Here are 10 of the most difficult Logic Games. I've included classifications of each game after the game's topic. (Get the below LSAT PrepTests here.) Enjoy!
1. PrepTest 23 (October 1997), Game 2 - Applicants being interviewed and hired (Combination: Grouping: Selection and Grouping: Splitting)
2. PrepTest 24 (December 1997), Game 3 - Juarez and Rosenberg review introductory and advanced textbooks
3. PrepTest 25 (June 1998), Game 2 - Tourists and Guides (Grouping: Matching)
4. PrepTest 27 (December 1998), Game 2 - Lizards and snakes in a reptile house (Combination: Linear and Grouping: Matching)
5. PrepTest 31 (June 2000), Game 2 - Music store's new and used CDs (Grouping: Selection / In and Out)
6. PrepTest 33 (December 2000), Game 3 - Stones: rubies, sapphires, topazes (Grouping: Selection / In and Out)
7. PrepTest 34 (June 2001), Game 4 - Randsborough/Souderton Clinics (Grouping: Splitting)
8. PrepTest 36 (December 2001), Game 3 - Window and aisle seats on a bus (Advanced Linear)
9. PrepTest 40 (June 2003), Game 3 - Flight connections on Zephyr Airlines: Honolulu, Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver (Grouping: Mapping)
10. PrepTest 57 (June 2009), Game 3 - Dinosaurs: iguanadon, lambeosaur, plateosaur, stegosaur, tyrannosaur, ultrasaur, velociraptor and Colors: green, mauve, red, yellow (Combination of Grouping: Selection / In-and-Out and Grouping: Matching).
Check out my Dinosaur LSAT Logic Game Explanation.
Also see: 5 Hardest LSAT Logical Reasoning Questions, Difficult LSAT Logical Reasoning Questions, and 5 Hardest LSAT Reading Comprehension Passages.
The logic game section from June 1997 absolutely killed me. I was totally running out of time trying to figure out how to diagram and figuring out half-way through a game that I'd made mistakes on my deductions. So I'd have to go back and correct the deductions, and re-do questions. It was terrible. I only got 11 questions right in that section, as opposed to 21 and 23 on the LR sections! Thank God it was only a practice test.
ReplyDeleteI haven't worked through the other practice tests, but interesting fact: I recently worked on the LSAT for the first time (without studying, but untimed) to see how I'd do. The only LG question I missed points on was June 2007's recycling question (-2).
ReplyDeleteAlso an interesting fact: anyone can get 100% on LG...if done untimed.
DeleteOf course, the most difficult games would all have a grouping element. My weakest point... *sigh*
ReplyDeletethe key to some of these grouping games is drawing templates using the most restricted rule.
ReplyDeletefor example preptest 49, game 2: the first rule translates to M and L go to J or R. Thus there are four possible templates:
1) L to R, M to J
2) M to R, L to J
3) L&M to J
4) L&M to R.
Then for each template, apply the rules to place the rest of the pieces.
Then, at the side of each template, keep track of the unplaced pieces:
Template 1 leaves 1 unplaced piece (F).
Templete 2 and 3 leave 3 unplaced pieces (F,P,S).
Template 4 leaves 2 unplaced pieces (F,S).
By diagramming these four templates before hand, you can quickly eliminate the wrong answer choices for questions 9-12.
However, diagramming template/possibilites can reach a point of diminishing returns... I dont diagram them all if there are more than like 6 possibilities.
good luck to everyone writing on Monday!
did you get it (in?) so what happens (preptest pre-test34) if you have the one where they're attending lectures in pairs of male-female or alone monday through friday and the first of the students listening to lecture is a female named Kate(can't remember the rest off the top of my head), would you consider diagramming them?
Deletethe game ranked the hardest really isn't all that hard believe it or not. however, it is a lesson in taking the contra-positive of every formal logic relationship you get in lg grouping games. seriously, once you lay everything out, you can pick even difficult games apart like clockwork.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous from June 24,
ReplyDeleteAfter much pratice, I still fail to make key inferences often enough during setup; and later discover that and have to go back to previous questions to correct mistakes made due to partially completed inferences. I would love to be able to pick difficult games apart like clockwork. Honestly, the more difficult the game, the more fun to be able to crack it. Could you elaborate on "once you lay everything out..."? You mean the set up, rules and inferences? Any points woud be much appreciated!
