Privacy Policy
This policy explains what information Kotodama Quest collects, how it is used and the choices you have. Kotodama Quest is run by Overgear Studio (“we”, “us”). If you have questions, contact us at developer@overgearstudio.com.
The short version
- We collect only what the game needs to run: your sign-in details, your game progress and what you write in raids.
- Free accounts see ads from Google AdMob. With your permission, Google may use your device's advertising ID to make them more relevant. The monthly pass removes ads. We don't sell your information.
- Spoken answers are turned into text by your device's speech recognition. We never record or store audio.
- You can delete your account and its data at any time from Profile → Account → Delete account.
What we collect
When you sign in
- Phone app: your email address or phone number, whichever you sign in with, or the email Apple provides if you use Sign in with Apple (this may be a private relay address), or the email Google provides if you use Sign in with Google. If you choose to share it, Apple or Google also gives us your name. We create a user ID for your account.
When you play
- Game progress: your traveller's name and appearance, level, experience, items, the words and grammar you've studied, how well you know each one, and your settings.
- Raids: the lines you write in raids, the English meaning you give with each one, what you say back when you check another player's line, and how well it matched. Other players in the raid see these along with your traveller name.
- Friends: the travellers you add as friends, and your traveller name, avatar and level shown to them. Other signed-in players can see who you have added.
- Leaderboard: your traveller name, level and province are shown to other players unless you turn off “Show me on the leaderboard” in Profile.
Purchases
The pass is sold by the App Store or Google Play, or on our website through Stripe. Payment is handled entirely by Apple, Google or Stripe; we never see your card details. The store or Stripe tells us whether your pass is active, when it renews or ends, and your purchase history for the pass. When you buy on our website, we give Stripe your account ID (so the pass is linked to your account) and the email address you signed in with, if any, and Stripe gives us a customer ID we keep with your account.
Answers you speak, write or type
- Speaking: when you tap the microphone, your device's speech recognition turns what you say into text. The game checks that text on your device. We don't record, keep or receive audio. On iPhones that can't recognise Japanese on the device, Apple's servers do the recognition; on Android, Google's speech service may. Their own privacy policies apply to that processing.
- Drawing and typing: drawn kana and typed answers are checked on your device and are not sent to us. Only the result (right or wrong) becomes part of your progress.
Ads on a free account
If you play with a free account in the phone app, Google AdMob shows an ad after some battles. To show and measure ads, Google may collect your device's advertising ID, your approximate location from your IP address, and how you interact with ads. On iPhone we ask for your permission (App Tracking Transparency) before your advertising ID can be used for tracking; in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google's consent form asks for your choices first. If you say no, you may still see ads, but they won't be personalised. Players with the monthly pass, and the browser version, see no ads. Google's own policy applies: How Google uses information in ads.
Playing as a guest
If you continue as a guest, your progress is stored only on your device. We don't receive it, and raids and the leaderboard stay closed.
How we use it
- To run the game: save your progress, sync it between your devices and restore it when you sign in.
- To run raids and the leaderboard with other players.
- To check whether your monthly pass is active.
- To keep the game working and safe, for example to stop abuse in raids or fix problems you report to us.
We don't use your account information or progress for advertising, profiling or tracking. Ads on free accounts are handled by Google AdMob as described above.
Who else handles it
We use these service providers, who process information only to provide their service to us:
- Local server with Cloudflare interface: our server, which handles sign-in and stores saves, raids, friends and the leaderboard.
- Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES): sends sign-in codes to your email address.
- Plivo: sends sign-in codes by text message to your phone number, and checks them.
- Stripe: payments for the pass bought on our website.
- Google AdMob: ads for free accounts in the phone app, as described above.
- Apple and Google: app distribution, payments, Sign in with Apple, Sign in with Google, and speech recognition as described above.
We may also share information if the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of players and others.
How long we keep it
We keep your account information and progress for as long as you have an account. When you delete your account, we delete your account, progress, friends list and leaderboard entry. Lines you wrote in raids stay in those raids without your name, so other players' conversations still make sense, until the raid itself is removed. Raids, with their conversations, are removed 180 days after they start. Sign-in sessions end after 30 days without use. Backups are kept for up to about two months. Records of purchases may be kept by Apple, Google and Stripe as their own policies and the law require.
Deleting your account doesn't cancel a pass bought in the App Store or Google Play. Cancel it in your App Store or Google Play subscription settings. A pass bought on our website is cancelled when you delete your account.
Your choices and rights
- Delete: Profile → Account → Delete account.
- Leaderboard: turn off “Show me on the leaderboard” in Profile.
- Ads: on iPhone, change tracking permission in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking; on Android, reset or delete your advertising ID in Settings → Google → Ads. The monthly pass removes ads entirely.
- Microphone: you can turn off microphone and speech recognition access in your device's settings at any time and answer in other ways.
- Access, correct or export: depending on where you live, you may have the right to see, correct, export or restrict the use of your information, or to object to how it's used. Contact us at developer@overgearstudio.com and we'll respond within the time the law requires. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Children
Kotodama Quest is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country, such as 16 in parts of the EU). We don't knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.
Security and storage
Information is sent over encrypted connections, and access rules stop players from reading or changing each other's private data. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information. Our providers may store data in countries other than yours, including the United States, with safeguards the law requires.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll tell you in the game before it takes effect.
Contact
Overgear Studio
2388 Shettler Rd, Muskegon, MI 49444
developer@overgearstudio.com