How long does it take for games to "click"? Forum

[poo]

If people could share how long it took for them to master the games I would appreciate it. I am trying to set realistic goals but I'm not sure what they should be.

Also, I'm following the pithypike study guide, and am wondering if I'm supposed to do different games before I understand them 100% in order to help me understand them better, or if that is a "waste" of games and should I instead memorize whatever section of the bible I am on? Thanks a lot for any help!

[kurama20]

I'm really not trying to scare you (especially since you are fellow eagles fan ) but for me games never clicked. Keep in mind I studied the LSAT for basically 2 years on and off (and I followed all of the TLS doctrine. Doing games over and over, using the LG bible etc. ). Good luck though, but just keep in mind that some people are just better at other things. I still managed to get my prep test scores up to the low 170s and high 160s. Try to get your RC and LR as strong as possible so you can afford to do worse on games.

[km23]

.

[lawduder]

Games clicked for me after finishing the LGB in about 5 days. I went form -10/-12 to -0/-1 in less than a week. After reading that book it all made sense.

[pattymac]

I went through the lgb twice so far, probably go through it once more before June. I started practicing on the games from preptest 7-18 (with the general consensus on this board citing these as the "harder games".) Keep in mind the new games are mostly easier. Some of the older games are just effed up, and if you don't have a good setup, you're not going to ace a game in 8 minutes and 45 seconds.

I'm by no means an expert but I find that if I spend an extra 20-30 seconds memorizing the rules and creating a really strong setup that I can just fly through games. I remember fucking "Dr Yamata" used to give me the hardest time and now it's like second nature to me. I was nervous on advanced linear games 2 weeks ago, did them yesterday from the LGB and absolutely smashed them. I think I did one of them in 4 minutes. Sure, you can attribute some of it to familiarity, but I didn't remember any inferences from them (actually missed one crucial one in the "five ancient sites" game). I missed one question in four games and it was the last question of a game.

Just remember to read the stimulus carefully. Not just the rules, but the paragraph before them. Watch out for things like "exactly". As well, some rules are fixed in the original paragraph which can lead to some excellent inferences. As well, spend a little extra time on your diagram. I wouldn't advocate spending more than three minutes though. My initial problem was that I didn't fixtate the rules in my head or do a proper diagram. You should try your best to memorize the rules, or at least a few of them (obviously this isn't plausible if a game has like 10 rules and some of them are conditionals [espec. the 'if G + S ---> W' type rules]). Also helps to know what you're weak at. For me, I rarely missed list questions, global questions and conditional 'could be true' questions but I sucked at "must be true". I revamped my method and wrote hypotheticals next to the question and only diagrammed what "has to be true". Thus, my hypo was half filled out (even if this meant only placing 1 or 2 variables) and I could knock off 2 or 3 answers. It was wayyyy to confusing if I filled the whole hypo and then tried to figure out what must be true.

I think its important to remember that theres always room for improvement...doesn't mean that you're not 'clicking'. Most of this improvement comes in the speed department. To answer your original question, my clicking point was when I started to look forward to the games. That and when I practiced a few games where I just absolutely murked them in little to no time.

Things will start working for you if you put in the hours. Take it slow and understand everything in the book, it truely is a godsend. Yikes, I remember when I had trouble finding a proper space for my diagram! Now I can diagram while looking at the rules themselves and not looking at the diagram directly. And don't forget, everything you need to crack this thing is right in front of you!

[JazzOne]

You're really not allowed to do any kind of clicking during the test. Sorry.

[kalvano]

They never really clicked for me. I learned to kind of brute force my way through them by diagramming everything out to eliminate options.

It's not the optimal way to do it, and takes a lot of time, but in the end I only missed 3 questions.

Take that for what it's worth.

[jmaan]

26 days

[Camron]

I've read the LGB probably 3 times now, and they are not clicking for me . I remember when I first read this book, I could do any LG with no issue, not sure why I am having so much difficulty now (especially with grouping games and the setup for them). I mean, if I have 5 mins more, I could do them with 100% accuracy, but definitely not all 4 of them (especially if they are not all linear) in the 35 mins time constraint.

FML , lol.

[calicocat]

Took me about 1 month. Then they really clicked and I wasn't making any mistakes. Before I was about a -7 on them.

[jason8821]

Although I only get about 3 full games right, and then one or two on the last one right, it took me about two-three weeks of hard studying completely on the games, and I haven't looked at them since because I am working on RC/LR. I think it comes down to the type of person you are. My strength has always been my arithmetic reasoning. When I began games it was 8/23ish for a little bit, but it was eventually easy to pick them up. My reading skills are not my strength, but they may be yours, and so it could take longer. None the less most people are best off with the games being the worse section because on average significant improvements are easier to make.

[kazu]

Games "clicked" for me about two weeks after I finished the LGB. Even after I finished the bible I had to really rush myself to finish all 4 sections in 35 minutes, and sometimes I wouldn't be able to finish or I completely misdiagrammed a game, wasn't able to find a crucial inference etc., costing me several questions. I was starting to get really terrified about the possibility that I would misdiagram or run out of time on test day. Then... I think somewhere around 5~10 fully timed games sections later, LG just clicked. I was finishing within 20~25 minutes, and getting -1~2. A little more practice and I was hitting -0 nearly every single time.

Reading the LGB definitely helps but it's also at least as important to go through several fully timed sections, and become comfortable with your own methods in applying what you learned in the bible, in order for LG to genuinely click.

[cdnguy]

over 30 full sections (so 120 games), plus a course in formal logic.

-1 on dec09, and when i started i was lucky to get 50%

[MBZags]

After going through the LGB and a week of practice, I felt comfortable with games. You have to keep practicing to keep your find in shape, though. At least that's what I noticed for me. If I took a week or two off, I started to miss key inferences.