Terms and conditions

1. About these terms

These terms cover your use of The Player Code website and iPhone app (together, "the service"). The service is run by The Player Code Ltd, 13912206, registered in England and Wales, of 85 Forest Gate, Evesham, WR11 1XZ ("we", "us"). You can contact us at hello@theplayercode.com.

By using the service you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use it. Our privacy policy explains how we handle your personal data.

We may update these terms from time to time, for example when we add features or the law changes. The date at the top always shows the current version. If a change matters, we'll tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect. If you keep using the service after that, the new terms apply. If you don't accept them, you can delete your account.

2. Your account

• You must be 13 or over to create an account. If you're under 18, please check with a parent or guardian first.
• Use a real email address you control, so you can confirm your account and reset your password.
• Choose a username that's fair game. No impersonating anyone, nothing offensive or hateful, and nothing that infringes someone else's brand. We may change or remove usernames that break this rule.
• Keep your password safe and don't share your account. You're responsible for what happens on it. If you think someone else has got in, reset your password and tell us.
• One person per account. Accounts are personal and can't be sold or transferred.

The service is currently free. If we ever introduce paid features, we'll explain the price and terms clearly before you pay anything.

3. Acceptable use

Please use the service fairly and lawfully. You must not:

• break any law, or use the service for fraud, scams or anything harmful;
• harass, threaten, bully or abuse anyone, including other players, developers or our team;
• try to hack, overload or disrupt the service, get into other people's accounts, or get around our security;
• scrape, copy or harvest content or data in bulk, including with bots or automated tools, or use our content to train AI models, without our written permission;
• upload or send viruses, malware or anything designed to cause damage;
• reverse engineer the app, except where the law allows it;
• use the service to send spam or advertising;
• pretend to be The Player Code, or suggest you're connected to us when you're not.

If you break these rules, we may remove content, suspend your account or close it, depending on how serious it is.

4. Our reviews are opinion

The Player Code exists to give players honest, independent reviews. Please keep in mind:

• Verdicts are opinions. Buy, Wait and Skip, and everything in a review, are our honest opinion based on our own experience of a game. Your experience may be different.
• Slop Watch is commentary. It's our critical opinion and satire about games we believe are low-effort or cash grabs. It's not a statement of fact about any company or person.
• Details change. Release dates, prices, editions and platforms come from publishers and can change at any time. We try to keep them right, but always check with the retailer before you buy.
• Nobody buys our verdict. We don't accept payment for positive reviews. If a review involves a free copy, a sponsorship or an affiliate link, we'll say so clearly on that review.
• We fix mistakes. If you think something we've published is factually wrong, email us and we'll look at it promptly.

Nothing on the service is financial, legal, medical or other professional advice.

5. Life quests

Life quests and weekly bosses are a fun way to build small, positive habits. They're for motivation only and aren't medical, health or professional advice. Only take on quests that are safe and suitable for you, and look after yourself. XP, streaks and rewards have no cash value and can't be exchanged for money. We may change how quests, XP and bosses work as we improve the feature.

6. Tech Sanctuary consults

Sending an enquiry doesn't create a contract. If you book a consult, we'll agree the price, what's included and any separate terms with you in writing first. Our advice is given with reasonable care and skill. You stay responsible for your own equipment, electrics and buying decisions, unless we've specifically agreed in writing to do work on your kit. Product recommendations are our opinion, and the manufacturer's own warranty and instructions always apply.

7. Intellectual property

• Our content. The Player Code name, logos, badge, website and app design, reviews, articles, artwork and other original content belong to us or our licensors. You're welcome to read it, share links to it and quote short extracts with credit and a link back. You can't copy, republish or sell it without our written permission.
• Games belong to their makers. Game titles, logos, screenshots, trailers and artwork belong to their publishers and developers. We use them for criticism, review and news reporting, and naming a game doesn't mean its maker endorses us.
• What you give us. You keep ownership of anything you send us, like a username, a note on a saved game or an enquiry. You give us permission to store and use it only as needed to run the service for you.
• Think something infringes your rights? Email us with the details and we'll look into it quickly.

8. Our responsibility to you

We work hard to keep the service running and accurate, but we provide it free and "as available". We can't promise it'll always be uninterrupted, error-free or that every detail will be up to date. We may change, pause or withdraw features, and we'll give you notice of significant changes where we reasonably can.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that can't be limited or excluded by law. Your legal rights as a consumer, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, aren't affected. For advice about your rights, contact Citizens Advice.

Subject to that:

• we're responsible for loss or damage you suffer that's a foreseeable result of us breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care and skill. We're not responsible for loss that wasn't foreseeable;
• the service is for personal, non-commercial use. We're not responsible to you for any loss of profit, business, revenue or opportunity;
• we're not responsible for buying decisions you make based on our reviews, release dates or recommendations, or for the content of other websites we link to;
• if digital content we provide damages your device or other digital content because we didn't use reasonable care and skill, we'll either repair the damage or pay you fair compensation.

9. Ending your account

You can stop using the service and delete your account at any time. On the website, go to My quests, then Delete account, or email us. Your account and its data are then removed as explained in our privacy policy.

We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, if we have to by law, or if we stop running the service. Unless it's an emergency or a serious breach, we'll give you reasonable notice and tell you why.

10. If you use our iPhone app

If you downloaded our app from Apple's App Store, these terms are between you and us, not Apple. We, not Apple, are responsible for the app, its content, support and maintenance, and for dealing with any claims about it, including product liability, legal compliance and intellectual property claims. You must also follow the App Store's own rules for using apps. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

11. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. Any dispute will be dealt with by the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring proceedings in your local courts, and you keep the protection of any mandatory consumer laws where you live.

If something goes wrong, please talk to us first. Most problems can be sorted out quickly by email.

If any part of these terms turns out to be invalid, the rest still applies. If we don't enforce a term straight away, we can still enforce it later.

12. Contact us

Questions about these terms? Email hello@theplayercode.co.uk or write to The Player Code Ltd, 85 Forest Gate, Evesham, WR11 1XZ.