How to Fish · won’t start
How to Fish won’t launch — is it the black screen, or is it Windows?
This site is mostly about Windows blocking games, but How to Fish is the honest exception: the launch problem players report for it is a black screen on startup — the game runs but never draws — not Smart App Control. Here is what players have tried, and how to tell if what you have is the Windows block instead.
What players report · a black screen
You press Play, a window opens to black and sits there using almost no CPU. The game process started but isn’t drawing. This is a game/graphics problem, not a Windows block — the steps below are what players have tried.
If it’s Windows instead
You instead see error 0x11c7 or a “Smart App Control blocked an app that may be unsafe” notification, and the game never opens at all. That is the Windows-side block — a different fix, on the main page.
Black-screen checks, in order
- 01
Run it as administrator
One player reported the black screen cleared after running the game as administrator (right-click the game’s .exe in its install folder → Run as administrator), then launching from Steam again. It worked for some and not others, so try it first but don’t count on it.
- 02
Verify the game files
In Steam, right-click → Properties → Installed Files → Verify. A half-downloaded update can leave a game opening to black.
- 03
Update your GPU driver
A black screen where the process runs but nothing draws can be the graphics driver. Update it from NVIDIA / AMD / Intel and relaunch.
- 04
Turn off in-game overlays
Disable the Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience and Xbox Game Bar overlays — any one of them can leave a new game on a black frame.
- 05
Try windowed mode
If it opens black in fullscreen, alt-tab or launch in windowed / borderless so it can pick a resolution your display accepts.
What players reported
“I tried to start the same several times and only got a black screen taking up .1% of my CPU… Run this program as Administrator… Now boot How to Fish from steam!”
the thread author · Steam · “Black Screen When Starting” · 21 Aug 2026
“A black screen after an update means the game process starts but fails to draw the picture.”
a How to Fish fix guide (nerdschalk) · 23 Aug 2026
[!] Is it actually 0x11c7 / Smart App Control?
Honestly: for How to Fish we did not find players reporting that specific Windows block — the reports we found are the black screen above. But How to Fish is a brand-new, self-published indie game, the kind of small, new executable Smart App Control can stop when it can’t verify it. So if what you see is error 0x11c7 or a Smart App Control notification (not a black screen), that is the Windows-side block — the fix is on the main page, with more on Smart App Control and error 0x11c7.
Steam app 4001890 · store page · Dazed Games · released Aug 20, 2026
← Back to the Smart App Control fix