I was just working on the Music store game and found it very difficult, then found this list and felt slightly relieved because my confidence tanked. I find this game slightly similar to the Birds game (Preptest 33, Game 2 (Birds in a forest: grosbeak, harrier, jay, martin, shrike, wren in the LGB Ch 4, game 4, because similar inferences must be made and then they must be linked. One must understand all the conditional statements and their possible outcomes. It is difficult to try and recognize them and remember them in your mind, so take the time to write them out, this is a good exercise. Once this is done then I believe you can crack any question relating to the game, as one of the comments goes "once you lay everything out, you can pick even difficult games apart like clockwork." I'm still working on it.
ReplyDeleteSteve, you missed a few tough ones. Try doing these:
ReplyDeletePrepTest 21 (Dec 1996) Game 4
LSAC SuperPrep PrepTest B Game 2
Man that bus game from PT 55 (Oct 08) is rough! I'm still having trouble with it. I can do the whole thing I just can't do that beast in under 10 minutes there is no way!
ReplyDeleteI JUST took Preptest 33 about an hour ago, and the difficulty of the logic Games 2 (birds) & 3 (stones) made me decide to postpone taking my LSAT until December rather than this Saturday. Arrrghhhh.
ReplyDeleteok, so ... did anyone on here find the right set up for the Dec 2000 game? I'm curious becuase I think there MUST be a better way than I did it ... let me know.
ReplyDeleteWow! The Dec. 2000 jewels game was a brain ****. I don't know if there really was a "correct" setup Kelly. The only decuction I could come up with besides putting down the contrapositives was this:(2 sapphires)-->(1 ruby)-->(3 topaz). The first part is stated, but its also helpful to deduce that if there are exactly 2 sapphires there will also be exactly 3 topaz'(s?).
ReplyDeleteAlso since M-->W we can conclude that
if H or Z is in then both W and M are out. This can be concluded since we know from our contra-positives that if W is out then M is out and if H or Z is out then w is out. Its a combination of those two. Besides those simple deductions I couldn't find an easy way to do this one and had to go through each answer choice at a time comparing to the rules and the aforementioned deductions. It took me 11 minutes and I still missed one due to a careless error. I don't know if I would have had the mental stamina to finish that prep test if the Analytical Reasoning wasn't the last section on it, lol. It seems to be a trend that games are getting harder in recent tests, so what I'm working on, and would advise for anyone having trouble doing the games in an efficient amount of time would be to try and get the easier games down to under 6-7 minutes so that you will have the extra time to conquer these tougher games. I don't really see any other way around it.
The birds game wasn't too bad. If you link up all the clues you can have just two long chains of clues. The thing that I could see as being possibly confusing would be the Jays and Strikes. It might seem like if one is in the forest that the other isn't but the game never says that. It says -S --> J and the -J --> S. You could still have them both in the forest at the same time, but if one is out then the other must be in.
ReplyDeleteIMO PrepTest 29, Game 2 should also be included here. Seems far too unrestricted for practical use of Templates
ReplyDelete8. PrepTest 40 (June 2003), Game 3 - Flight connections on Zephyr Airlines: Honolulu, Montreal, Philadelphia, Toronto, Vancouver (Grouping: Mapping), I found pretty easy.
ReplyDeletept41 game 4 killed me!!
Can anyone help with an explanation of how to set up and solve the Music Store game? (June 2000 Q's 7-13)?
ReplyDeleteTo echo the previous commenter, if anyone has a good strategy for the Music Game (June 2000, Game #2), it would be very helpful and much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI got -7 on PT 25 Game 2, the Tourists and Tourist guide question, couldn't even figure it out, but I was at least able to get -2 (4/6) on Game 3 in that section. Game 2 is easily much harder than Game 3 from the same PT.
ReplyDeleteGame 4 of the October 2008 exam killed me. Looking back on the game showed nothing very difficult. I assume I misread a rule or two.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Game 2 from PT 25 is easily more difficult that Game 3 from the same exam.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI'm working on Preptest 31 game 2 ( Music store madness) and I'm completely lost. I usually understand logic games, and this game has me very off guard. I was hoping you could walk through this game in a post. I'm not sure how to set it up. I made a list of the rules in a symbol format, and then made a list counteractive statements. My list of inferences past that is limited. I'd really appreciate some help. Thanks!
