Privacy at Merrypip

This notice covers every Merrypip game at merrypip.com (currently Light Garden, Slam Book, Beat Freeze, Dot Siege, Drama Club, Fog Fleet, Goose Chase, Princess Castle, Shadow Tag and Toybox), messages you send us, and Merrypip Studio, our internal tools for creating games and managing our own advertising. Contact us at privacy@merrypip.com.

When you play

Light Garden does not require an account. We collect basic playtest events to understand whether the game works, where players get stuck, and whether they return:

• A randomly generated browser identifier, a session identifier, event identifiers and timestamps.
• The game and build version, level number, session starts, level starts, first meaningful interaction and level completions.
• Source, creative and experiment identifiers when they are included in the link you opened.
• When the game invites you to install it, which moment asked and your answer (for example installed or not now); when you share a daily garden, whether it was shared, copied or saved. We do not learn who you share with.

The browser identifier is pseudonymous: it helps connect visits from the same browser but is not your name or email address. We do not use it to identify you across other websites. Your browser identifier and unlocked-level progress are saved in local storage. We also use a first-party cookie to keep a browser on the same game version during a playtest comparison. This cookie lasts up to one year and can be removed by clearing site data. We record the assigned experiment, version and a successful game load alongside play events and feedback, so we can compare versions. Internal previews are kept separate from player comparisons. Clearing site data removes the local identifier and progress; it does not automatically delete records already sent to us.

Optional cloud saves, notifications and emails

When email sign-in is available, you can choose to receive a one-time sign-in code and sync your completed gardens across devices. This creates a player identity associated with your email address, without a password. Supabase handles authentication and stores your saved progress: completed garden identifiers, the dates of daily gardens you completed, which place celebrations, tile styles and opening story you have already seen, and your sound and ambience settings, so they follow you to another device. Secure session cookies keep you signed in. Signing out removes those cookies but does not delete your cloud save or this device’s local progress.

Notifications require a separate choice while signed in, and your browser’s notification permission. You choose either one note when each new daily garden opens, at a local hour you pick, or a gentle reminder at most once a week. We store the browser’s push endpoint and encryption keys with your player identity; for the daily note we also store the hour you chose, your time zone name (such as Europe/London) and the date of the last note, so it arrives once a day at your local time. A daily note contains only that day’s garden name. You can turn notifications off for this device in Garden settings or revoke permission in browser settings. A subscription expires 180 days after you last turned it on or changed it. Installing the app does not itself enable notifications; on iPhone and iPad, web notifications only work once the game is added to the Home Screen. Push delivery uses your browser’s push provider.

Where the game offers it, you can also choose “Email me each daily garden.” We then store that choice with your hour and time zone name and send one short email a day to the address you signed in with. Each email contains a personal sign-in link that works once and expires after 24 hours; we store only a cryptographic hash of it, never the link itself, and delete used or expired links within a few days. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link, and you can also stop the emails in Garden settings; stopping deletes the stored email preference. Resend, our email delivery provider, receives your address and the message in order to deliver it, as it already does for sign-in codes.

Sharing a daily garden uses your device’s own share options. The picture and link contain the day, the garden’s shape, your number of turns, your current run of days and, if known, your place among that day’s players, never your email address or a sign-in link. An invitation to play contains only the day, the garden’s shape and the link. We record whether a share was an invitation or a finished garden.

When you finish the daily garden on its day, we record the order in which players finished it: the day, a pseudonymous key, the time, your number of turns and how long you played. The key is a keyed cryptographic hash of the random browser identifier (or of our signed player cookie), so the record does not contain the identifier itself, your IP address, your email address or an account identifier; only your first finish of each day counts. We use it to show your place (for example “the 37th”) and how many players have finished so far, and for aggregate statistics. We use short-lived, hashed network and email identifiers to limit abuse of sign-in requests, sign-in links and the daily completion order.

Feedback and contact

If you choose to send feedback, we receive your thumbs up or down and your optional note, together with the playtest identifiers, level and screen dimensions/pixel ratio. To help us understand it, the game also attaches the state of the garden you were playing: which garden and place, how each tile was turned, whether it was solved, your turns, time, restarts and hints on that garden, how many gardens you have completed, and whether sound, reduced motion or the installed app were in use. This contains nothing personal and no screenshot. Please leave names, contact details and sensitive information out of game feedback.

If you email us, we receive your email address, message and any attachments you send. Our domain addresses forward through Cloudflare to a dedicated Google Gmail inbox. We use messages to respond, handle privacy requests and improve our games. Automated inbox monitoring and automatic replies are not currently enabled.

Slam Book

Slam Book does not require an account either. Your game (the board, your items, energy, coins, story progress and settings) is saved in your browser’s local storage. While you play we collect the same kind of basic playtest events as for Light Garden: the random browser identifier, session and event identifiers and timestamps, the game and build version, the chapter you are on, session starts and returns, your first merge, each renovation step and chapter you complete, level-ups, Slam Book pages you read, source and creative identifiers from the link you opened, and, if you send it, your thumbs up or down and optional note with the chapter number. We do not collect the contents of your board with these events.

If you choose “Save your progress”, you sign in with the same one-time email code as Light Garden, and we store your Slam Book save with your player identity so you can continue on another device. The save holds only game state: board items, energy, coins, Tea, stars, story and chapter progress, items you have discovered and when it was saved. A device that is behind cannot overwrite a save that is further along. Signing out keeps the game on your device. To delete a saved game, email us as described below. Slam Book sends no notifications or emails.

