My game has stopped working, how can I fix it?
From time to time most mobile game apps can suffer glitches and bugs that can stop them working. This is very frustrating when you enjoy playing or are working on a timed progress event. So what can you do to resolve the problem?
The amount you can do will depend on what access you still have to the game app. If it loads then there may be the option to contact a game support, or ask friends or other players if they can help in game if there is a chat option. Other players may have had the same issues and know how to fix them. But if you are shut out completely, the app crashed on load for example, then you are on your own.
Check the App
A good first step is to check your app store to see if the game needs an update. To do this go to your app store on your device (eg Google Play app) and check through the list of apps that you have to see if there is an update pending. Updating to the latest version can resolve issues.
You can also check to see if there has just been a recent update that has been installed for you automatically. Occasionally new updates to the game can cause a bug for your device or all devices. Sometimes new updated can work on android but not on iOS, for example. Or fail on devices running older versions of the OS.
In this case the best solution is to contact the developer to notify them and wait for them to fix it. Check below for advice on contacting the developer.
Reinstall the Game
In some cases your game can get stuck or encounter problems with damaged files that may prevent it from loading or running correctly. In this case the best solution is to remove the app from your phone / device and then reinstall it from the app store. In many cases though this will remove your game progress or content and make you start from the beginning.
It is a good idea to make sure that you have used any in game option to save / backup you game progress and know how to restore it. Keep a note of any required passwords, accounts or codes needed to log in or restore your games in future.
If you haven't done this or the game does not have this option then you may need to accept losing the progress or try to contact the developers (see below) for more help before trying this option.
Check your device
As well as possible conflicts with your device type there are other things to check that you may be able to fix yourself. The first thing to check is what else is running on the device. If you have many open apps (other games or utilities) then this may make it slow or cause it to crash some apps. This is more likely on older devices. Close all running apps and possibly even reboot the device then try just running the game on its own.
Next you can check the storage on the device. Devices will typically need to have a reasonable amount of free storage to make use of when running some of the larger games that are popular. If you find that your phone storage is over 90% full then its time to delete some items from your phone, move them to an SD card or transfer them to cloud storage. The cleaner your phone the less likely you are to have problems.
Storage can usually be checked from the Settings menu of your device. Look for a cog icon in the menus to find this. If you are stuck then to a web search for how to check the storage on your device name / model.
Contact Support
If you are still unable to resolve the matter yourself then you should contact the game developers / support to ask for their help. They should be able to advise you and will be the only ones who can fix an in game bug. Keep in mind that if there is a recently added bug they may have a lot of reports coming in and may take time to get back to you.
To contact the developers there will usually be several options. If you can access the game there there will often be an in game contact option which you may find on the main screen, or through a 'settings' or 'options' menu. Have a look and see what is available.
If you are unable to do this then you should check the games page on your app store. Do this through the app store on your device on check the web for it.
https://play.google.com/
https://www.apple.com/app-store/
Find the page and you should find a support email address and or website listed for the game.
Ask a question
Finally you can of course ask a question here on AppGamer to see if anyone else has advise on solving the problem. Bear in mind though that we have no control over the game and cannot fix problems ourselves. But there are many helpful viewers here who may know what to do for your situation.