Hi there, can you answer this question for me? I'm working on sufficient and necessary conditions right now and I'm stuck on this logic game from Feb 99, Game #2. How would you diagram this rule and the contrapositive to go with it?
ReplyDelete"If yews are not in the park, then either laurels or oaks, but not both are in the park"
and
"If it is not the case that the park contains both laurels and oaks, then it contains firs and spruces"
How would you diagram these two rules?
If anyone could help me out it would be great!
Thanks
I just finished the applicant game and thought it was simple. It took me about 10 minutes to do it, but given that the first game took 5 minutes I Was in good shape. The funny thing is that the game after it seemed harder to me- I took almost 12 minutes on that bad boy. Here's why I m posting: I had forgotten that this was a known tough game and I simply went into it and did my best. TUrns out that was enough. I did the snakes and lizards game recently and had one heck of a time slogging through it. I suspect it was in part because I knew and feared its reputation. My point: often knowing a game is tough is best AFTER you've done it. That way one can look back and think, "That was not so bad" as opposed to letting the game scare you and affect performance.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any tips/suggestions for solving PrepTest 23 Game 2? I cannot seem to figure our the answers 9-11.
ReplyDeleteYou guys realize that this list is in chronological order, right? OK,good.
ReplyDeleteWhat about tests 58-62? Anything of this caliber?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have the diagram for the set up of preptest 34, game 4 (the doctors clinics game)? I must be setting up my inferences wrong, because my two chains end up linking to each other...
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see the set up for 34-4 too! I hate that game!!!! i can't seem to get it. HELP!!!!
ReplyDeletesuperprep test B, section 2, #7-12. I hate this game, I don't understand it. So many conditionals with the trees in the forest. Does not make sense!
ReplyDeleteAny tips for improving speed aside from repeated practice? I can solve all the LG questions, but in 35 minutes I only complete 10-15 of them!
ReplyDeleteWow! Prep test 23, October 1997 Game 2 is a killer! Those of you saying it was simple must be brilliant. I'll concede the first three questions are easy, but questions 9-11 are monsters. It's definitely a relief to see that Steve has it listed as one of the hardest game ever! I certainly agree. I'm still looking for explanations though. Mapping the contrapositives doesn't provide me any revelations. Any suggestions for the setup?
ReplyDeleteP.S. - Ryan Smith, your reasoning about being oblivious to a difficult game's reputation is ridiculous; using similar reasoning one could just as easily provide an explanation under opposite circumstances. Moreover, attempting a game before discovering it's notoriously tough does not guarantee you can look back and think, "that was not so bad". I'm pretty sure that would be determined more by whether or not the test taker found it very difficult. I, for one, was unaware of the game's reputation and still looked back and thought, "that was sooo bad." Something that may be true for you is not necessarily "often" true for others. If your post is any indication of your reasoning ability, then I'm amazed YOU found that game simple.
On a side note, Ryan, since only you and Anonymous June 24 claim to have not struggled with this game, would either of you care to enlighten us dummies? Neither of you provide any indication on how to approach it, although some implications are made by June 24 that identifying contrapositives may be useful.
I am doing a bit of review and I must say the logic games section of June 1997 is absolutely brutal!
ReplyDeleteI just did the dinosaur game. It was fun, and i really enjoyed it. Seemed straightforward. Didn't think it was top 10 hard. I certainly feel good about that. God knows there's lots more i don't get.
ReplyDeleteOn the PT 34 Game (R/S clinics), if all of the contrapositives are taken and a long inference chain is created, you end up with Ls----->Lr. This through me for a while since, obviously, it's a contradiction. The best answer I could come up with is that, if that occurs, then the first conditional must not occur. Is this the proper way to understand this situation?
ReplyDeletecorrect, L must be out
ReplyDeletee-mailed them yesterdy.
Deletea never goes to negative b, is the best.
ReplyDelete62 GAME 2 A TOTAL KILLER
ReplyDeletei hate mauve dinosaurs....def THE hardest ever
ReplyDeleteCool list ^^
ReplyDeleteAny others to add since 2009?
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing this list
ReplyDeleteExcellent website! I would love to follow your posts, it is a really useful source of information, I wish you success. Great, I wish you success on the next blog. Thanks for sharing your articles.
ReplyDelete