Taylor Wessing has become the first law firm to roll out the use of a new video game test for its trainee applicants, while Clifford Chance (CC) is also considering adopting the same software later this year.

The Cosmic Cadet video game (pictured above), which has been created by UK psychometric game developer Arctic Shores, tests 13 character traits including interpersonal style, social confidence and performance under pressure (see below for full list).

Taylor Wessing, which was the first firm to trial the use of the game in 2016, began using it to help assess its City trainee applicants from the start of October – the beginning of the firm's six-month recruitment round for 2019 training contracts.

"Visually it is a cross between Candy Crush and Angry Birds," said Arctic Shores company director Robert Newry. "It is that kind of style, but as long as you can play 'rock, paper, scissors' then you can do our assessment. You don't need prior experience."

The game is structured across five levels, with candidates receiving a certain number of stars for completing tasks at each level. However, Newry insists that a higher number of stars is not always indicative of a superior candidate. "We don't say there's a good or bad number of stars to collect. The very nature of this type of challenge is to present uncertainty – it is how and when the individual makes their decisions that is important to us, not just the result."

Initially, Taylor Wessing will review how effectively the game works alongside its existing recruitment processes and collect data to identify "certain behavioural traits" that make a strong applicant. "Rather than diving in, we are checking that it is a complementary selection process," explained graduate recruitment partner Amar Ali. "While it is live, it is not being used to impact the process directly."

The firm intends to use the software as a more integral part of the selection process for 2020 training contracts, which will run from October 2017 to April 2018. "The difference is the results from the game will be forming part of the selection-making process. The idea is not to replace other methods of assessment, but rather to increase the amount of objective data in the process," said Ali.

Meanwhile, CC is currently considering whether to implement the software this year, after the magic circle firm's London summer interns tested the game during April and May last year. The firm's application process for 2020 training contracts will kick off in October and run until January 2018.

Last month, Dentons also began a two-month pilot of the game in its Dubai office, with a mix of business services staff and fee earners testing the software.

Outside of the law, Deloitte and RBS both signed up to use the software last year. A host of other companies have run pilots but have not yet signed up, including Vodafone, Standard Life, Next and ARM Holdings.

Arctic Shores, which was founded in 2013, produced its first game, Firefly Freedom, in 2015. Deloitte subsequently signed up to use the game for its apprentice applications.

Next year the company is also set to launch another game, Skyrise City, which is designed to assess senior management hires. It will be trialled by four different organisations, which could include at least one law firm, Newry said, while a game that could apply to lateral partner hires is also under consideration.

Character traits assessed by Cosmic Cadet game

Thinking style Risk appetite Managing uncertainty Potential to innovate Learning agility

Interpersonal style Social confidence Affiliativeness

Aptitudes  Processing capacity Executive function Processing speed Attention control

Delivering results Persistence Resilience Performance under pressure