I remember cheap plastic body flashlights where the battery springs had worn out a little back in the 90’s sometimes having issues where the batteries wouldn't stay positioned inside quite right, so moving it around it might flicker as they shifted or it would shut off entirely if the batteries slipped out of "alignment". Usually you'd just thump it a few times until they settled back in right. But they lasted plenty long, and didn't just flicker on their own.

Those seem to be what game flashlights are based off of, which is especially silly with how long cheap super bright LED flashlights with no battery looseness have been around now.