I've been there. Foolproofing is important, at least for grasping the foundations. If you're barely finishing half the section in the allotted time, it probably means you're not well-versed enough with the basic setups and inferences. If you could elaborate on how exactly your time is being distributed during each game I could give you better advice.
Personally I like to keep a mild pace going through the rules and board setup, because if you mess up just one rule it could lead to multiple false inferences and cost you multiple questions. I also used to avoid splitting into sub-game boards because I didn't want to spend so much time up front, but I realized the hard way that not splitting "splittable" games leaves a lot of room for error and makes me less certain about my answers (too much mental visualization and reliance on short-term memory). There are still many, many games that are rule-driven, but learning to spot the difference is key. If there aren't that many possible worlds, the rules interact with each other a lot, and there are enough questions in the game to justify splitting, then try your best to split. This got me from the -7 to -9 range (sometimes even more), to the -0 to -5 range.
Also, if you're splitting where possible and making inferences up front but still spending too much time on the questions (particularly the ones where no immediate answer is clear), I'd suggest taking the path of least resistance. This means first eliminating answer choices that directly conflict with your rules / board(s), then glancing over the remaining answer choices and only trying the ones that give you red flags. If you can mentally visualize an answer choice to work out OK with the rules, you should probably come back to it later. It's a bit difficult to explain, but typically the correct answer choice won't involve a floater – it will usually involve a game piece that triggers a lot of "stuff" to happen.
Lastly, only brute force if you've exhausted the options above. And if you're spending like 2-3+ minutes on one question (excluding game board setup), it'll probably cost you. If you're stuck for a few seconds, TAKE STOCK of which game pieces you have left. If you're STILL stuck, just move on.
Hopefully this gives you an idea of what to do moving forward. Work on fundamentals (fluency brings speed naturally), take it easy when setting up the game, split and make inferences up front when possible to make it easy on your brain, and work on your test-taking skills (path of least resistance).
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I've been there. Foolproofing is important, at least for grasping the foundations. If you're barely finishing half the section in the allotted time, it probably means you're not well-versed enough with the basic setups and inferences. If you could elaborate on how exactly your time is being distributed during each game I could give you better advice.
Personally I like to keep a mild pace going through the rules and board setup, because if you mess up just one rule it could lead to multiple false inferences and cost you multiple questions. I also used to avoid splitting into sub-game boards because I didn't want to spend so much time up front, but I realized the hard way that not splitting "splittable" games leaves a lot of room for error and makes me less certain about my answers (too much mental visualization and reliance on short-term memory). There are still many, many games that are rule-driven, but learning to spot the difference is key. If there aren't that many possible worlds, the rules interact with each other a lot, and there are enough questions in the game to justify splitting, then try your best to split. This got me from the -7 to -9 range (sometimes even more), to the -0 to -5 range.
Also, if you're splitting where possible and making inferences up front but still spending too much time on the questions (particularly the ones where no immediate answer is clear), I'd suggest taking the path of least resistance. This means first eliminating answer choices that directly conflict with your rules / board(s), then glancing over the remaining answer choices and only trying the ones that give you red flags. If you can mentally visualize an answer choice to work out OK with the rules, you should probably come back to it later. It's a bit difficult to explain, but typically the correct answer choice won't involve a floater – it will usually involve a game piece that triggers a lot of "stuff" to happen.
Lastly, only brute force if you've exhausted the options above. And if you're spending like 2-3+ minutes on one question (excluding game board setup), it'll probably cost you. If you're stuck for a few seconds, TAKE STOCK of which game pieces you have left. If you're STILL stuck, just move on.
Hopefully this gives you an idea of what to do moving forward. Work on fundamentals (fluency brings speed naturally), take it easy when setting up the game, split and make inferences up front when possible to make it easy on your brain, and work on your test-taking skills (path of least resistance).