Ok thanks to YOUR awesome feedback I think I nailed the startup bug. It has been illusive but here's my theory:
Players are updating the options menu before finishing the tutorial. This creates a save game where the player's inventory has not spawned yet (thefore their max life is 0). Then they start a game, the max life is 0 and they die forever.
Please restart steam if you haven't since this post was made to get the latest version of the game.
Next, delete your save file:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Blocked and Loaded\%APPDATA%
Let me know if I got this bug once and for all!!!