Sounds like you are asking if its wrong to not give your all unless it really matters. For example, not turning in any work that doesn’t count for your grade, and only doing required material, or just not showing a deeper understanding of the subject until the tests. I personally think it’s better to just give 100% no matter what vs. giving 0–50% when it doesn’t matter and 100% when it does.It doesn’t make you see very dependable or hardworking. Slacking off and only doing what is expected of you/ what is important and not going above and beyond or putting in extra effort isn’t really going to benefit you. I learn a lot more and gain a lot more skills when I put all my effort into something, regardless of whether it’s super important or not. I do a lot of things that require time, effort, and practice to get better at. An example would be my saxophone. If I only put effort in at the concerts, I’m not going to get better at playing. It took me a few reads of your question to understand that it’s “A-game” not “a game”