i took each figure row by row, either left to right or front to back.
also, with enough practice, you learn to quickly distinguish what a 2- or 3- or 4- or 5- sided cube looks like.
all of that to say this: as soon as i learned that not every cube configuration for a particular figure would be asked, i dropped that bunk kaplan strategy of counting all of them and tallying them up. i simply counted what i needed to as the question dictated.