How Can I master Logic Games?

Question

This is the hardest part of the LSAT for most students, how is possible to see rapid improvement?

Answer 1

Try reading all the way through the Logic Games Bible or another comprehensive strategy book that will break the games into categories and teach you a systematic way to make notes on and solve each type of game. The key is to boil the games down to the basic rules, then see how they interact to form a whole picture so that you can draw a lot of inferences.

You will encounter many of the same simple patterns repeatedly and should be able to ace those with good preparation. You can give yourself a better chance to get the remaining, harder games by doing a ton of practice, which will help develop your intuitions.

Answer 2

The simple answer -

Learn how to make worlds or have someone teach you. Thats how you go from getting 0-10 right, to crushing an entire section with 100% accuracy in 25 - 30 minutes.

Worlds incorporate all the rules and all the variables into somewhere between 1 and 8 or so, easy to discern templates. They might take 5-7 minutes to set up. But then you answer the questions in 60 seconds.

Half the time you even predict the answers (and even the questions they are going to ask).

This approach takes practice. It takes hard work. But it's also totally doable and makes the "hardest" games easy.

Answer 3

The good news about logic games is that it is the most learnable section of the test. Anyone, with enough hard work, persistence, effort, and the right approach can crush the section and get only 0-2 wrong.

The bad news is that logic games are unfortunately not easy. It takes alot of work and effort and it can definitely get frustrating along the way.

The first element needed to succeed on logic games is to develop a good diagraming strategy. Every logic games presents a convoluted set of rules and the test taker needs to learn how to digest the complicated rules and represent them simply on a clear and concise "game board". For a student who is self studying I personally recommend the Powerscore logic games bible. It's approach to logic games diagraming is simple and efficient and can help a student become a 160/170's scorer. Of course if a student wants to work with a tutor I am always available to chat on the phone and to set up sessions!

Once a student has learned how to diagram and has learned about the different types of games they then are in the practice stage. The need to start doing old logic games and then need to review them. At first a student will not be able to worry about time. They will be going way slower then the official time allotted. That's ok! The key at this point is to just get better at setting up the game, making key inferences, and learning how to answer the questions correctly. I will emphasize the importance of review. In my opinion review is not only something you do after you look at the correct answers. After you do a game or a section before you look at the answers you should review all the questions (and particularly the ones you were unsure about!) In order to see if you can make more headway the second time around.

After you have developed your accuracy and have become better at answering logic game questions now it is time to also focus on time. At this point I would be trying to do a logic game section per day (or at least a few sections a week) with review. The goal at this point is to continue honing accuracy while also trying to finish them in the proper amount of time. By doing many games hopefully a student will mechanically, intuitively, and efficiently succeed at logic games and will be way on their way to a great score! Hope this helps and let me know if you have any questions. Happy to chat anytime!

Brian

Answer 4

Logic Games, for many students, is the section that gives them the most trouble. Games seem like some abstract sudoku puzzle that requires innate skills. In actuality the games are 100% learnable! Through practice employing proper techniques, it is completely realistic for students to advance from games novice to games expert in a few weeks.

At its core, games mastery can be achieved through (1) understanding proper diagramming techniques, (2) gaining comfortability with the specific questions asked in the games section, and (3) mastering the inferences that appear across all types of games. These skills, while potentially daunting at first, can be mastered with repeated exposure to games using the proper strategies. Games are my specialty, and I am excited about the prospect of helping students make rapid improvement in games!

Answer 5

Learn to approach the section in a systematic way. I employ a system that breaks down the section into a specific order of completion, starting with the game with the most questions (because it has the most points!) and going from there. Each game then requires the following: Boiling down the rules, diagramming & scenario building, finding hidden rules by combining the given rules and the diagrams, and then answering the questions in the correct order. But even if you don't go with my approach, find a system that works for you (maybe the Logic Games Bible or an online program like 7Sage) and practice practice practice. If you get comfortable with an approach, you'll save precious time on test day since you'll know exactly how to tackle the section when it comes up.