Terms of Service

1. Scope and operator

Rival Grid is a competitive block-puzzle game for mobile devices. It is operated by:

Axel Fianke – smart & green media
Achter de Lin 26
24369 Waabs
Germany
Email: info@rival-grid.com

These Terms apply to the Rival Grid app, its online features (accounts, matchmaking, Ranked, Daily Challenge, Rival Cup, Friendly Matches, leaderboards, shop and progression) and the website rival-grid.com. Together we call these the “Service”. Which of these features are available can depend on your app version, your device and your country.

Please read these Terms before you use the Service. They apply to the contract on the use of the Service between you and us as soon as they have been included in that contract in accordance with the applicable law, in particular where they have been made available to you in a way that lets you take note of them. Use of the Service alone does not replace this. If you do not agree with these Terms, please do not use the Service. Mandatory statutory provisions, in particular consumer protection law, remain unaffected.

Our Privacy Policy explains how personal data is processed and is not part of these Terms. The Community Rules shown in the app apply in addition for choosing a display name (section 10); you accept them in the app before you choose your own name.

Apple App Store. If you obtain the app through the Apple App Store, Apple’s standard end user license agreement (Licensed Application End User License Agreement, https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/) applies to the licence for the app, unless a different licence agreement is provided in the App Store. These Terms supplement it; this concerns in particular the online features, accounts, virtual items and the website. In case of conflict, the provisions of Apple’s agreement apply to the licence for the app. Google Play. If you obtain the app through Google Play, Google’s terms for Google Play also apply. Both stores’ terms apply in addition to these Terms for downloads and purchases (section 7).

2. Eligibility and accounts

You may use the Service if you are old enough to agree to these Terms under the law that applies to you. If you are a minor, you need the consent of a parent or legal guardian where the law requires it. Rival Grid is not specifically directed at children; the age rating shown in the app store applies.

To play online you need a compatible device and an internet connection. Starting new online duels and comparing results requires a connection; some parts, such as the Daily Challenge, can be played offline depending on your app version.

Each player has a Rival Grid player account. You are responsible for what happens under your account. Keep your sign-in details secret, give us correct information where we ask for it, and tell us if you think your account was misused. Accounts are personal and may not be sold, rented or transferred.

3. Guest accounts and securing your progress

You can start with “Play as Guest”. No email address, password or real name is needed. A guest account is stored under a randomly generated identifier.

A guest account is not a backup. If you delete the app, reset or lose your device, or clear its data, your progress, rank and cosmetics may be lost and we may not be able to restore them. Depending on your app version, you can secure your progress by linking a permanent account (email and password, Google Sign-In or Sign in with Apple). We recommend this if you want to keep your progress.

Purchases can usually be restored through the same app store account you used to buy them (section 7). Other progress that is not tied to a permanent account cannot be guaranteed to be restorable.

4. Game modes and rules

In Rival Grid you and a rival play the same 7×7 board with the same pieces. Duels are asynchronous: you do not have to play at the same time, and the better result wins. The detailed rules are explained in the app (How to Play) and on the home page.

• Ranked duels: compete for Rival Points (RP) and a rank. A Ranked result changes your RP and rank and can use Hearts and Duel Slots. Matchmaking may pair you with another player or, where no player is found in time, with an AI opponent. AI opponents are labelled as such in the app.
• Daily Challenge: a daily board that is the same for everyone, with its own results and leaderboard.
• Rival Cup: a weekly tournament by rank class. Entry needs a Rival Cup Ticket, which you obtain in the app as shown there. The Rival Cup may not be available in every app version. The format (rounds of fixed series, then a placement round, each with a deadline) is shown in the app. Empty places may be filled with AI participants, which are labelled as such. If you miss a round deadline, the round can be lost by forfeit.
• Friendly Matches: unranked duels with friends or favourite rivals. They do not change your RP or rank and do not use Hearts.

Scoring, matchmaking, Hearts, Duel Slots, rank thresholds, rewards, tournament formats and deadlines are decided and checked by our servers. Results sent by the app are validated on the server, and the server result is the authoritative one. We may adjust these rules and values to the extent permitted by section 9, for example to balance the game or to fix errors. We will keep such changes fair and will not change already-decided results unless this is needed to correct an error.

No gambling. Rival Grid is a skill-based game. You do not stake money or anything of monetary value on the outcome of a match, and no cash prizes or prizes of monetary value are paid out. RP, ranks, trophies, titles and similar rewards are in-game recognition only and cannot be exchanged for money.

