diff --git a/src/dusk/rpg/rpg.c b/src/dusk/rpg/rpg.c
index b5b075f2..17220401 100644
--- a/src/dusk/rpg/rpg.c
+++ b/src/dusk/rpg/rpg.c
@@ -33,9 +33,6 @@ errorret_t rpgInit(void) {
   errorChain(mapInit());
   rpgCameraInit();
 
-  // Init test world
-  errorChain(mapSetMap("overworld"));
-
   // The player is the one entity that isn't sourced from map/chunk data -
   // every other entity (NPCs, items) and map area comes from the loaded
   // chunks' own spawn data (see rpg/overworld/map.c mapChunkLoaded).
diff --git a/src/dusk/save/savejson.h b/src/dusk/save/savejson.h
index c80d1c32..7095b6c9 100644
--- a/src/dusk/save/savejson.h
+++ b/src/dusk/save/savejson.h
@@ -512,12 +512,12 @@
       ); \
     } \
     stringCopy( \
-      saveJsonStringBuffer, yyjson_get_str(saveJsonStrVal), (maxLength) \
+      saveJsonStringBuffer, yyjson_get_str(saveJsonStrVal), (maxLength) + 1 \
     ); \
   } else { \
-    stringCopy(saveJsonStringBuffer, (def), (maxLength)); \
+    stringCopy(saveJsonStringBuffer, (def), (maxLength) + 1); \
   } \
-  stringCopy((dest), saveJsonStringBuffer, (maxLength)); \
+  stringCopy((dest), saveJsonStringBuffer, (maxLength) + 1); \
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.c b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.c
index 383bdceb..113f4691 100644
--- a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.c
+++ b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include "save/slot/saveslotcurrent.h"
 #include "assert/assert.h"
 #include "util/memory.h"
+#include "util/string.h"
 
 void saveSlotInit(saveslot_t *slot) {
   assertNotNull(slot, "Slot cannot be null");
@@ -20,6 +21,24 @@ void saveSlotInit(saveslot_t *slot) {
   partyInit(&slot->party);
 }
 
+void saveSlotNewGame(saveslot_t *slot) {
+  assertNotNull(slot, "Slot cannot be null");
+
+  saveSlotInit(slot);
+
+  stringCopy(
+    slot->cachedData.mapName, SAVE_SLOT_MAP_NAME_DEFAULT,
+    sizeof(slot->cachedData.mapName)
+  );
+
+  // TEMPORARY: placeholder starting party, same stats shape as
+  // rpg/battle/testbattle/testbattle.c's mock allies - replace once
+  // there's a real starting-party/character-creation flow.
+  const battlefighterstats_t startingStats =
+    { .attack = 10, .defense = 5, .magic = 0, .speed = 10, .luck = 0 };
+  partyAddMember(&slot->party, startingStats, 30, 10);
+}
+
 bool_t saveSlotInUse(saveslotcache_t *slot) {
   assertNotNull(slot, "Slot cannot be null");
   return slot->name[0] != '\0';
diff --git a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.h b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.h
index 67d88adb..9a8fcde3 100644
--- a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.h
+++ b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslot.h
@@ -17,29 +17,19 @@
   #define SAVE_SLOT_COUNT 3
 #endif
 
-// The stable, version-independent in-memory shape of a save slot - what the
-// rest of the engine actually reads/writes. Every save schema version
-// (saveslotver1_t, ...) redefines its own copy of these same fields for its
-// JSON wire format; saveSlotCurrentWriteJSON()/ReadJSON() (saveslotcurrent.c)
-// manually copy field-by-field between this and whichever version is
-// current, so a version's frozen on-disk shape can never drift just because
-// this stable struct (or a live engine constant like MAP_NAME_MAX) changes.
+#define SAVE_SLOT_MAP_NAME_DEFAULT "overworld"
+
 typedef struct {
   char_t name[SAVE_SLOT_NAME_LENGTH + 1];// 8 characters + null terminator
   dusktimeepoch_t time;
   int32_t playerLevel;
   char_t mapName[MAP_NAME_MAX];
-
-  // Set when this slot's on-disk file failed to load (corrupt or an
-  // incompatible schema version) and was reset to an empty slot instead -
-  // see saveLoadSlot() (save/save.c).
   bool_t corrupt;
 } saveslotcache_t;
 
 typedef struct saveslot_s {
   uint8_t version;
   uint8_t dataType;
-
   saveslotcache_t cachedData;
   party_t party;
 } saveslot_t;
@@ -53,6 +43,18 @@ typedef struct saveslot_s {
  */
 void saveSlotInit(saveslot_t *slot);
 
