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Trusting your game board
lizpil
Member
Hey everyone,
Any tips on reviewing game boards? I'm finding I'm either missing a rule, or overthinking the game board (i.e. thinking of all of the options and/or missing an option.)
Comments
pertaining to missing a rule: cross off each rule once you translate it into whatever you do
pertaining to thinking of all options/missing an option: if you're thinking of all options, that's good because the questions will be a breeze. if you're missing an option then I'd say go back and do un-timed drills to and start with a very restrictive rule to start splitting your game board up. take the time (un-timed) to figure everything out.
Are you finishing timed LG sections on time?
Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice. You're going to miss some the first several ... sometimes even dozen times you do it. Just keep pushing on you'll stop forgetting them after while.
This is actually what I've been working on recently and I've discovered that my approach is very sloppy and inconsistent. It's the downside of foolproofing: You can get by with sloppy habits, and that just doesn't fly on the real thing. So basically what I've done is create a flow chart to direct every step in my LG process. Drilling it now and following it strictly until the procedure is second nature.
@"Cant Get Right" that's interesting.
LG is still my hardest section. The only one I still struggle to get all the questions done in time (in comparison I usually have 10 minutes left over in both LR and RC). Been trying everything to perfect my strategy with LG. frustrating
Implement good habits like Mikey mentioned above (checking off rules, double checking rules, etc) and then just practice sticking to them.
Something else I like to do is take maybe 10-20 seconds after I've diagrammed to just pause and double check all of my rules, inferences, and my game board. I've saved myself a ton of trouble by simply taking the extra time here upfront to mitigate and correct any mistake. I can't tell you how many times I've made an inference I didn't see or a not-rule that I missed.
What is your strategy for LG? Do you try to make all game boards before hitting the questions like J.Y. advocates? or do you do something else?
@TheMikey
Basically for months and months I've been able to get pretty much all questions on LG right when untimed. So it seems it isn't a problem with understanding the material. But I continue to struggle with getting them done in time.
Regarding game boards, I didn't have a totally consistent strategy. For a long time I'd always try to see if I could make gameboards upfront, but I found this could sometimes cause me to lose time because I'd be spending too much time trying to figure out how to split gameboards only to realize that it didn't help me at all.
Just recently I've been trying to focus on strategy. I've been doing tons of timed LG sections the last two days. Like 10 in a day. I'm not focusing at all right now on how many I get right, just trying to work on the best approach to getting them all done in time. I am noticing that if I take a few moments at the beginning to scan each game in the set and then order them from easiest to hardest, it seems to help with my timing (I think also because a hard game can throw my confidence, so it's always best to do them last). I also think reading the games (scanning) beforehand can make me feel in more command of the set and knowing what is coming down the pike.
In doing this strategy, I did notice that when games have a lot of conditional "if" questions, I often don't need to make gameboards upfront. That is, I usually can make all the game boards I need as I go. When there are more "naked questions" that aren't conditionals, I tend to try to make game boards upfront. I'm not sure if this is the best strategy, but it seems to be true that when you lack conditional questions, you are going to need gameboards upfront before starting the questions.
Any suggestions welcome!
Right, I see!
Well quickly scanning the games to see which seem easiest due to game type is a good strategy. I tend to always do this and I do any sequencing games before grouping games, it's just a habit. Then I usually leave any weird games for last, which I think is what most people do tbh. So this is a good thing, imo!
Also, you hit something there with the if questions. I used to do all game boards upfront, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it just didn't work for me. When I switched to doing the strategy I do now, I started going anywhere between -0 and -2 on the section.
Here is what I do:
Write down all of your rules as you would anyways, do ALL of the IF questions/questions that give you additional info of some sort. Leave the must be true, could be true, must be false and could be false questions for last. Once you did all of the IF questions, head to the others last because you will already have done game boards and this usually allows you to eliminate answer choices in the MBT/CBT/MBF/CBF questions without making additional game boards for certain answer choices. if you're lucky, you eliminate all 4 wrong ACs in one of these questions just by referring back to your already drawn up game boards. if you're not that lucky, you should typically be left with fewer ACs to try out, thus saving you time you would've spent making a useless game board since you already did a game board for one of the IF questions. Also, I usually leave the rule substitution questions for the end of that game as well, as they take a bit of time, but that's just my approach for them.