5. Fair play and prohibited conduct

Rival Grid is a fair competition. You must not:

• use cheats, modified apps, emulators or tools that give an unfair advantage, or use bots or scripts to play for you;
• manipulate or intercept the communication between the app and our servers, tamper with submitted moves, scores, seeds or results, or knowingly exploit bugs instead of reporting them;
• manipulate Ranked results or tournaments, for example by agreeing results with others (win-trading), by deliberately losing, or by using several accounts to farm rewards or rank;
• sell, buy, share or exchange accounts, or use the Service commercially;
• try to gain unauthorised access to the Service or other players’ data, or disrupt or overload the Service;
• copy, decompile or reverse engineer the app beyond what the law allows;
• misuse the report function or break the Community Rules (section 10);
• break applicable law through your use of the Service.

If you find a security problem or a bug, please tell us at info@rival-grid.com.

6. Advertising

The free version of Rival Grid shows advertising. Interstitial advertisements may appear at natural breaks between matches. Rewarded advertisements are optional: you choose to watch one in return for an in-game benefit, such as an extra Heart or an additional Duel Slot. Advertising is provided through third parties (Google AdMob). Where required, you can manage your advertising choices in the app (Help & About → Privacy Options). How personal data is processed for advertising is described in the Privacy Policy.

We are not responsible for the content of third-party advertisements or for the websites and apps they lead to. A reward is granted after the advertisement has been completed and verified; if it cannot be verified, it may not be granted.

7. In-app purchases and store terms

Rival Grid is free to download and play. The free version is supported by advertising (section 6). The optional in-app purchase “Remove Ads” is available (depending on your app version and store): it permanently turns off automatic interstitial advertisements on your account; optional rewarded advertisements stay available. Further paid items may be offered in the future. Only products that are actually shown to you with their price in the app or in the store at the time of purchase can be bought; this section does not promise any other product. Before you buy, the price and the content of the product are shown to you.

Purchases are made through the Apple App Store or Google Play. Payment, billing, taxes, invoices, refunds and cancellation are handled by the store under its terms, and we do not receive your payment card details. The price shown in the store before you confirm is the price you pay. Purchases and entitlements are managed with the help of RevenueCat (see the Privacy Policy).

You can restore purchases on a new device or after reinstalling through the restore function in the app, using the same store account. Refund requests are decided by the store under its terms; your statutory rights remain unaffected. If a purchase is refunded or reversed, we may remove the related benefit.

Right of withdrawal. If you are a consumer and conclude a contract with us at a distance, you generally have a statutory right of withdrawal of 14 days. For digital content that is not supplied on a tangible medium, the right of withdrawal expires if we start the performance after you have expressly agreed that we start before the withdrawal period ends, you have confirmed that you thereby lose your right of withdrawal once performance has begun, and the statutory confirmation has been provided to you. We do not assume that these requirements are met automatically by the app store’s purchase process. Where a right of withdrawal exists, the information on it, on the conditions and on the consequences, and the model withdrawal form are provided to you before the purchase in the form required by law. You can declare a withdrawal in text form, for example by email to info@rival-grid.com, or through the store’s own process, where it provides one. Depending on the store and your country, the purchase contract is concluded with the store operator or with us; the rules of the contracting party apply in addition. Your statutory rights remain unaffected (section 13).

8. Digital items, cosmetics and Grid Tokens

The Service contains virtual items such as cosmetics (board themes, frames, titles, badges), Hearts, Duel Slots, Rival Cup Tickets and the virtual currency “Grid Tokens”. Grid Tokens are earned by playing and are spent on items in the in-app shop. At the time of writing, Grid Tokens cannot be bought for real money in the app. If this changes, the price and amount will be shown clearly before you buy.

• Virtual items and Grid Tokens have no cash value. They cannot be exchanged for money, paid out, or transferred to other players or accounts.
• You receive a personal, non-transferable right to use virtual items inside the Service for as long as your account exists and the Service is offered. You do not become the owner of the underlying software or artwork.
• Cosmetics are visual only. They do not change scoring or the rules of a match.
• Hearts, Duel Slots and tickets are limited resources that regenerate or are earned according to the rules shown in the app. We can adjust these values (section 4).
• If you delete your account, the virtual items and Grid Tokens linked to it are deleted too and cannot be restored (section 11). This does not affect your statutory rights for items you paid for with real money.

9. Availability of the online service

Rival Grid is an online service. We aim for stable operation but cannot guarantee uninterrupted availability. Maintenance, updates, technical faults, problems with third-party providers or with your connection can limit or interrupt the Service. Older app versions may stop working, and we may require an update to keep playing online.

Changes to the Service. We may change the digital product beyond what is necessary to keep it in conformity with the contract (for example game rules and values, features, modes, rewards, the look of the app), if these Terms allow this and there is a valid reason. Valid reasons are in particular technical development, security, changes in the law or in the requirements of the app stores, balancing the game, fixing errors, preventing abuse, and the further development of the Service. Such changes do not cost you anything. We will inform you clearly about changes that go beyond minor adjustments.

