Hi Danielle,
Thanks for the question! It seems from what you are saying that in some cases you get confused, and then in those instances your entire LG performance and even the rest of the test falls way off. So let's address the first part about confusion, and then address the second part about the rest of the exam being affected.
Confusion in game: It would help to know exactly how and where you are getting confused, but for the moment I'll assume it is occurring during the setup to one of the games. If so, if you are finding a particular game problematic, then skip and move immediately to the next game! One of the basic strategies for attacking the LG section is to pick your poison (so to speak), which means looking for the games that look the easiest and most understandable to you. So if you start a game that doesn't feel right, jump out of there and go cherry pick another game that looks better to you. then, at the end, after you've completed a bunch of questions and likely feel a bit calmer, come back to that tricky game and re-attempt it.
Now let's say that you encounter confusion in a game you can't skip, such as the last one you try. This is going to happen on occasion so you are right to prepare for this eventuality (especially as it has happened plenty of times that the last game is a bit weird). What should you do? The first answer is that if you've prepared properly then you need to not panic and realize that you've seen the basic elements they use for every game, so at least part of the game will be understandable to you. Focus initially on those parts and begin piecing together the sections of the game that you can understand. Then, go back to the part you don't understand and see if it makes any more sense in context of what you have so far. Now, many students can reach this point but it's right here where they freak out. If you feel that happening, stop staring at the setup and stop re-reading the rules! Instead, go the first question—which is hopefully a List question—and attack that question. Use the rules in typical List question fashion to knock out wrong answers and find the right answer. Doing so will first get you +1 on the raw score and secondly help you to better understand the game, and third provide you with a usable hypothetical. If you are still confused, go to the next Local question and begin again (unless you see a Global Must question that looks like it contains a key inference). If the questions aren't helping, try to make or two or three hypotheticals so that you can attack some of the questions (which why I advise hitting Local questions first). The important thing is to not let your panic freeze you and to go straight to the questions and start working or creating hypos.
Last but not least, if it's the last game and you really are stuck, then yes, definitely guess! But hopefully it's not and you can skip it and return later, and then when you do return you can still grab some points using the approaches above.
Letting LG affect the remainder of your exam: I've talked about this many times over the years both here and on our blog, and the gist is that LG is a bellwether section, and how someone performs on LG often affects the rest of the their test. So, the first takeaway is that you are not alone in feeling this way!
Second, ALWAYS keep in mind that your LG might be Experimental. This is especially the case early in the section. I've seen great test takers get thrown off their game by a section 1 LG that they didn't crush, only to find out to their chagrin later that the section was experimental. So, if something bad happens early on, assume the section was Exp and move on. Put it out of your mind, and then worry about it after the test (we'll be right here after the exam talking about which section was Experimental, so come talk to us!).
Third, let's say that your early LG is real, and you don't do great. You have choice at that point: you can make a decision right then to cancel, or you can alternately make an attempt to kill the rest of the exam in order to offset your imperfect LG. While that second approach might seem far-fetched,
keep in mind that LSATs on the whole are balanced for difficulty, so if you encounter a really rough LG, chances are very high that remaining parts of the exam will be correspondingly easier.
The bottom line is that there are several scenarios where a bad LG doesn't kill your exam, but YOU have to see that as a realistic possibility. If you can, then you will be able to move on and maintain confidence. If you can't, then you have almost no choice but to cancel. Just keep in mind that everyone hits some adversity during the actual LSAT, and no one feels 100% comfortable (and I mean no one, even people who get 180s—they still have anxiety and concern just like everyone else).
Please let me know if this helps. Thanks!
I am also taking the LSAT on Monday.
