Read the settings menu before you play

I've started opening the settings menu the moment I install anything. It sounds dull, but that screen is honest in a way marketing never is. A generous options menu means the developers cared about making the game work on different phones.

Look for a frame-rate cap first. Locking to thirty frames instead of sixty can nearly double a battery session and, on a lot of games, you barely feel the difference in a casual title.

Separate sliders for music and effects matter more than people admit, especially if you play in public and want to mute the tune but keep the feedback sounds. A haptics toggle is a nice bonus and, quietly, saves a little charge if you turn it off.

If a game ships with almost no settings, that's a small red flag. It usually means one target device, one experience, and tough luck if your hardware doesn't match.