+/**
+ * Sets up the save slot for a brand new game: calls saveSlotInit, then
+ * seeds it with a starting party. Use this (not saveSlotInit) whenever a
+ * new save is actually being created for a player - saveSlotInit alone
+ * leaves the party empty, which every other caller (resetting a slot
+ * before a load attempt, filling in an untouched slot during a raw
+ * device write, wiping a deleted slot) wants.
+ *
+ * @param slot The save slot to set up.
+ */
+void saveSlotNewGame(saveslot_t *slot);
+
 /**
  * Checks if the save slot is in use, this is determined by checking if the
  * player name is set or not.
diff --git a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotcurrent.c b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotcurrent.c
index ef10f108..094d2fbb 100644
--- a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotcurrent.c
+++ b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotcurrent.c
@@ -43,7 +43,11 @@ errorret_t saveSlotCurrentReadJSON(saveslot_t *slot, yyjson_val *object) {
   assertNotNull(slot, "Slot cannot be null");
   assertNotNull(object, "Object cannot be null");
 
+  // Zeroed up front: saveSlotVer1ReadJSON returns early (leaving everything
+  // past "name" untouched) for a blank/never-used slot, so this must not be
+  // left as uninitialized stack garbage.
   saveslotver1_t ver1;
+  memoryZero(&ver1, sizeof(ver1));
   errorChain(saveSlotVer1ReadJSON(&ver1, object));
 
   stringCopy(slot->cachedData.name, ver1.name, sizeof(slot->cachedData.name));
diff --git a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotver1.c b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotver1.c
index db6a95be..834aaf3b 100644
--- a/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotver1.c
+++ b/src/dusk/save/slot/saveslotver1.c
@@ -58,8 +58,22 @@ errorret_t saveSlotVer1ReadJSON(saveslotver1_t *slot, yyjson_val *object) {
   requireVersion(SAVE_SLOT_CURRENT);
 
   readString("name", slot->name, "", SAVE_SLOT_VER1_NAME_LENGTH);
+  if(slot->name[0] == '\0') errorOk();
+
   readTime("time", slot->time);
   readInt32("playerLevel", slot->playerLevel, 1);
+
+  // A blank/never-used slot returned early above (see saveSlotInUse -
+  // keyed off "name"), so name is guaranteed non-empty here - and an
+  // in-use slot always has a map name too (see saveSlotNewGame). Missing,
+  // null, or empty means this save is corrupt.
+  yyjson_val *mapNameVal = yyjson_obj_get(object, "mapName");
+  if(
+    mapNameVal == NULL || !yyjson_is_str(mapNameVal) ||
+    yyjson_get_len(mapNameVal) == 0
+  ) {
+    errorThrow("Save JSON 'mapName' must be a non-empty string");
+  }
   readString(
     "mapName", slot->mapName, "", SAVE_SLOT_VER1_MAP_NAME_MAX - 1
   );
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/dialog/save/uiselectsave.c b/src/dusk/ui/dialog/save/uiselectsave.c
index 81a8acb4..80917858 100644
--- a/src/dusk/ui/dialog/save/uiselectsave.c
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/dialog/save/uiselectsave.c
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ void uiSelectSaveNameEntered(
   const uint8_t index = UI_SELECT_SAVE.pendingNameIndex;
 
   saveslot_t slot;
-  saveSlotInit(&slot);
+  saveSlotNewGame(&slot);
   stringCopy(slot.cachedData.name, text, SAVE_SLOT_NAME_LENGTH);
 
   // No save device available - proceed with an in-memory-only slot rather
diff --git a/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c b/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c
index 4508b2cd..e9a7e665 100644
--- a/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c
+++ b/src/dusk/ui/screen/mainmenu/uimainmenu.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "scene/scene.h"
 #include "asset/asset.h"
 #include "save/save.h"
+#include "rpg/overworld/map.h"
 
 #define UI_MAIN_MENU_INDEX_START_GAME 0
 #define UI_MAIN_MENU_INDEX_OPTIONS 1
@@ -58,6 +59,16 @@ void uiMainMenuSelectSaveResult(const uint8_t slotIndex, void *user) {
     return;
   }
 
+  assertStrLenMin(
+    SAVE.slot.cachedData.mapName, 1, "Save slot has no map name"
+  );
+  errorret_t mapResult = mapSetMap(SAVE.slot.cachedData.mapName);
+  if(errorIsNotOk(mapResult)) {
+    errorCatch(errorPrint(mapResult));
+    uiFatalErrorOpen(mapResult.state->message);
+    return;
+  }
+
   sceneSet(SCENE_TYPE_OVERWORLD);
 }