses your progress.
Interpret cautiously when
- You are tired, unwell or in a hurry.
- Telling red, blue and yellow apart is hard for you, because color is one of the rules.
- Low vision or a small screen makes the shapes hard to compare.
- You have taken this test before: the 20 items stay the same between attempts.
Questions
What does a matrix reasoning test measure?
It measures nonverbal reasoning: finding the rule behind a few examples and applying it to a new case. Researchers place it under fluid reasoning, the part of thinking used for new problems rather than learned knowledge. Matrix items also lean on working memory, because several rules have to be kept in mind at once.
What is a good score on this Matrix Reasoning test?
Higher is better. The result screen reads 15 or more correct out of 20 as strong, 9 to 14 as mixed and below 9 as difficult. These are fixed cut-offs, not age norms, and the items are this site's own, so a score here does not line up with Raven's or other published matrix tests.
Can I take the Matrix Reasoning test on a phone?
Yes. On narrow screens the grid and the 6 options shrink to fit, and the tests hub first shows a short note that a larger screen is easier. The shapes are small on a phone, so a computer or tablet gives the clearest view.
Can I retake the Matrix Reasoning test?
Yes, from the tests hub. The test builds the same 20 items in the same order every time, so a second attempt also tests your memory of the first. Compare a retake with care, and leave some time between attempts.
Sources
- Raven (2000): The Raven's Progressive Matrices, change and stability over culture and time
- Carpenter, Just and Shell (1990): What one intelligence test measures, the processing in the Raven Progressive Matrices Test
- Horn and Cattell (1967): Age differences in fluid and crystallized intelligence
- Condon and Revelle (2014): The International Cognitive Ability Resource, a public-domain measure