Logic game difficulty order on real test

tekken1225

Hey guys, so doing preptests, I've noticed for vast majority, the games 1 and 2 are the easier ones and games 3 and 4 the harder ones.

From what I've seen, the 1st game is usually a 1-level, the 2nd game generally 2-level, game 3 being 3-level or 4-level or 5-level (mostly 4-level), and game 4 being 4- or 5- level difficulty (mostly 5-level).

Sometimes there's an exchange in the level of difficulty between games 3 and 4 as well, it seems.

Is this trend generally true? For those of you who have taken real, actual LSAT recently, would you say this is pretty accurate?

If this is still true for recent tests, I want to make sure I can try to quickly knock out the first 2 games, so I can focus on games 3 and 4. I don't want to make the mistake of skipping around (and wasting time) trying to figure out which games are easier and which are the hard ones during the real test.

Thanks!

lsatgodjk

Hey there,

I believe the first game is usually (maybe always) the easiest. However, I was told that games 2-4 vary in difficulty depending on what you are better at. I would like to think that games 3 and 4 are more difficult than 2. I think it's worth taking the time to skip to what type of game you personally excel at.

Leah M B

Yeah, I think that's generally pretty true. Although, I feel like game 3 is usually the hardest and 4 a little less. Almost always, the first game is pretty easy, often a 1 layer sequencing, 1 star rating. I think game 2 is sometimes more like a 3 difficulty to me, game 3 is a 5, and then game is a 4. I feel like that's typical. But, they can always, and do occasionally, change things around.

tekken1225

Sounds good, thank you.

Also, I have noticed, again generally speaking, you tend to get 2 sequencing/sequencing-involved games, and 2 in and out/grouping game types as well on the test. Again, some variation with possibly in/out with sequencing or grouping with sequencing, but I have found this to be common.

Again, is this pretty accurate?

eRetaker

It doesn't really make sense to me in terms of skipping around during LG since even if it's a level 2 difficulty game, it can suck up 10 minutes with tedious steps. One more thing to note is that the 7Sage difficulty rating is sometimes skewed a bit by the factor I mentioned earlier. The difficulty rating is set by how many students missed the questions in that game. Imagine a scenario where the first 3 games are easy but take 30 minutes altogether. This means that students are left with 5 minutes to solve game 4 which skews the difficulty rating on 7Sage and I think that's honestly why most game 4s on 7Sage are rated as 5 in difficulty since LG is the most time-sensitive section. One example is the infamous virus game on preptest 79 where JY lists out that games 2 and 3 each require 10 minutes causing people to be rushed on the virus game which imo made it seemed more difficult than it actually was. Point is that you are right and shouldn't try to skip around since it's really unpredictable in terms of timing yourself even if 7Sage tells you games 3 and 4 are generally higher difficulty rated. Of note, game 1 on the Feb 2018 exam took me the longest.

As for recent tests, June's had 3 quick games then a 15 min game 4 while others have been more even in terms of timing. If you already fool-proofed then you shouldn't have trouble with the recent Preptests 81+. None of the recent LGs have been difficult and I think that's a part of why the curves have been so brutal lately.

Leah M B

@eRetaker That's good to note. I wonder if BR scores factor into that difficulty rating in LG? That's the main reason I don't pay much attention to analytics for LG. It's not that I have trouble with certain game types, but I mostly miss questions on whatever game is last since I'm often rushed for time.

But generally speaking, I've usually found game 1 to be the easiest, game 2 to be slightly more difficult, game 3 often the most difficult, and game 4 difficult but slightly easier than 3. But, that is not always the case.

I think that skipping in LG can be useful though. Sometimes there are certain game types that you always find to be hardest, or that you're worst at. You might as well leave it for last. Or for me, rule substitution questions usually take up a ton of my time. So if I see one, I'll read through it and answer if something jumps out at me. But if it doesn't, I skip those questions. I do better overall that way, and often have time to come back and answer later. But I found that dwelling on them early really ate away at my time for whole games.

eRetaker

@"Leah M B" said:
@eRetaker That's good to note. I wonder if BR scores factor into that difficulty rating in LG? That's the main reason I don't pay much attention to analytics for LG. It's not that I have trouble with certain game types, but I mostly miss questions on whatever game is last since I'm often rushed for time.

But generally speaking, I've usually found game 1 to be the easiest, game 2 to be slightly more difficult, game 3 often the most difficult, and game 4 difficult but slightly easier than 3. But, that is not always the case.

I think that skipping in LG can be useful though. Sometimes there are certain game types that you always find to be hardest, or that you're worst at. You might as well leave it for last. Or for me, rule substitution questions usually take up a ton of my time. So if I see one, I'll read through it and answer if something jumps out at me. But if it doesn't, I skip those questions. I do better overall that way, and often have time to come back and answer later. But I found that dwelling on them early really ate away at my time for whole games.

I personally never tested around skipping entire games, but I think your point about skipping stand-alone rule substitution questions makes sense. And yes I agree the general pattern that game 3 has been the most difficult but the unpredictability of game to game difficulty makes me think that skipping strategies for LG will be hard to plan or train for. Regardless I think we can all agree that at the very least no one should be skipping game 1.

tekken1225

Yeah, game 1 cannot be skipped. My worst nightmare is I somehow get stymied in game 1 for some reason, and then just completely panic, and blow the whole thing. Ugh.

Pride Only Hurts

@tekken1225 said:
Yeah, game 1 cannot be skipped. My worst nightmare is I somehow get stymied in game 1 for some reason, and then just completely panic, and blow the whole thing. Ugh.

I think in that case you have two options. Take 20 seconds to relax and then go over all the rules to figure out what you're missing because if a game 1 is giving you trouble you probably just made a reading error/forgot a rule.

What I would probably do is quickly glance over the rules and if nothing stands out then I'd absolutely skip. Skipping game 1 and having 5 minutes to go back and do it properly at the end of the section is wayyy better than wasting 10 minutes on it and getting half the questions wrong.
Haha I've made that mistake before and i wouldn't recommend it.