This has worked the best for me, and I know lots of people on TLS who do this same thing and all do very well on the section. I still think 7sage's LG strategy is amazing and can be very helpful for many, but personally I like my approach a bit more.
Hope I helped a little! Best of luck with games
@TheMikey
Yes, I just switched over to doing the "if" questions first and it does seem to help a lot.
Also, when I see that most of the questions aren't "if" questions, I usually try to work out some kind of game board ahead of time.
I think part of my issue is also that I get panicky in LG in a way I just don't in LR and RC. I always feel like I'm cool and calm in LR and RC. Like working at a steady pace, but not feeling internally rushing at all. As soon as I hit LG I seem to speed up internally and everything feels way more constrained for time. I'm convinced some of it is just psychological and not sure how to change it.
Thanks for the tips!
No problem! also, 1 last tip I forgot to mention is that for the first question which is typically an acceptable situation question, what I usually do (and idk if it's true or not) to save a few seconds is to write down 1 rule and then try to eliminate an AC based on that rule. head to the next rule, and do the same. so when I finish writing down the rules, I should already have 1 question done. this may take the same amount of time if you just write the rules then do that question, but idk, it's what I've always done and I feel like it helps with time.
Yeah, mindset can really determine a lot on this test. I've ALWAYS had a negative mindset for RC, but I'm started to have a more positive outlook on it and I have gotten a bit better. So I def thing psychological factors plays a role in how you perform.
good luck
These are fantastic tips. Thanks everyone!
@TheMikey
Yes, I've been aiming to try to eliminate the first question when I write down my rules and I think it helps too, not only for speed but also to reinforce the rules in my mind.
One question, when you read through the games ahead of time, do you read through the entire game or do you just do a quick skim through to quickly identify the type and then order the games you'll do first and last? It's a small thing, but just wondering which one is more time saving in the long run. I tend to skim them all rather than read them in full, but I wonder if reading them in full might actually get some subconscious stuff flowing while you are doing other games, and also reinforces the rules when you read them the second time. I was just thinking because in LR I often find if I read a question that I can't get, and then skip it and do a ton of other ones, I often come back and see the answer right away. I wonder if the same logic might work for LG. Read the games in full (especially the harder games maybe?) and then come back to them at the end and maybe you'll have an easier time on them?
I either:
1. zone in on the first question and if looks like the ordering of a sequencing game then I do that game.
2. look at the small paragraph and I scan for the words "consecutive" "one after another" (or a variation of this), etc.
the above methods I do takes me no more than 2 seconds to do!!
Usually if the first game of the set is a sequencing game I just do that one though, I don't go through all of the games to put them in order of which I will do though. Like I said, I just do sequencing games first since I think they are the easiest. if the first game isn't one, then I go onto the next game. so if I spot a sequencing game, no matter what order it's in, I do it right there on the spot, I don't go to the other games to find out what type they are, you'll find that out minutes later anyways. I don't think reading the LG rules is like LR tbh, you should only be reading the LG rules once and only once because you write them down and never look at the little paragraph with rules ever again. try your best to translate the rules into something clear so that you don't have to look back at the rules and all of the words they contain, because that wastes time.
So, I don't read through the rules or the entire paragraph, you'll do that when you're writing them down. I just glance at stuff like this, but also to do this, you have to be able to identify game types by small things like this too. If you can identify game types then this should take you no more than like 2 seconds to do. if it takes you longer, then maybe just practice doing it when you're doing timed LG.
You have to do as much as possible in little time to save time. Which is why I do this quick scan (tbh, maybe even 1 second sometimes if I see a sequencing game ordering in the first question!) and nothing more to identify a game type.
If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask