Quick answer: Reproduce by clearing all saved data, then make first-run code create defaults and folders before reading them and handle the absence of any persisted state gracefully.

A bug that only hits new players but never you is a first-run problem: your machine has data a fresh install does not. Clearing your data reproduces it. Here is how to fix the cold start.

How to fix it

1. Reproduce with cleared data

Delete all saved data, preferences, and caches (or test on a clean device) to recreate a true first launch. The bug appears once you stop benefiting from data a returning player has.

2. Create defaults before reading

First-run code must create save folders, default settings, and initial state before anything reads them. Reading a save or config that does not exist yet is the usual crash.

3. Handle missing state gracefully

Anywhere you load persisted data, handle the case where it is absent with sensible defaults rather than assuming a previous session left it. That makes the first run behave like any other.

Catching the ones you can't reproduce

The hardest version of this to fix is the one you can't reproduce — it only happens on a player's hardware, OS, driver, or save state, under conditions that simply aren't present on your machine. A report that says “it crashed” or “it froze” gives you nothing to act on, so the bug survives release after release while quietly costing you players.

Automatic error capture closes that gap. Each failure arrives with its full stack trace, the device and OS, the build number, and a breadcrumb trail of what the player did right before it broke, so even a failure you have never seen becomes a specific, reproducible issue. Fold identical failures into one signature ranked by how many players each hits, and your worklist sorts itself worst-first instead of arriving as a stream of vague complaints.

This is where a tool like Bugnet earns its place. Its SDK captures every your game error automatically with the full stack trace plus device, OS, memory, build, and game-state context, folds duplicates into one grouped issue with an occurrence count, and ties each to the build it first appeared on — so you fix the problem that hurts the most players first and confirm it is gone when its signature disappears from the next release.

The errors you never hear about are the ones quietly costing you players. Visibility turns them into a worklist.