Terms of use
By playing Hemiscope — any of the daily games, on the website or in the iOS app — you agree to a few simple things.
Use the games in good faith
Don’t try to scrape, reverse engineer, or break the games in a way that affects other players. Don’t use automated tools to flood the site with traffic. Don’t attempt to bypass security measures, tamper with stored scores and streaks, or otherwise cheat in a way that misleads other players.
The games are free, and provided as-is
Hemiscope is offered at no cost and with no warranties. We make a reasonable effort to keep it working and the underlying data accurate — country facts, historical dates, rankings, statistics — but we don’t guarantee uptime, completeness, or that every fact in every puzzle is correct. Use it for fun, not as a reference.
Your progress, and where it lives
Game state, stats, streaks and best scores are stored in your browser or on your phone. We aren’t responsible for loss of progress, streaks or scores from clearing browser data, deleting the app, switching devices, or other causes outside our control. Progress does not sync between the website and the app.
The iOS app has optional accounts, for adding friends, duelling them and entering tournaments. An account keeps your results, stars and items on our server so friends can see how your day went and your prizes follow you, and you can delete it — and everything in it, stars included — from inside the app at any time. The daily puzzles never require one. See the Privacy page for exactly what an account holds.
Stars, items and tournaments
Stars are points inside the game. They are earned by playing and can be spent on explorers, banners, frames, titles and emotes, or on entering a tournament. Stars and items have no cash value, can’t be bought, sold, transferred or exchanged for money, and are not refundable. We may change what things cost, what a tournament pays, and how stars are earned, and we may correct a balance that was credited by mistake or gained by cheating.
A tournament’s entry fee is refunded if you leave before it starts or if we cancel it; once it has started the fee is spent. Prizes go to the finishing order the game records, and the ordering, tie-breaking and timing rules are the game’s. Answers dealt to a tournament are confidential until it starts: sharing them, using a second account or device, or automating play in any live game forfeits prizes and may lead to suspension.
The one purchase, Remove Ads, is made through Apple under Apple’s terms; if you need a refund, ask Apple. Redeem codes are ours to issue, limit, disable and withdraw; a code that has been used on your account can’t be used on it again.
Your handle, your name, and other players
If you claim a handle and a display name, other players can see them. Keep them civil: we may rename or remove a handle or display name, and suspend or delete an account, for impersonation, harassment, slurs, or anything else we judge abusive. You can block another player and report them from inside the app, and reports reach a person — see the Privacy page for the address.
Third-party content
Some puzzles show photographs and flags that we did not create. These are used under their own licences and credited on the photo credits page. Nothing here grants you rights to that material beyond what its own licence allows.
The iOS app
The app is distributed through the Apple App Store and is also subject to Apple’s terms. Apple is not a party to these terms and has no obligation to provide support for the app.
Liability
To the fullest extent allowed by law, the people who run Hemiscope are not liable for damages arising from your use of the games. If you don’t agree with that, please don’t use them.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. Continuing to play after a change counts as acceptance of the new terms.