Responsible Gaming

— HABITS

Healthy habits

Simple and effective.

• Set a time limit before opening the app.
• Use a phone alarm.
• Take a break every 20 minutes.
• Keep at least two days a week off.
• Never play when upset, tired or after drinking.

— SIGNS

Warning signs

Be honest with yourself.

• Playing longer than planned, often.
• Hiding play from family.
• Feeling restless when not playing.
• Playing to change your mood.
• Losing sleep.

— FAMILY

For parents and families

Keep under-18s away.

• Use device-level parental controls.
• Don’t share your account or phone unlocked.
• Talk openly about online games.

— HELP

Getting help

Free and confidential.

Tele MANAS (Government of India) offers free, confidential mental-health support around the clock on 14416 or 1-800-891-4416.

— TOOLS

Practical tools

Use what your phone already has.

If you’d like a break, log out, remove the app icon and turn off notifications. Talk to someone you trust; it helps more than people expect.

— SELF-CHECK

A quick self-check

Five honest questions.

Ask yourself: Do I often play longer than I planned? Do I feel restless or irritable when I can’t play? Do I play to escape worries or a low mood? Have I hidden how much I play from people close to me? Has gaming affected my sleep, work, studies or relationships? If you answer yes to one or two, it’s time to set firmer limits. If you answer yes to several, consider taking a complete break and talking to someone.

These questions aren’t a diagnosis – they’re a mirror. Being honest with them is a sign of strength, not weakness.

— BREAK

Taking a proper break

Steps that make it stick.

If you decide to step away, make it easy on yourself. Log out, uninstall the app or remove the home-screen icon, leave groups and channels about it, and turn off related notifications. Tell someone you trust that you’re taking a break – saying it out loud makes it more real. Fill the time you’d have spent with something you enjoy: a walk, a call with a friend, a hobby. Breaks of a few weeks often reset habits completely.

— SUPPORT

Talking to someone

You don’t need to be in crisis.

You don’t need to reach a crisis point to ask for help. Tele MANAS (14416) is free, confidential and available around the clock in many Indian languages. Counsellors there can help you think through habits, stress or worries – for yourself or a family member.

— LIMITS

Setting limits that work

Practical, specific and written down.

Vague intentions like ‘I’ll play less’ rarely work. Specific limits do. Decide the maximum minutes per session, the number of sessions per week and which days are always off. Write them in a note on your phone and look at it before opening any game app. Use your phone’s built-in tools – Digital Wellbeing on Android, Screen Time on iPhone – to enforce a daily limit automatically. Set an alarm for each session and stop when it rings, regardless of what just happened. Review your limits weekly against your game history, and make them stricter if they’re not holding.

These habits apply to Sagar Club and to every other game app on your phone.

If you decide to step away from Sagar Club, log out, remove the icon and switch off its notifications.