I just took the test last Monday and scored 94.3%. I applied under PUBNAT5, but have also put in under PUBNAT6, and PUBNAT7.
The test only took me 4.5 hours (including the 30 min. I used for breaks). I decided not to waste my time with breaks because the test was much easier than I had expected after all of the practicing I did for the games. I went through math and dial reading so fast that my lunch would have been at like 10am, so I didn't see the point. You can use your time between sessions however you would like (as long as you complete it within the 8 hour maximum), but I wanted to just knock it out as quickly as I could.
The math is very straight forward and with enough practice, anyone can ace it.
Dial reading is a joke, especially for pilots. You shouldn't have any trouble here.
The Scan game is pretty easy once you adjust to the little differences between the real thing and the practice. Try to make sure that you keep your eyes moving in a circular path so that you don't get fixated on one part of the screen. As you pass the bottom of the screen each time, take a quick glance at the range so that you don't waste too much time looking at it. It's really pretty straight forward and there are plenty of practice rounds before they actually count.
Letter Factory was actually a lot of fun for me (again, much easier than practice). You don't have to drag the letters in the real thing. You simply click the conveyor and then the box. I was worried about not catching each of the defective letters because I would be overwhelmed, but you can actually handle the speed much easier on the real thing and I didn't miss a single Quality Control. Don't order boxes until there is just one box of any color left and don't move any boxes until it a letter requires you to do so.
The three questions that follow each portion of Letter Factory are the most challenging aspects of this game. Even though you'll try your best to pay attention, some you'll just have to guess on. It's not that big of a deal though. To give yourself the best shot at answering them correctly, as often as you can, answer these types of questions as you're playing:
1) which line is furthest up the conveyor?
2) what color letters do I need to fill the remaining boxes?
3) if all of the letters on the belts are correctly placed, what would be needed to complete each box?
The AT Scenarios game is so much easier than all of the practice games out there. If you can become relatively good at the practice, the test is actually boring. The data blocks refresh every 7 seconds, rather than one second. The only thing that caught me on this test was that I was too efficient by sending aircraft diagonally towards the exit and inadvertently clipped a millimeter off of the 5 mile buffer that you must maintain between the edge of the airspace. Efficiency is the big key on this section so try to think ahead and don't let yourself get fixated on one aircraft either. Again, the circular eye movement will help you stay on top of things.
The analogies were about what I expected, but I didn't know about the letter pattern type of questions. For example, apple:help as tent:internet. Internet would be the correct choice because apPLE is reversed in hELP, just as TENt is reversed in interNET. The shape type questions are pretty simple, but I could see how it could be hard to remember what the patterns were since you only get to look at one portion of the screen at a time. Just be sure to take your time and focus on certain parts of the shapesso that you can eliminate the wrong answers and arrive at the correct one.
The personality questions are pretty generic, but just answer them honestly. They can actually weed people out if they know you're trying to answer how you think they want you to answer.
For example, they asked:
I have never broken a promise.
This statement:
A. Strongly relates to me.
B. Somewhat relates to me.
C. Somewhat doesn't relate to me.
D. Strongly doesn't relate to me.
I answered D because who seriously could answer anything else? If you act like you've never broken a promise, I'm sure they can see right through that. Again, just answer honestly.
I know a lot of people can struggle with the test, but scoring 85% or higher pretty much guarantees that you'll move on to the next step. Any aviation experience will certainly be another notch on your best considering they are taking anyone right now.
Although I used the CD that accompanies the green book, this free site provides you with great practice for the AT Scenarios and Scan games.
jeremyjustice.com // games
Good luck!