Getting better on difficult games

westcoastbestcoast

Hi guys,

I have been PT-ing and I noticed that the harder logic games, whether it be a grouping game or a rule driven linear game, really eat up my time and throw off my pacing for the rest of section. How have you guys been able to improve accuracy and speed on the more difficult games? I have been foolproofing every game I do thus far and was wondering what else I could. The games that I do find difficult tend not to have a pattern, so drilling might prove difficult.

Cant Get Right

On the easier games are you coming in at or under the target time? Time has to be earned for the harder games on the easier games. So when you come across a basic sequencing game, it's really important for you to be able to knock it out in under five.
It's also important that on the harder games you spend the time upfront to get your setup right. It started out as a real challenge for me to be able to spend five or so minutes on a game before even looking at the questions, but developing the patience to do this is a big part of mastering the harder games. The questions are going to force you to dig everything up anyway, so it's always better to spend the time it takes to do that upfront. If you do that successfully, then you'll fly through the questions.
It's also important to revisit games after you've mastered them. My method is to revisit a foolproof end fame after one day, one week, and one month.
Hope this helps!

westcoastbestcoast

Hey! Thanks for the response. I'm usually finishing the easier games in 5 minutes. My issue is that when a game seems to be more difficult, I sink way too much time slogging through the questions. I do realize that it is often the case that I'm not making enough upfront work. Perhaps, I need to really digest and understand the rules more so I can go faster then.

Cant Get Right

Yeah, if it's the questions that are dragging you down, that almost always means you're rushing it on the front end. It's easy under the time pressure to be so aware of speed that you actually slow yourself down by trying to move faster than you should. When you foolproof, are you doing that timed? I foolproof with a stopwatch instead of a timer. If you're not already doing that, I'd be happy to elaborate on the merits of stopwatches vs timers during drills.

The key point though is that to speed up, you've got to slow down. It seems like a bit of a paradox at first, but once you're able to put it into practice you'll see how it works. If you haven't watched the commentaries, I highly recommend those. They demonstrate this really effectively.

allison.gill.sanford

I agree with @"Cant Get Right" on investing your time upfront to save time later. Another related thought - you really have to practice making the difficult inferences. Often the hard games depend on making one large inference, or a couple that are linked. You might be wasting time on the questions because during your drilling you aren't taking the time to repeat the process of making these key inferences. You have to walk yourself through the process over and over so that your mind gets used to making that kind of leap. This is why JY's method works - because you can train yourself to be good at making these specific connections. Easier inferences that repeat on many games will come faster, and harder/more irregular ones will take longer to begin to "see" quickly.

hlsat180

For inferences, I try to focus on common elements (explicit relationships) and number-based constraints (what options become no longer allowed). The former is relatively obvious. The latter is based on limited slots left (especially grouping games) often tied to the conditional rules or if-then situations (which make for great questions...) for which hypotheticals/framing helps draw out faster.

That said, it's also balancing act to train for. While ideally all key inferences are drawn upfront, at some point to save time, we must stop staring at the diagram and move on to the questions (which test and therefore reveal the remaining inferences). Getting comfy recovering this way helps deal with the inevitable "harder" games that otherwise consume your clock.

Micaela_OVO

Just a psychological factor- If you know a certain game is going to be difficult for you after reading the rules, finish all the games in the section and come back to it. Don't let the LSAC win. They want to tear down our confidence. It's easy to freak out and bomb an entire section because you got caught up in that one oddball game. Finish the other games with confidence, then come back to the tough game with a fresh pair of eyes.

As it has been mentioned, tough or oddball games often hinge on one main inference that will make the questions fly by if you really put in the work at the beginning to see it.

You also have to be really comfortable with open-ended games. Earlier in my prep, I struggled with these types of games. Sometimes you have to just start putting the game pieces down to see if any inferences are hidden.

Always always always note the games that gave you trouble and come back to them on a regular basis. This is how you'll get better at making the really-hard-to-spot inferences.

stepharizona

@"Micaela_OVO" said:
Always always always note the games that gave you trouble and come back to them on a regular basis. This is how you'll get better at making the really-hard-to-spot inferences.

This is really how you develop pattern recognition as well. Its not just about fool-proofing the games its about spotting the patterns and having that recall of similar games so you can develop a quick approach.