LSAT: Any tips on nailing down the logic games section?

Question

I'm doing solid in the other sections but really, really hate the games.

I thought games were supposed to be fun...

Any tips on nailing down this section would be great.

Best,

NP

Answer 1

There's lots of help online. Such as:

http://www.west.net/~stewart/logic.htm

There are lots of logic puzzles on line. And the key to these is practice a lot, and when you don't get it, see how they did the puzzle and try to apply it. Good luck!

Answer 2

Believe it or not, many pre-law students start out hating the games and then they become their favorite section. The reason is, you typically don't see anything like the games section in any tests you've taken before you're exposed to the LSAT so you score low. But, with practice, it's easy to pick up the patterns. TestSherpa has several great articles on LSAT games you should check out. In general they recommend:

Learn how to address and sketch the main game types.

Learn the types of rule deductions the LSAT typically asks (e.g., the Contrapositive).

Make sure you don't get confused by "must be true/false," and "could be true/false"

Use previous sketches to help answer "could be true" questions without doing any extra work

Learn and practice easy, visual short-hand for the rules in each game so you can quickly analyze and get through the game without having to re-read all the time

Good luck.

Answer 3

I think I am definitely a logic games success story. On my first practice test, I was at about 43% in the logic games category...by the time I took the real test, I was at 100%. (Now my reading comp is a whole different story...)

Really, the tricky part of logic games is that a) they can be very complex and b) you are not given a lot of time to complete them.

I had a bunch of comprehensive prep books from various companies (Barrons, Kaplan, Princeton Review), and what I would do is go to the games section and follow through all of their games and explanations. Then I would break them down for myself, taking all the time in the world to make sure I had it figured out. I spent hours just on solving those stupid games...focusing first and foremost on accuracy.

Then, in the weeks leading up to the test, I did a ton of practice tests (I think I ended up doing about 10 of them in the 3 weeks before the test). That really gave me the chance to take what I had already trained myself to do...and fit it into the allotted time. You can also lead into this by taking a single game and trying to work it in 8.5 minutes. (It is important to practice them as an entire section before the test though because the LSAT really tests your endurance.)

Logic games is supposedly the easiest section to improve upon, and I know you can do it. Good luck on your LSAT! :]

Answer 4

Grab the PowerScore LSAT Logic Games Bible. That is by far the best book for the games section, and you see people talking about it on all the forums.