FIX LAG IN BROWSER GAMES

Short answer: most lag in browser games comes from one of two things: your device is too busy, or your connection is weak. Work through the ten fixes below in order. The first four solve most cases.

First: what kind of lag is it?

• Stutter and low frame rate. The picture is choppy, but your moves arrive on time. This is your device struggling.
• Delay. You steer and the game reacts late, or other players jump around. This is your connection (high ping).

Fixes for a busy device

1. Close other tabs. Every open tab uses memory and processor time. Video tabs are the worst.
2. Close other apps, especially video calls, downloads and screen recorders.
3. Restart the browser. A browser that has been open for days slows down. A restart is free.
4. Plug in your laptop. Many laptops run slower on battery to save power.
5. Update your browser. New versions run games faster. On a Chromebook, restart when it offers an update.
6. Turn on hardware acceleration in your browser settings if it is off. It lets the graphics chip help.

Fixes for a weak connection

7. Move closer to the router, or use a cable. Walls cost more speed than you would think.
8. Pause what else is using the network: streaming, cloud backups, someone downloading a big file.
9. Switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data (or the other way) for one round, to see which is better.
10. Restart the router if it has been on for weeks.

On a phone or tablet

• Play in landscape and close apps running in the background.
• If the phone is hot, let it cool down; hot phones slow themselves.
• Turn off battery saver mode while you play.

More device tips are in Browser games on phone, tablet and Chromebook.

Still bad?

Try another browser for one round. If it is smooth there, the first one has an extension or setting causing trouble; disable extensions one at a time. If every browser lags, the cause is the device or the network, and the lists above are the places to look. And if a game only lags at certain hours, the cause is usually your home network being busy, not the game.

Check it with a real round

The easiest test is to play a round and see. Dragons League starts with one button, and a smooth round feels like steering with no delay at all. See how the controls work, or watch what a smooth round looks like on our YouTube channel and the live streams.