# OpenSpiel game methods: new_initial_state_for_population [Back to Core API reference](../api_reference.md) \
`new_initial_state_for_population(population: int)` Returns a new initial state for the given population. This is used for multi-population mean field games, where each population has its own initial state. The `population` parameter must be in the range `[0, num_players())`. For single-population mean field games or standard games, use `new_initial_state()` instead. ## Examples: ```python import pyspiel game = pyspiel.load_game("mfg_crowd_modelling_2d") state_pop0 = game.new_initial_state_for_population(0) print(state_pop0) ```