Terms of service

1. Who you are agreeing with

   Ember is run by Ryan Seekely, an individual in California, USA. In these terms, "we" and "us" mean that person, and "you" means you.

2. Playing Ember

   Ember is free. There is nothing to buy, no subscription, no in-app purchase, and no currency. Play as a guest, or sign in for ranked play, a profile, and a place on the leaderboard.

   We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to play Ember for your own enjoyment. That license is all you get, and it does not make any part of the game yours.

3. You need to be 13

   Ember is for players 13 and over. By playing, you confirm you are at least 13.

   If you are under the age of digital consent where you live, which is 16 in parts of Europe, a parent or guardian has to agree to these terms on your behalf.

4. Your name

   The name you play under is the only thing you publish on Ember. It appears next to real people on the leaderboard, in live games, and in replays.

   There is no tolerance for objectionable names and no tolerance for abusive players. Do not choose a name that is a slur, harassment of a real person, sexually explicit, a threat, an impersonation, or otherwise abusive.

   We can rename or remove any name that breaks that rule, and suspend or delete the account behind it, without notice. A forced rename rewrites the name on every game that account has played, so an offensive name does not sit in an old replay.

5. Reporting a name

   If you see a name that breaks the rule above, open that player's profile and use "Report this name". Pick a reason, add anything that helps, and send it. Reports are read by a person and acted on within 24 hours.

   That takes an account. If you are playing as a guest, email spark@playember.gg with the name and where you saw it.

   Ember has no chat, no messages, no friend requests, and no way for one player to contact another. The only thing you see of another player is the name they chose.

6. Fair play

   A rating only means something if the games behind it are real. In ranked play, do not:

   • Use a bot, script, engine, or another person to choose your moves.
   • Run more than one account, whether to feed yourself wins or to dodge a rating.
   • Exploit a bug instead of reporting it.
   • Interfere with somebody else's game, or stall a turn to run down their clock.

7. Your account

   Keep access to the email address on your account, because a passcode to that address is the only way in. Anything done from your account is treated as done by you.

   Delete your account at any time from the account page. It is immediate and permanent, and your past games stay on the site under a generated name.

   We can suspend or delete an account that breaks these terms. For anything short of the name rule or fair play we will try to say why first, but we are not obliged to.

8. Availability

   Ember may be down. Features may change or be removed. A deploy may land under an open tab, and a game in progress is not guaranteed to survive one. Ranked ladders may be reset if a rules change makes old ratings meaningless.

   We do not promise the game will keep running. If it stops, we will give what notice we can. Nothing was paid, so there is nothing to refund.

9. Ownership

   Ember, its name, its board, its artwork, its bots, its writing, and its code are ours, and these terms do not transfer any of it to you.

   The moves you make and the games you finish are records the game keeps, not property of yours. We store, display, and replay them as part of running Ember, including after you delete your account, when they carry a generated name instead of yours.

10. No warranty

    Ember is provided as is and as available, without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the game will be uninterrupted, error free, or that any result, rating, or replay is accurate.

11. Limits on liability

    To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for lost data, lost games, or lost ratings, arising out of your use of Ember.

    Ember is free, so our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you have paid to use it, which is nothing.

    Some places do not allow these limits. Where that is true, they apply as far as the law there permits and no further, and nothing here removes a right you cannot waive.

12. If you got Ember from the App Store

    These terms are between you and us. Apple is not a party to them.

    • Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for Ember.
    • Apple is not responsible for the game, its content, or any claim about it, including product liability, a failure to meet a legal requirement, or a consumer protection claim.
    • If the app fails to conform to any warranty, you may tell Apple and Apple will refund the purchase price, which is zero. Beyond that refund, Apple has no warranty obligation at all.
    • Apple is not responsible for addressing any third-party claim that Ember infringes intellectual property rights.
    • Your license to use Ember is limited to a non-transferable license to use it on Apple devices you own or control, as set out in the Usage Rules of the App Store Terms of Service.
    • You confirm you are not located in a country under a US Government embargo or designated as terrorist supporting, and that you are not on any US Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
    • Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

13. Changes to these terms

    We can change these terms. When we do, the date at the top changes, and if the change is significant we will say so on the site. Playing after a change means you accept the new version. If you do not, delete your account.

14. Governing law

    These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Any dispute goes to the state or federal courts located in California, and you agree to their jurisdiction.

    If you live somewhere whose law gives you the right to bring a claim locally, that right is untouched by this section.

15. The rest

    If any part of these terms is unenforceable, that part is trimmed to what is enforceable and the rest stands. Not enforcing something once does not waive it. These terms are the whole agreement between us about Ember.

16. Contact

    Anything about these terms goes to spark@playember.gg.

Also worth reading: Privacy