Offline Games Checklist: During a Power Cut | GameJar

Visit the site and open each game you expect to use. After one online visit, the games are stored on the device and will play with no signal.

Do not assume you will only need one. A long outage changes plans, so load Mini Crossword, Guess the Word, Picture Logic, Connect Four, Dots & Boxes, Salvo, 2048, and Mini Sudoku while the connection still works.

Put it where your child can find it without hunting through tabs or typing anything. In a dark room, simple beats clever.

A profile is just a name and a colour, stored on the device. Do it before the lights go, when nobody is trying to do it by torch light.

You can start without signing in. If you leave this until later, you are only adding friction to an evening that already has enough of it.

Solo games are Mini Crossword, Guess the Word, Picture Logic, 2048, and Mini Sudoku. Connect Four, Dots & Boxes, and Salvo can be played by two people on one device, which helps if siblings are both stranded in the same room.

This is dull advice because it is necessary. Low battery is the thing most likely to end the plan early.

Use the setting your phone already has to cut background battery use. You are trying to make one charge cover both games and whatever actual communication you may need.

A bright screen drains battery faster than most people think. Turn it down to a comfortable level while there is still enough light in the room to judge it properly.

If the router is down, the phone may keep trying to reconnect. Stop it hunting for a signal and keep that battery for something useful.

Background apps and open tabs have a habit of behaving like they are still the main event. Clear them out before handing the phone over.

If you have backup power, know where it is now. A cable that lives in a kitchen drawer nobody can see in the dark is not helping anyone.

Mini Crossword, Guess the Word, Picture Logic, 2048, and Mini Sudoku work well when you need quiet and no negotiation over turns. It is the quickest way to stop the 'what now' loop.

Mini Crossword, Guess the Word, and Picture Logic each give you one daily puzzle. That helps when you do not want the phone occupied for the whole outage.

Practice rounds are unlimited, which is useful when the outage is dragging on. It is less useful if you are guarding the last 12 percent.

Each puzzle can be solved by logic alone. That suits the mood when the room is dim and patience is already in short supply.

There is no daily limit and no setup beyond opening it. It is useful when attention is short and you do not want to give a full briefing on the rules.

The 4x4 and 6x6 options are a sensible place to start if the outage may end at any moment. You can leave 9x9 for a longer stretch.

Five or ten minutes is usually enough to prevent a tribunal. Decide it first, because a rule invented halfway through an argument tends not to land well.

It works with two players on one device, or one player against the computer at three difficulties. For siblings, short rounds are usually your friend.

It suits a shared phone because each move is clear and easy to see. That matters when people are taking turns in poor light.

Each player hides four ships on a 7x7 grid and tries to find the other's first. Pass the device with the cover in place so neither sees the other board.

Two players means two people sharing one phone or tablet in the same place. There is no online multiplayer, chat, or household-wide leaderboard to sort out for them.

A pen and paper, a snack, or a book can stop the second child hovering over the active player's shoulder like junior compliance staff. The phone lasts longer if only one person is poking it at once.

The screen should not be the only source of light in the room. A bit of proper light makes it easier on the eyes and easier to manage the rest of the evening.

If power returns or you have backup power, you do not want to start a scavenger hunt. Keep the cable where the phone is being used.

They are not a feature of the games. They are simply useful if one child needs quiet and another adult is trying to deal with the outage.

That cuts down the traffic in and out of dark rooms. It also reduces the odds of someone grabbing the phone with sticky hands.

It gives your child somewhere to jot things down, keep score for pass-and-play games, or abandon the phone entirely for a bit. During a power cut, backup options earn their keep.

This is not dramatic, just sensible. It is easier to say at the start than at 6 percent when someone is halfway through deciding a move.