Save and Load

Love2D gives you a safe folder per game.

local save = { highScore = 0, muted = false }
 
function loadSave()
  if love.filesystem.getInfo("save.lua") then
    local chunk = love.filesystem.load("save.lua")
    local data = chunk and chunk()
    if type(data) == "table" then
      save = data
    end
  end
end
 
function writeSave()
  local data = string.format(
    "return { highScore = %d, muted = %s }",
    save.highScore, tostring(save.muted)
  )
  love.filesystem.write("save.lua", data)
end
 
function love.load()
  loadSave()
end
 
-- call writeSave() when score changes or on quit
function love.quit()
  writeSave()
end

Where it lives: love.filesystem.getSaveDirectory() — per-OS appdata folder, works on desktop + web (IndexedDB).

When it breaks

Symptom	Fix
Save lost after reinstall	Expected — save dir is separate from game dir by design
Corrupt save breaks the game	Delete the save file (find it via getSaveDirectory) — the game recreates defaults on next launch

Outgrowing this (nested tables)

The string.format writer only handles flat settings. Once you save inventories, unlock maps, or anything nested, reach for bitser — one file, no dependencies, and it even understands classes:

local bitser = require("bitser")
 
function writeSave()
  love.filesystem.write("save.dat", bitser.dumps(save))
end
 
function loadSave()
  local raw = love.filesystem.read("save.dat")
  if raw then
    local result = bitser.loads(raw)
    if type(result) == "table" then
      save = result
    end
  end
end

Same shape — just a serializer that speaks full Lua tables.