Options menu not appearing on an empty activity

Question

I'm struggling to get my options menu to appear and have tried nearly every solution available on stackoverflow. I have written my menu.xml file in a menu directory in res (shown below) and am attempting to place the code in a GameActivity.java file. When I test my program the menu does not appear, and when I click the missing menu area nothing happens.:

enter image description here

Here is the java code for my activity:

public class GameActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    int[] boardSize = {7, 5, 3, 1};

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_game);

    }

    @Override
    public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
        MenuInflater inflater = getMenuInflater();
        inflater.inflate(R.menu.menu, menu);
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean onOptionsItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
        switch(item.getItemId()) {
            //TODO
        }
        return true;
    }
}

Here is my menu xml code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<menu xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    tools:context="io.github.ardenchew.lastpiece.MainActivity" >

    <item
        android:id="@+id/restart"
        android:title="@string/restart"
        app:showAsAction="always"
        app:actionProviderClass="android.support.v7.app.MediaRouteActionProvider"
        tools:icon="@drawable/mr_button_light" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/resetScore"
        android:title="@string/resetScore"
        app:showAsAction="always"
        app:actionProviderClass="android.support.v7.app.MediaRouteActionProvider"
        tools:icon="@drawable/mr_button_light" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/endGame"
        android:title="@string/endGame"
        app:showAsAction="always"
        app:actionProviderClass="android.support.v7.app.MediaRouteActionProvider"
        tools:icon="@drawable/mr_button_light" />
    <item
        android:id="@+id/killCpu"
        android:title="@string/killCpu"
        app:showAsAction="always"
        app:actionProviderClass="android.support.v7.app.MediaRouteActionProvider"
        tools:icon="@drawable/mr_button_light" />


</menu>

And here is my android manifest code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="io.github.ardenchew.lastpiece">

    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
        <activity
            android:name=".MainActivity"
            android:screenOrientation="portrait">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
        <activity
            android:name=".PlayActivity"
            android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
        <activity
            android:name=".InstructionsActivity"
            android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
        <activity
            android:name=".GameActivity"
            android:screenOrientation="portrait" />
    </application>

</manifest>

Thanks so much

Answer 1

Late but better no answer for others who has the same issue as I had

change these lines in your Theme or style file to

<style name="AppTheme.NoActionBar">
    <item name="windowActionBar">true</item>
    <item name="windowNoTitle">false</item>
</style>

Answer 2

You should attach debugger and go deeper with this. The code inside an Activity looks good, maybe you should call super method inside onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) method, or maybe the problem is in menu xml file, tools:context="io.github.ardenchew.lastpiece.MainActivity"