diff --git a/src/Editor/Panels/EditorToolbarPanel.cpp b/src/Editor/Panels/EditorToolbarPanel.cpp
index 8aa3797..3a43db8 100644
--- a/src/Editor/Panels/EditorToolbarPanel.cpp
+++ b/src/Editor/Panels/EditorToolbarPanel.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include "Editor/EditorPersistence.h"
 #include "Editor/ExportBuilder.h"
 #include "Editor/PlayerLauncher.h"
+#include "Engine/EditorExceptionGuard.h"
 #include "Game/Game.h"
 #include "Game/GameConfig.h"
 #include "imgui.h"
@@ -106,10 +107,14 @@ void DrawToolbar(Game* game, bool& showProjectSelector, bool& openSaveLayoutModa
         // Disabled while already running so the button reads as the current state.
         ImGui::BeginDisabled(!engineOptions.isPaused);
         if (ImGui::Button("Play")) {
+          // ReloadScene runs the scene's Lua, which can throw. Guard it so a broken scene logs +
+          // stays paused instead of crashing the editor (toolbar handlers run during ImGui render,
+          // outside FrameLoop's per-frame Update guard). See EditorExceptionGuard.h.
+          bool started = true;
           if (!game->IsSceneRunning() && hasScene) {
-            game->ReloadScene();
+            started = RunEditorGuarded(gameConfig, "ReloadScene", [&] { game->ReloadScene(); });
           }
-          engineOptions.isPaused = false;
+          engineOptions.isPaused = !started;
         }
         ImGui::EndDisabled();
         ImGui::SameLine();
@@ -126,7 +131,7 @@ void DrawToolbar(Game* game, bool& showProjectSelector, bool& openSaveLayoutModa
         }
         ImGui::SameLine();
         if (ImGui::Button("Stop")) {
-          game->StopScene();
+          RunEditorGuarded(gameConfig, "StopScene", [&] { game->StopScene(); });
           engineOptions.isPaused = true;  // back to the default ready-but-paused state
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Engine/EditorExceptionGuard.h b/src/Engine/EditorExceptionGuard.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da4579d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Engine/EditorExceptionGuard.h
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <exception>
+#include <string>
+
+#include "Game/GameConfig.h"
+#include "General/Logger.h"
+
+namespace octarine::editor {
+
+// Run a piece of game-driving work (`fn`) that may execute project/Lua code and could throw.
+//
+// In an editor session a project bug must not take down the whole editor process. When `fn` throws
+// there, the exception is caught, logged (so it surfaces in the editor console), and the running
+// game is paused — leaving the editor alive so the author can read the error, fix the script, and
+// hit Play again. Pausing on catch also stops a throwing per-frame tick from re-raising the same
+// exception every frame.
+//
+// Outside an editor session (the standalone player, headless bench/bake tooling) the exception is
+// left to propagate exactly as before: the player runs in its own process, so a crash there never
+// reaches the editor, and we don't want to silently swallow failures in shipped/CI paths.
+//
+// `context` is a short human label for the failing phase (e.g. "Update", "Input", "ReloadScene")
+// included in the log line. Returns true when `fn` completed without throwing, false when it was
+// caught.
+template <typename Fn>
+bool RunEditorGuarded(GameConfig& config, const char* context, Fn&& fn) {
+  if (!config.IsEditorMode()) {
+    fn();
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  try {
+    fn();
+    return true;
+  } catch (const std::exception& ex) {
+    Logger::Error(std::string("[editor] Game exception in ") + context + ": " + ex.what() + " — execution paused.");
+  } catch (...) {
+    Logger::Error(std::string("[editor] Unknown game exception in ") + context + " — execution paused.");
+  }
+  config.GetEngineOptions().isPaused = true;
+  return false;
+}
+
+}  // namespace octarine::editor
diff --git a/src/Engine/FrameLoop.cpp b/src/Engine/FrameLoop.cpp
index 76db860..84ca171 100644
--- a/src/Engine/FrameLoop.cpp
+++ b/src/Engine/FrameLoop.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include "AssetManager/AssetManager.h"
 #include "Components/ViewportInfo.h"
 #include "ECS/Registry.h"
+#include "Engine/EditorExceptionGuard.h"
 #include "Engine/EngineContext.h"
 #include "Engine/EngineRuntime.h"
 #include "EventBus/EventBus.h"
@@ -83,6 +84,11 @@ void FrameLoop::ProcessInput() {
   PROFILE_NAMED_SCOPE("Game::ProcessInput");
   SDL_Event event;
 
