Tips & Tricks: things to look out for in logic games

kshutes13

Hi all!

So I've been drilling LG for a while now and I figured I would start a thread where people can post little 'tricks' or things the LSAT commonly puts on LG that you can look out for/practice getting into the habit of. This is probably more for people who have been struggling with LG like I have~

Oftentimes I missed these inferences or tricks, or just didn't even think to look out for them, but with practice, time and noticing the patterns, I have been getting a lot better!! I had a lot more written down but I lost the sheet lol so hopefully I can add more when I find it.

Here are some of the things I've written down:

• When making inferences in in/out games, take note of the inferences that can be made from distributions as well, not just the stated rules; i.e. the gemstone game (https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-33-section-4-game-3/) where it says 6 in, 4 out; you are able to make a lot of inferences from this later on in the game

• Check to see if an introduced rule would not only trigger in-game inferences but would trigger a new, unspoken rule (i.e. in the gemstone game, 2S -> 1R paired with the distribution allows us to trigger a new rule 2S -> 3T)

• Always look for not both & or rules in in/out games, makes inferences a lot easier

• In sequencing games, block sequences i.e. [MKM] will likely only have a few places they can safely go, and will often trigger an inference or the ability to split the game board up so look out for how they will affect your setup

Some of the game setups I have come across often are:

• Circular (misc)
• Sequencing or double layered or triple layered sequencing
• In/out game
• In/out game with categories (i.e. selecting 'in' from multiple groups)
• Chart games (often a good setup for when the game pieces can choose multiple variables i.e. the showroom & cars game https://7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-35-section-3-game-2/)
• Grouping games

Please share things you have noticed or would find helpful for others!!

doyouevenLSAT

try to quickly scan if previous gameboards for earlier questions in a game can be applied to later questions to eliminate incorrect answers. (thx powerscore).

goingfor99th

One note: It's not always optimal to make inferences on LG. Some games require you to make a lot of inferences in order to finish on time, but other games require that you don't waste time on inferences and instead that you immediately solve answers with the rules as they are given. This speaks to the balance of "mechanics" and "artistry" that LG likes to play with.

tanes256

I often have issues deciding when and when not to split game boards. A fellow student suggested that he/she decides by taking a look at the questions. If there are not a lot of conditional questions one should try to split gameboards and try to pull out as many inferences as possible. If there are plenty of conditional questions he/she didn’t tend to spend too much time trying to split.

Alex

@tanes256 said:
I often have issues deciding when and when not to split game boards. A fellow student suggested that he/she decides by taking a look at the questions. If there are not a lot of conditional questions one should try to split gameboards and try to pull out as many inferences as possible. If there are plenty of conditional questions he/she didn’t tend to spend too much time trying to split.

Yeah, that's more or less one way to decide. Also the number of questions themselves vs. the number of possible boards. If the board can split into 2, 3, or even 4 boards and there are 7 questions, I'm way more likely to split (assuming it's not a pain in the ass) than if I have a 5 question game and 6 possible game boards.

goingfor99th

For LG, draw your LG boards with 'long legs,' AKA columns in your chart that extend beyond the space required for the first universe. Then, when you need another universe, you can easily and efficiently create one by drawing another row. This helps to relieve the psychological burden 'board-splitting' can place upon the test taker, imo.

This may be visually overwhelming at times, but I much prefer it to completely splitting my boards.

Different strokes and all that!

sarahmelton6

@goingfor99th said:
For LG, draw your LG boards with 'long legs,' AKA columns in your chart that extend beyond the space required for the first universe.

I really like this idea, but I haven't used it yet. It makes a lot of sense.

Jennifer-4

@goingfor99th said:
For LG, draw your LG boards with 'long legs,' AKA columns in your chart that extend beyond the space required for the first universe. Then, when you need another universe, you can easily and efficiently create one by drawing another row. This helps to relieve the psychological burden 'board-splitting' can place upon the test taker, imo.

This may be visually overwhelming at times, but I much prefer it to completely splitting my boards.

Different strokes and all that!

I do this too. It's so much easier I think and I don't worry about silly numbering errors. It also must save at least a couple seconds ?

ExcludedMiddle

-Make sure to "take stock of what's left," as JY says repeatedly, when you're doing in/out games. Sometimes there are important numbers-related inferences to be made, and it seems the LSAT likes to test that.
-Always put a dual option in the "out" group if you know there's a "not-both" relationship between two variables in an in/out game.
-Understand your contrapositives well. Many questions for grouping games will simply test if you know what the contrapositives' inferences are.
-A "B if and only if not C" biconditional can be represented with a double-pointed arrow between the in and out groups, showing that one of them will be in the "in" group either way, but never will it be the case that both are out. Or you can just represent this with a dual-option represented on your game board.
-Use lower-case letters to the side of the "in" group to represent subcategories in in/out games.

For linear games, make sure you take the time to see how many "variable sets" there are. If there are three, you're probably looking at a "double-layered sequencing" game (advanced linear in PS). If four, it'll be a triple-layered game (rare but happens - e.g. PT 22 Game 2).