Which game genres drain your battery fastest

After testing a lot of games on the same few phones, some patterns are hard to miss. Battery drain lines up pretty closely with what's happening on screen, and that maps neatly onto genre.

Racing and action-heavy games are the worst offenders. Constant motion, particle effects, and high framerates all add up. If you love these, dig into the graphics settings — a performance or low-power mode usually buys you a lot of extra playtime for a small visual cost.

Strategy games surprised me. On a small map they're fine, but a big late-game board with dozens of units animating at once can drain nearly as fast as a racer. Turning down animation speed helps more than you'd expect.

At the other end, casual games, cozy sims, and slow adventures barely register. Static or lightly animated screens are just cheap to run. If you're heading out on a long day with no charger, that's the genre to reach for.