Meet The Logic Games Section

Back to: LSAT Logic Games

In the next few lessons, we introduce you to the most notorious section of the LSAT: logic games.

The logic games section is the crown jewel of the LSAT. On the hardest, most subtle, and best-crafted standardized test in the world, the games section stands out as the tricky part.

Expect to be bad at it at first.

I’ve tutored and taught hundreds of LSAT students and talked to thousands more, and I know of no one—absolutely no one—who didn’t have an awful time when they first tried games.

My performance on my first cold diagnostic exam was abysmal. I ran out of time and didn’t even attempt two of the four games, and I still missed a lot of the questions I managed to get through.

I remember thinking, “What was that???” I’d been thoroughly chewed up and spat back out, and I was anxious about my prospects as a future law student, which all of a sudden seemed very dim.

But Don’t Worry…

I should not have worried so much! If you’re early in your prep and struggling with logic games, you should not be worried, either.

Unless you happen to have some unusual hobbies, the mental skills you will need to crush this section likely are extremely underdeveloped. How often in life have you had to arrange eight campers in three canoes, keeping in mind complex rules for who can or can’t be together? Probably never.

For the vast majority of people, the logic games section of the LSAT will feel very unnatural at first. Since logic games rely far more than the other two section types on your ability to do abstract tasks—tasks unconnected to anything from your previous education and experiences—many people tend to shut down and stop trying. They think they’ll simply never get good at this.

Logic Games is the “most learnable” section of the LSAT

With real effort, you can and will smash right through this barrier. The strangeness is deceptive: the skills required to get good at these games are actually very learnable.

If they work at it enough, students always describe reaching a moment where all of a sudden they just “get it,” and games are no longer nearly as hard as they used to be. The goal of this course is to help get you to that point.

To get better at games, you need to immerse yourself in the process. Even if they start out hating everything about logic games, most serious LSAT takers grow to love them.

Embrace the Challenge

Logic games present a challenge. I encourage you to embrace that challenge and learn to enjoy solving these puzzles. If you’re able to psych yourself up & get excited about beating these games, you’ll improve much faster than someone doing it half-heartedly.

The reason for this is relatively straightforward: the secret to crushing logic games is to spend enough time with them that your brain can make new connections. Do it enough, and processes that were initially unnatural and clumsy become automatic.

I knew I had put in a good day of logic games study if I still had variables whizzing around in my head long after I went to bed. That’s when you can be sure your brain is making connections. The techniques you’ll learn in the following lessons are battle-tested strategies that have worked for thousands of top scorers.

Before we can get there, however, we have to get the right strategies down. If you just start doing games haphazardly, you’re not going to make much progress.

Believe it or not, many people go and take the actual LSAT on test day without knowing how to properly diagram the games they will encounter.

Don’t be in this crowd.

It is possible to have a strategy in place for anything you will see on test day. While the details of individual LSAT logic games change, the patterns they follow do not. We are going to equip you with the best techniques to efficiently destroy any game you face.

The techniques you’ll learn in the following lessons are battle-tested strategies that have worked for thousands of top scorers. We’ll also show you when and how to apply these techniques on test day.

For now, your job is simply to want to get really, really good at logic games and to believe that you can do it. If you’re able to remain enthusiastic and eager to learn, I know we’ll have you crushing timed logic games sections before long.

Now let’s get to know your adversary better. Move on to the next lesson!