The four settings that actually save your battery

After testing dozens of games on the same tired old phone, I started noticing the same handful of settings that make or break battery life. The good news is they're almost always there — you just have to dig past the default screen.

First, frame rate. A lot of games default to the highest rate your screen supports, and dropping to 30 or 60 often halves the heat with no real loss of fun in slower genres. Second, particle and lighting effects: those glowing explosions look great and cost you dearly on a long session.

Third, background activity. Some games keep simulating when minimized, which quietly nibbles your charge. Check whether there's an offline or pause option. Fourth, screen brightness inside the app — a surprising number of games push it up on launch.

None of this ruins the experience. In most cases I couldn't tell the difference while playing, but I could tell the difference when my phone still had charge at the end of the day.