Short answer
Yes, it does not break the fast, and a clean game or film is permissible in itself. But games and shows with nudity, music, gambling or bad language are haram at any time, and spending the hours of Ramadan on entertainment wastes a month that comes once a year.
Playing a game or watching something does not affect the fast. Entertainment free of haram content is mubah, while content with nudity, instruments or gambling is haram. Spending much of the day of Ramadan in idle play is disliked, since it goes against the purpose of the fast.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Your fast is kept or broken by what you eat, drink and do with your body, not by what you watch. So gaming or a film does not break the fast, and the four schools agree.
Check what is on the screen. The same rules apply as outside Ramadan, only more so. A game or film is a problem if it has:
- Nudity or sexual scenes, which go against the command to lower the gaze.
- Music with instruments, in the mainstream Hanafi position. See music while fasting.
- Gambling, or paid loot boxes that work like gambling.
- Mockery of religion, or bad language that you end up repeating.
For games in general, see are video games haram.
Time is the real question. The Prophet ﷺ said that part of a person's good Islam is leaving what does not concern him. Ramadan holds a night better than a thousand months. Many people game to make the fasting hours pass faster, and that is the very thing the month asks us not to do.
A short break to rest your mind is fine, especially for young people. Set a limit, never game through prayer times and put the controller down in the last ten nights. Give some of that time to Quran, dhikr, a lecture or helping with iftar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Qadr 97:3
لَيْلَةُ ٱلْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌۭ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍۢ ﴿٣﴾
The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months.
Ramadan's time is too valuable to spend mainly on play.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2317
Graded sahih... من حسن إسلام المرء تركه ما لا يعنيه ...
"Part of the excellence of a person's Islam is leaving what does not concern him."
Idle entertainment should be kept within limits.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1903
Sahih... من لم يدع قول الزور والعمل به فليس لله حاجة ...
"Whoever does not give up false speech and acting on it, Allah has no need of his leaving his food and drink."
Haram content spoils the fast even if it does not break it.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on what breaks the fast and what does not. The fast is broken by what enters the body, not by what is watched.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiya, chapter on singing, amusement and other sins. The rulings on games and amusement, and what makes them sinful.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.