The Settings I Change Before I Play Anything

Default settings are rarely the best settings. Before I start reviewing a game properly, I spend a few minutes in the options menu, and it genuinely changes the experience.

First stop: graphics. I usually knock quality down one notch from max. The visual difference is tiny on a phone screen, but the framerate and battery gains are real. If there's a framerate cap, I match it to my screen rather than letting it run wild.

Next, audio and haptics. Good haptic feedback adds a lot to touch games, but some implementations are just constant buzzing that drains battery and annoys everyone near you. I tune it to taste or turn it off.

Finally, controls and sensitivity. Tilt steering, aim sensitivity, auto-features — I try the defaults for a round, then adjust. A game that felt bad at first often just needed the sensitivity dialed to something that fits my hands.