diff --git a/main.py b/main.py
index 9ed1f2b..e9cc120 100644
--- a/main.py
+++ b/main.py
@@ -3,29 +3,28 @@
 import shutil
 
 # Content, saves, logs and user settings are all addressed relative to the
-# repo, and some are opened at import time, so this runs before any game import.
+# repo, and some are opened at import time, so this runs before anything else.
 os.chdir(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 
-from src.game_engine import main  # noqa: E402
-from src.ui.textual_ui import TextualGameUI  # noqa: E402  composition root: the frontend is chosen HERE
 
-if __name__ == "__main__":
-    # Create necessary directories if they don't exist
-    os.makedirs("data/rooms", exist_ok=True)
-    os.makedirs("data/items", exist_ok=True)
-    os.makedirs("data/enemies", exist_ok=True)
-    os.makedirs("data/npcs", exist_ok=True)
-
-    # Copy debug.log to combat.log on each restart (overwrites old combat.log)
-    if os.path.exists("debug.log"):
-        shutil.copy2("debug.log", "combat.log")
-        # Clear debug.log for fresh logging this session
-        with open("debug.log", "w") as f:
-            f.write("")
+def rotate_logs(log_file: str, previous: str = "combat.log") -> None:
+    """Start the session with an empty log; keep the last session's as `previous`."""
+    if os.path.exists(log_file):
+        shutil.copy2(log_file, previous)
     else:
-        # Create empty combat.log if debug.log doesn't exist
-        with open("combat.log", "w") as f:
+        with open(previous, "w") as f:
             f.write("=== Combat Log (Fresh Session) ===\n")
+    open(log_file, "w").close()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    from config.dev_config import DEBUG_LOG_FILE
+
+    # Before the game modules load: some of them log while importing.
+    rotate_logs(DEBUG_LOG_FILE)
+
+    from src.game_engine import main
+    from src.ui.textual_ui import TextualGameUI  # composition root: the frontend is chosen HERE
 
     # Run the game — build the concrete frontend and inject it into the backend.
-    main(TextualGameUI())
\ No newline at end of file
+    main(TextualGameUI())
diff --git a/tests/test_logging.py b/tests/test_logging.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..825ce6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_logging.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+"""Debug logging goes to the log file only, and each launch starts a fresh one.
+
+debug_log used to echo every line to the terminal as well. Lines printed while
+the world loaded sat behind the game screen and reappeared in the terminal when
+the player quit; the log panel (L) already shows them from the file.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+import main
+import utils.debug_tools as debug_tools
+
+
+def test_debug_log_writes_the_file_not_the_terminal(
+    tmp_path: Path, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch, capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str],
+) -> None:
+    log = tmp_path / "debug.log"
+    monkeypatch.setattr(debug_tools, "DEBUG_MODE", True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(debug_tools, "DEBUG_LOG_FILE", str(log))
+
+    debug_tools.debug_log("world loaded", "system")
+
+    captured = capsys.readouterr()
+    assert captured.out == "" and captured.err == ""
+    assert "world loaded" in log.read_text()
+
+
+def test_each_launch_starts_an_empty_log_and_keeps_the_last_one(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    log, previous = tmp_path / "debug.log", tmp_path / "combat.log"
+    log.write_text("last session\n")
+
+    main.rotate_logs(str(log), str(previous))
+
+    assert log.read_text() == ""
+    assert previous.read_text() == "last session\n"
+
+
+def test_first_launch_creates_both_files(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    log, previous = tmp_path / "debug.log", tmp_path / "combat.log"
+
+    main.rotate_logs(str(log), str(previous))
+
+    assert log.read_text() == ""
+    assert previous.exists()
+
+
+def test_logs_rotate_before_the_game_modules_load() -> None:
+    """Some modules log while importing (the combat system's attack table);
+    rotating after the imports erased those lines from the new session."""
+    source = Path(main.__file__).read_text()
+    assert source.index("rotate_logs(") < source.index("from src.")
diff --git a/utils/debug_tools.py b/utils/debug_tools.py
index 95ba993..33c8523 100644
--- a/utils/debug_tools.py
+++ b/utils/debug_tools.py
@@ -27,7 +27,11 @@
 
 def debug_log(message: object, category: str = "system") -> None:
     """
-    Log a debug message to the debug log file and console if DEBUG_MODE is True.
+    Log a debug message to the debug log file if DEBUG_MODE is True.
+
+    File only: the game screen owns the terminal, and anything printed there
+    is left behind in the player's scrollback when they quit. The log panel
+    (L) shows the file.
     
     Args:
         message (str): The message to log
@@ -52,10 +56,6 @@ def debug_log(message: object, category: str = "system") -> None:
     # Format the log message
     log_message = f"[{timestamp}] [{category.upper()}] [{filename}:{function_name}:{line_number}] {message}"
     
-    # Print to console
-    print(log_message, file=sys.stderr)
-    
-    # Write to log file
     try:
         with open(DEBUG_LOG_FILE, "a") as f:
             f.write(log_message + "\n")