... Cheating is cheating. Gaming is something else. I've always considered gaming to mean maximizing within the rules of the system.
Point well taken. On the other hand, the two are often used interchangeably as in this article by the National Bureau of Economic Research:
http://www.nber.org/digest/jun03/w9307.html Gaming is sometimes also used as a euphemism for cheating, or in celebration when the cheater has not been caught and has gotten away with it, or has exploited a loophole not yet addressed by the rules.
... To my definition any prepping beyond gaining familiarity with the test format is gaming.
Understood. The point originally made was the distinction between an
achievement test (OK to prep and ACT/CB provide questions from past exams for this purpose)
as contrasted with an
IQ test (intended to measure native intelligence and prep may invalidate results).
In closing, looking back at the OP's question, it seems most respondents have been quite positive about the value of the experience of participating in an out-of-level test.