+  // Mouse/key event emission fans out to game code (Lua input handlers, UIButtonSystem callbacks),
+  // so it is guarded the same way as the per-frame Update — a throwing handler pauses rather than
+  // crashes the editor. See FrameLoop::Update / EditorExceptionGuard.h.
+  auto& gameConfig = registry_->Get<GameConfig>();
+
   while (SDL_PollEvent(&event)) {
 #ifdef OCTARINE_WITH_IMGUI
     ImGui_ImplSDL3_ProcessEvent(&event);
@@ -102,17 +108,20 @@ void FrameLoop::ProcessInput() {
       case SDL_EVENT_KEY_DOWN:
       case SDL_EVENT_KEY_UP: {
         KeyInputEvent keyInputEvent = GetKeyInputEvent(&event.key);
-        event_bus_->EmitEvent<KeyInputEvent>(keyInputEvent);
+        octarine::editor::RunEditorGuarded(gameConfig, "Input",
+                                           [&] { event_bus_->EmitEvent<KeyInputEvent>(keyInputEvent); });
         break;
       }
       case SDL_EVENT_MOUSE_BUTTON_DOWN:
       case SDL_EVENT_MOUSE_BUTTON_UP: {
         SDL_MouseButtonEvent mouseButtonEvent = event.button;
-        event_bus_->EmitEvent<MouseInputEvent>(mouseButtonEvent);
+        octarine::editor::RunEditorGuarded(gameConfig, "Input",
+                                           [&] { event_bus_->EmitEvent<MouseInputEvent>(mouseButtonEvent); });
         break;
       }
       case SDL_EVENT_MOUSE_WHEEL: {
-        event_bus_->EmitEvent<MouseWheelEvent>(event.wheel.x, event.wheel.y);
+        octarine::editor::RunEditorGuarded(
+            gameConfig, "Input", [&] { event_bus_->EmitEvent<MouseWheelEvent>(event.wheel.x, event.wheel.y); });
         break;
       }
       case SDL_EVENT_WINDOW_RESIZED:
@@ -143,7 +152,8 @@ void FrameLoop::Update(const float deltaTime) {
   }
 #endif
 
-  auto& options = registry_->Get<GameConfig>().GetEngineOptions();
+  auto& gameConfig = registry_->Get<GameConfig>();
+  auto& options = gameConfig.GetEngineOptions();
 
   // Master volume + mute live at the mixer level so they apply to every track (including loops
   // already playing). Synced every frame — and outside the pause gate — so toggling mute reacts
@@ -174,7 +184,11 @@ void FrameLoop::Update(const float deltaTime) {
 #endif
 
   if (!options.isPaused || options.stepFrame) {
-    registry_->Update(deltaTime * options.timeScale);
+    // The per-frame tick runs every game system, including ScriptSystem's Lua calls. In an editor
+    // session an uncaught exception here is caught + paused instead of crashing the editor; in the
+    // player/headless paths it propagates unchanged. See EditorExceptionGuard.h.
+    const float scaledDelta = deltaTime * options.timeScale;
+    octarine::editor::RunEditorGuarded(gameConfig, "Update", [&] { registry_->Update(scaledDelta); });
     options.stepFrame = false;
   } else {
     // If paused, we might still want to clear some per-frame signals so they don't get stuck.