Our other games

Beat Freeze, Dot Siege, Drama Club, Fog Fleet, Goose Chase, Princess Castle, Shadow Tag and Toybox don’t require an account. Your game (progress, unlocks, coins, daily streak and settings) is saved in your browser’s local storage. While you play we collect the same basic playtest events as for Light Garden: the random browser identifier, session and event identifiers and timestamps, the game and build version, the level, match or stage you are on, session starts and returns, your first move, matches you finish or lose, unlocks, ranks and daily rewards, the story choices you make in games with a story, what you tap in a game's shop (no real money is taken), source and creative identifiers from the link you opened, and, if you send it, your thumbs up or down and optional note. Some of these games show community results: the share of players who made each story choice, as whole percentages, only once at least five players have made it, and never player numbers, names or who chose what. If you choose “Save your progress”, you sign in with the same one-time email code, and we store that game’s save with your player identity. These games send no notifications or emails, and your opponents are computer players unless you choose to play Shadow Tag with friends or race online in Beat Freeze (below). A new Merrypip game that collects only what this section describes is added to this list before it collects anything; a game that works differently gets its own section first.

Playing Shadow Tag with friends

In Shadow Tag you can open a room and share its short code, or join a friend's room with theirs. Everyone in the room sees the name you chose, your runner, and your moves, taps and emotes during a match. These pass through our room relay (merrypip.com/rooms, run on Cloudflare) to the other players; one player's device runs the match. The relay keeps only the room's code, the game version and which player is hosting, and only while the room is open. It doesn't store names, moves or emotes, and nothing in a room is linked to your account. Anyone who has the code can join while the room is open, so share it only with people you want to play with. Opening or joining a room is recorded as a basic play event.

Racing online in Beat Freeze

In Beat Freeze you can race online. Every online race is open: quick play puts you in the next race with room for you, and a friends' room (a lobby with a short code you share) joins a race together, where other players can fill the empty spots. Everyone in the room sees the names its members chose; everyone in a race sees the name you chose, your runner's colour and outfit, and where your runner is during a race, including when you push someone. These pass through our room relay (merrypip.com/rooms, run on Cloudflare), which runs the race and its computer racers. The relay keeps the room's code and its members' names and looks, and each race's names, looks and positions, only in memory while the room or race is open, stores none of it, and links none of it to your account. Anyone who has a room's code can join the room, and online races mix people who don't know each other, so pick a name you're happy for strangers to see. Opening or joining a room, quick play and each online race are recorded as basic play events.

Hosting and service providers

Cloudflare hosts the playtest and handles email forwarding. Supabase stores playtest events, feedback and optional player accounts and preferences. Resend delivers sign-in codes and, if you choose them, daily garden emails. Google provides our contact inbox. Our own studio tools retrieve playtest information for reports and development decisions. Hosting and email providers necessarily process connection and delivery information, such as IP addresses, browser/network information and email headers, to provide and secure their services. Our play-event database does not include an IP-address field.

Our service providers may process information in countries other than where you live, including the United States. Access to stored playtest information and studio credentials is restricted to authorized operation of the studio; the public game cannot read our database.

Merrypip Studio and Meta

Merrypip Studio connects to our own Meta business assets. It processes identifiers and configuration for our business, Page, advertising account, campaigns and creatives to prepare advertising and check its configuration. Campaign performance information, when retrieved, is used to evaluate our own advertising. We do not offer Facebook login to players or request access to players’ Facebook profiles, friends or private messages.

The current Light Garden playtest contains no Meta Pixel, advertising SDK, payment form or in-game advertising. There is no paid campaign running as part of this playtest setup. We do not sell personal information or upload playtest browser identifiers or feedback to Meta as customer audiences. Visiting Facebook or interacting with an advertisement on its services is also subject to Meta’s own privacy notice.

How long information stays

Playtest records, feedback and messages are currently retained for development, support and operational review until removed. We have not yet implemented automatic expiration for this early playtest. A report covering the last 30 days is a reporting window, not a deletion schedule. Optional daily email preferences are kept until you unsubscribe or turn them off; notification subscriptions until you turn them off, they are no longer valid, or 180 days pass without renewal. Local browser data remains until you clear it. Service providers may retain their own operational logs and backups under their policies.

Your choices and deletion requests

You can choose not to submit feedback or email us. Basic play events are sent while playing; the current playtest does not have an in-game analytics opt-out. You can stop playing to stop new play events and clear merrypip.com site data through your browser settings to remove saved progress and the local identifier.

To request access, correction or deletion, email privacy@merrypip.com. Tell us which game or studio interaction your request concerns and approximate dates. For feedback, a short description of what you submitted can help us locate it. Please contact us before clearing browser data if you want help identifying your playtest records: an email address alone does not identify a pseudonymous browser record. We may ask for limited additional information to verify and locate the relevant records; never send passwords or access tokens.

We will review requests and remove information we can identify and are not required to retain for a legitimate legal or security reason. We will explain any limitation, including where we cannot reliably identify a record. Depending on where you live, you may also have rights to restrict or object to processing, receive a copy of information, or complain to a privacy regulator.

Children

The current playtest is intended for a general adult testing audience. We do not knowingly request personal information from children. If you believe a child has supplied personal information, contact us so we can investigate and remove it where identifiable.

Changes

We will update this notice when our data practices change, including before adding new player accounts, advertising tracking, payments or additional data uses. The date above identifies this version.