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Yup.

They often seem scarier than they really are. Embrace them.

These are some of my favorite games. You just need to learn the strategies. First, connect all the rules into chains. In every in/out game, all rules fit together to form one chain wit everything in it. You can then form a contrapositive chain. And right there, you will have a map that gets you through evey question. Don't skimp on making this diagram because you will make up for any time you spend on it. On my actual LSAT I had an in out game and I answered all 5 questions within 3 minutes because the chain makes it clear. For each individual question, make a T chart with the left side being in and the right side out. Make sure to always put a line through the out items as to never get them confused. Just run through the chains and plug the factors intobthe T charts. You can't go wrong doing it that way

dakatz wrote:In every in/out game, all rules fit together to form one chain wit everything in it.

Not in every one.

Yeah, some have just a bunch of arrows pointing to out. The class game was like this.

Anyway, OP, if you want to see the chain in action, choose a game that you'd call in/out and check out the diagram for it on our forums. We teach that approach in our books.

EarlCat wrote:

dakatz wrote:In every in/out game, all rules fit together to form one chain wit everything in it.

Not in every one.

Perhaps you can tell me which game can't be fully mapped into a chain? My memory is hazy on it all but id like to give it a look.

We have a nice walk through of the infamous bird game from December 2000 on our website at

http://www.griffonprep.com/Birdgamesolution.html

dakatz wrote:

EarlCat wrote:

dakatz wrote:In every in/out game, all rules fit together to form one chain wit everything in it.

Not in every one.

Perhaps you can tell me which game can't be fully mapped into a chain? My memory is hazy on it all but id like to give it a look.

PT59, Game 3. The rules don't all form a chain. There are some linkages, but not so many. http://www.manhattanlsat.com/forums/pre ... be4808bb54

dakatz wrote:

EarlCat wrote:

dakatz wrote:In every in/out game, all rules fit together to form one chain wit everything in it.

Not in every one.

Perhaps you can tell me which game can't be fully mapped into a chain? My memory is hazy on it all but id like to give it a look.

A lot of the multi-tiered in/out games (where the things you're putting in/out have some kind of group attribute) don't make neat chains, as well as some of the games that mix in/out and ordering.

As far as the straight-up in/outs, I'd have to dig through tests to know exactly which ones because I never do chain diagrams for them anyway.

One in PT 58 could be chained but the chain didn't tell you anything useful that I could see. The chain is definitely optional; it can be useful, but it's never necessary.

Something I see often on this forum is the overemphasis on classification of questions and solutions. You just lose time and panic if something doesn't fit the pattern if you do that, in my opinion. I use general diagramming methods sure, but I think ability to improvise is important.

tomwatts wrote:One in PT 58 could be chained but the chain didn't tell you anything useful that I could see. The chain is definitely optional; it can be useful, but it's never necessary.

Disclaimer: Tomwatts and I know each other and work for the same company (Princeton Review)

Regardless, I feel compelled to emphasize that Tom is right on target. Not only are conditional chains almost always superfluous, but they cannot even be completed on most Conditional Games.