Issues with Games

allan.kogan

So I have finished the curriculum and I have noticed that Im still very weak on games, and I don't feel comfortable enough to start PTs because I'm horrible at games still. Would it be more beneficial to spend another week or 2 to maybe watch and do all the lectures in the curriculum for games again? That's the only thing that's stopping me from PTing. I initially wanted to have 4 months of PTing... But in the long run if I spend another two weeks relearning how to do games for the second time by watching the lectures over again for each game type and doing the fool proof method again then it will click, and I'll still have 3 and a half months to left to PT until June 7th which is plenty of time right? Otherwise I'll just bomb game sections on PTs and it will go to waste.

lenelson2

You also learn a ton by actually doing games and practicing them. Check out Pacifico's Logic Game strategy's post. Sometimes you gotta crawl before you walk... You got this:)

allan.kogan

@lenelson2_OVO_XO of course I understand that, but I cant jump into the logic games bundle like that. It would probably be more effective to revisit the game lectures and then that will help me build a better understanding of the games section, and while I am PTing I can work on the logic game bundle as I do like a couple of PTs a week.

runiggyrun

You can go over the lectures and problem sets while getting a start on the bundle. Worst thing that can happen starting the bundle now is that you suck at a lot of the games and you get to watch JY's explanations for them and practice them until you improve. The goal of doing the bundle is not to test how good you are at games now, but to help you improve, and for that goal, the earlier you start the better. The curriculum (I see you have the Ultimate, so a lot of problems) is great, but it can't possibly include all the twists and turns in the 110'ish games in the bundle.
I tended to think the same as you in the beginning (games are also my nemesis) - "once I get better at these games in the curriculum, I'll be better at the rest of them" - and I did, but only by a little. I had done PT 74 as a diagnostic (I know, stupid) and missed half the games section, so 2 months later, after doing the curriculum, I thought - I'll own this now, I can do all the games in the curriculum, I know how these grouping things work, let's do it. I still missed about a quarter of the questions because the knowledge wasn't second nature yet.
Second nature needs practice and time. The sooner you start, the more you'll get of both.

Pacifico

Don't let the perfect become the enemy of the good. You're done with the curriculum. Get on with the bundle for a weeks and don't worry about going back to the curriculum for games. You'll learn more at this point from doing the games and working through the bundle than you would trying to go over the curriculum until you thought you were perfect.

mimimimi

I think for games you need to start working on them on your own to figure out your weakness. Don't do PT's. Work on a game untimed. Mark places where you are unsure. Watch JY's explanation (I can't think of games without hearing his voice in my mind.) Then going back to the particular curriculum that covers this type of games/setups.

MrSamIam

When you say you "finished the curriculum," do you mean that you also implemented the foolproof method for games? If not, go back and redo all of the games, using the foolproof method. If that still doesn't work, do as many games from PTs 1-30ish. Use the foolproof method on those.

allan.kogan

@Pacifico Here is my concern, I can literally spend all day doing 5-6 games now I feel so slow. If I start PTing around February 16th, do you think if I start the LG bundle today I should be almost done with PT 1-35 by then? How many games should I be cranking out a day? Should I also follow the method of doing each game 4 times. (Two the first day, 3rd in a few days, and 4th the week after?) Does this method really help? I guess going through the cirriculum again probably wont be as beneficial as doing the bundle. But how much of the bundle is sufficient enough to have completed before beginning PTs?

allan.kogan

@Pacifico Id say I am solid with basic sequencing I can crank those out pretty easily but the rest are really not going in my favor.

allan.kogan

@Pacifico Like I said can spend all day doing a set of games from an exam because its so difficult for me to make inferences.

runiggyrun

@allan.kogan - When you say "I can spend all day doing a set of games from an exam" does that mean doing them until you can do them easily, including watching the videos, or going through them once? Knowing that would make a big difference in the advice you're going to get.
The 1-35 set has 140 games, so to go through all of them once in 2 weeks you'd need to do 10 a day. To do them 4 times, you'd need to do 40 a day, which won't happen because you'd go crazy. You know how much time you have to dedicate to this, so only you can tell what's feasible, but you should start drilling sooner rather than later and see how it goes. Reassess after two weeks - if you've made good improvements in speed and accuracy, then keep drilling until you've completely proofed the bundle and maybe think about starting PT'ing in parallel. If it's still really sluggish, the dreaded "you might need to postpone June" might become a possibility.
But you've got to start somewhere.

Pacifico

Do the bundle until you are averaging less than -5 and then save the rest for later to keep drilling your weaknesses. Honestly taking all day to do only 5 or 6 games sounds a bit weird since you could brute force the 20 hardest games in the bundle in less than a day.

Start with PT 1, do game 1, watch the video, do it again, repeat with games 2-4. Time yourself with a stopwatch and see how much time you shave off the second time. Do all four games separately the next day. Then a week later do them as a section and use a timer set at 35 minutes.

Do this with a PT or two per day and track the cycle so once you get going you'll be able to know where you're at. And it sounds like a lot but really if you're doing the third try without watching the video and the fourth try as a full section it won't take up very much time at all.

Don't just go through the motions when you do each game whether it is the first, second, third or fourth time. Learn from them and let them reveal the common patterns that repeat throughout.

Pacifico

I started the bundle with the intention of doing the whole thing in under a month. After the first dozen or so I was comfortable enough to PT and then kept the rest to use as 5th sections and drilling throughout my PT phase. Don't worry about finishing the bundle, concentrate on developing an understanding of LG dynamics across games.

runiggyrun

@Pacifico is the man. I'd listen to that.

skaplan9190

@Pacifico Where can the bundle be found? I too am looking to improve on my games. Is it under resources where there are explanations for each Logic Game or is that something different? Thanks in advance!

Pacifico

The bundle is a term for the LGs from PTs 1-35. Cambridge might still sell them, otherwise you need to cobble it together on your own.

runiggyrun

As @Pacifico suggested, you can still get them from Cambridge LSAT - there are a couple of ways to go about it - you can buy their "all games section" bundle that includes all the game sections from 1-70, and just drill the early ones or you can buy the Logical games from PT1-38 arranged by type for about half the price of the entire set. Some people prefer to have their games sorted by type (mind you, their "types" won't overlap perfectly with JY's types), and that might be helpful if you're struggling with a particular kind of game. But I think there's a lot of value in drilling entire sections, as it gives you a chance to practice your timing/prioritization skills as well (skipping a tough game and coming back, skipping a time consuming rule replacement question and coming back, etc)