If a change impairs your access to or use of the digital product more than only minimally, we will inform you in good time before it takes effect, clearly and on a durable medium where the law requires this, for example by email if we have your email address, otherwise by a notice in the app or on this website as far as the law permits. In this case you may terminate the contract free of charge within 30 days after the information or after the change, whichever is later. This does not apply if the impairment is only minimal. Further statutory rights remain unaffected. If we discontinue the Service or a feature you paid for, we will inform you in advance in an appropriate way and respect the rights the law gives you in that case.

10. Player profiles, display names and Community Rules

Your player profile has a display name that other players can see, for example on leaderboards, in match history, in the Rival Cup and in social lists. A neutral name is assigned automatically at first, and you can change it. The display name is the only content you create that other players see. There is no chat and no free-text messaging.

Before you choose your own name you must accept the Community Rules shown in the app. In short: no insulting, hateful, sexual or unlawful names; no harassment or threats; no personal data; no impersonation (for example of other people or the Rival Grid team); no circumventing the name filter; and no misuse of the report function. The full text is available in the app (Help & About → Community Rules).

You can report and block players. Reports are reviewed by us and stay confidential. We may remove content, reset a display name to a neutral one, restrict changing your name, and take further action for serious or repeated violations.

11. Account suspension, termination and deletion

By us. If you seriously or repeatedly break these Terms, in particular section 5 or section 10, we may take measures that fit the violation. These include a warning, removing results or rewards obtained unfairly, restricting features, resetting your display name, a temporary suspension and, in serious cases, closing your account. We take the circumstances and your legitimate interests into account and, where the law requires it, tell you the reason and give you an opportunity to respond.

By you. You can stop using the Service at any time. You can delete your account in the app where this function is available in your app version, or request deletion without the app through the form linked on the account deletion page. What is deleted and what remains (for example anonymised match records shown as “Deleted Player” and anonymous purchase records) is described there and in the Privacy Policy.

Deleting your account ends your access to progress, rank, cosmetics, Grid Tokens and other account data. Purchases made through an app store are not cancelled by deleting the account; refunds are governed by section 7.

12. Intellectual property

The app, the website and their contents (software, game design, artwork, animations, texts, names and logos, including “Rival Grid”) are protected by intellectual property laws and belong to the operator or its licensors. Third-party software is used under its own licences. Apple, Google and other names are trademarks of their owners.

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to install and use the app on your devices for private, non-commercial purposes in accordance with these Terms. Any other use, in particular copying, selling, publicly showing or commercially exploiting the Service or its contents, needs our prior written consent, unless the law allows it.

By choosing a display name you allow us to store and show it inside the Service as described in these Terms and the Privacy Policy. If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them without obligation to you, as far as the law permits.

13. Statutory rights and liability

Nothing in these Terms limits your statutory rights as a consumer, including your rights if a digital product is defective (§§ 327 ff. German Civil Code), or liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law.

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the Product Liability Act, and where we have given a guarantee or fraudulently concealed a defect.

In case of slight negligence we are liable only for the breach of an essential contractual obligation (an obligation whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on which you can regularly rely). In this case our liability is limited to the damage that is foreseeable and typical for this kind of contract. The limitations in this section apply to the personal liability of our employees and agents only as far as the law allows. All other statutory liability provisions remain unaffected.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may change these Terms for the future where there is a valid reason, for example changes in the law or in court practice, new features, changes to the Service that are permitted under section 9, or to close gaps or remove ambiguities. A change to the Terms that affects your rights or obligations under the contract takes effect for you only with your consent. We will inform you about the planned change and the date it is intended to take effect in good time in the app or by another suitable means, and ask for your consent. Silence is not consent.

If you do not consent, the previous version continues to apply to you as far as we can continue to provide the Service on that basis. If that is not reasonable for us, we may terminate the contract with reasonable notice, and you can stop using the Service and delete your account at any time (section 11). Changes that only correct typing errors, adapt the text to a legal change without altering the content of the contract or do not affect your rights and obligations do not need your consent. The version in force and its date are shown at the top of this page.

15. Contact, applicable law and disputes

Contact: Axel Fianke – smart & green media, Achter de Lin 26, 24369 Waabs, Germany, email info@rival-grid.com. See also the Imprint and Support.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a consumer, this choice of law applies only so far as it does not take away the protection of the mandatory provisions of the law of the country where you habitually reside.

If you are a consumer, you may bring a claim in the courts of your place of residence as far as mandatory law gives you this right. Information on consumer dispute resolution is given in the Imprint. If a provision of these Terms is or becomes invalid, the other provisions stay valid.