How to solve figure series puzzles
Reading transformation chains
A figure series is one object walking through repeated transformations. Track each attribute separately and the next frame draws itself.
Updated
A figure series shows four or five frames of one object changing step by step. Every step applies the same small set of changes: rotate by a fixed angle, grow or shrink one size step, advance the shading, add a dot — or, on harder strips, swap the shape along a repeating cycle. Chaos is several simple counters running at once.
Decompose into channels
Ask five questions of the strip: What is the rotation doing? What is the size doing? What is the shading doing? What is the count doing? And the shape itself — is it constant, or cycling? Answer each with a per-step delta ('+90°', '+1 dot', 'darker by one'). Ignore everything else while you answer one question.
Cycles wrap
Shading cycles outlined → hatched → solid and then wraps to outlined. Counts wrap after their maximum. Rotation wraps at 360°. On harder strips the shape itself walks a three-step cycle — circle → square → triangle → circle — so frame 4 repeats frame 1's shape. When a channel seems to 'break its rule', it usually wrapped.
The strategy
- Compare frames 1→2 only. Write the deltas.
- Confirm the same deltas on 2→3 and 3→4. A delta that doesn't repeat isn't a rule.
- Apply every delta once more to the last frame. That mental image is your answer — now find it among the options.
- Reject any option that matches on some channels but not all.
Common traps
- The 'no change' distractor: the last frame repeated. If you're tempted, you've missed a moving channel.
- Reversed rotation: the option that rotated the right amount the wrong way.
- One-channel-off options: right rotation, wrong shading. Always run the full channel checklist.
Speed · ~30s/item: Series are among the fastest figural items once channel-reading is automatic — most are solvable inside 30 seconds.
Try it yourself: 4 practice questions
Pick an answer, then reveal it. Nothing is recorded, there is no clock, and none of these questions is ever used in a test.
Which figure continues the series?
Reveal the answer
The answer is A.
Show why — the worked reasoning
Which figure continues the series?
Reveal the answer
The answer is A.
Show why — the worked reasoning
Which figure continues the series?
Reveal the answer
The answer is C.
Show why — the worked reasoning
Which figure continues the series?
Reveal the answer
The answer is D.
Show why — the worked reasoning
Try questions like this
The free test has 20 questions across abstract, numerical, verbal and spatial reasoning. It takes 12 minutes, needs no sign-up, and explains every answer.
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Questions people ask
What is a figure series question?
A row of figures that changes step by step, such as turning, growing, shading or gaining dots. You choose the figure that comes next.
What is the fastest way to solve a figure series?
Compare only the first two frames and write down every change. Check that the same changes hold for the next frames, then apply them once more to the last frame.
What is the most common mistake?
Choosing an option that is right on one change and wrong on another, such as the right rotation with the wrong shading. Check every change, not just the first one you notice.
Will figure series questions be on the free test?
Usually. The free test gives abstract reasoning 6 of its 20 questions and spreads them across the 6 abstract reasoning question types, so each type normally appears once.