Privacy policy

Last updated 10 October 2026

Who we are

TideBound is an independent browser game, played at torchhound.com/play/tidebound, where the game runs in a frame from its own address, tidebound.torchhound.com. This page covers the game at either. It is made by TideBound, an independent studio based in Antigua and Barbuda, which is responsible for the data described here. "We" on this page means TideBound.

To reach us about anything on this page, email hello@tidebound.app, or use Settings → Feedback in the game and leave an email address if you want a reply.

What stays on your device

The game stores a few things in your browser's local storage. They never leave your device unless listed further down:

• Your save: level, coins, catches, gear and outfits.
• Your settings: sound, graphics quality, left-handed controls and similar.
• A visit counter, only while stats are on: the day of your first visit and how many times you've opened the game. Only the two numbers ("day 3, visit 5") are sent with our anonymous stats. It is kept apart from your save, so starting over doesn't reset it. Switching stats off deletes it.
• Your stats choice: whether you said yes or no to anonymous stats, so we don't ask again.
• Downloaded files: if you tap "Play offline", the game's models, art and sound are cached so it opens without a signal.
• Your fastest Shelf fights: the button presses of your best championship fight (all-time and this week), so the time can be checked when you post it. They are only sent if you post that time.
• Sign-in, only if you have an account: a random code that keeps this device signed in, and while a purchase is being confirmed, a second random code that lets this device collect it.
• Catch clips: on devices with power to spare, the game records a short video of each fight in memory so you can tap "Save clip". It is never uploaded; it is replaced by the next fight and gone when you close the tab, unless you save or share it yourself.

Clearing your browser's data for tidebound.torchhound.com deletes all of it, including your progress.

TideBound used to be at tidebound.app. Opening that address now moves you on to the new one and brings your progress with you: the save rides in the link itself, after the #, the part a browser never sends to a server. The game at the new address keeps whichever save got further.

What we receive

Anonymous play statistics

While you play, the game sends short notes about what happened. For example:

• the game opened
• a cast in the Pond
• a fish caught or lost
• a level reached
• the screen you were on when you left
• whether you're on a touch screen
• the game version
• if the game crashed, the error message

How these notes are handled:

• Grouping: they're grouped by a random code made fresh each time the page loads. It is forgotten when you close the tab, so two visits can't be linked to each other or to you.
• Location: the server notes which country the visit came from. It does not keep your IP address.
• Contents: no names, emails or save contents are included.
• Retention: kept for 60 days, then deleted automatically.

We also use Vercel Web Analytics for page-view and event totals. It uses no cookies and does not identify individual visitors.

Your choice:

• In the EU, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland: judged by the time zone your device is set to, the game asks first, on the title screen. Nothing is sent and no visit counter is kept until you say yes. If you don't answer, it asks again next time.
• Everywhere else: stats are on by default.
• Anyone, any time: you can turn them on or off in Settings → Share anonymous stats. Turning them off stops both kinds of stats.

The leaderboards (only if you post a time)

There are two boards: the weekly Shelf tournament, which starts empty every Monday at 00:00 UTC, and the all-time board. Posting a championship time puts it on both, and publishes:

• the name you type
• your time and your fish's length
• the date
• the game version

Your game also sends a random secret made by your save, so that only you can update your entry. We keep a scrambled (hashed) copy of that secret, never the secret itself.

To keep the boards fair, a posted time comes with the fight that made it: a random number our server gave the game when the fight began, which fish you hooked, and when you held reel or swiped, tapped or used a technique. The server replays the fight from these to work out the time and the shark's length itself. The fight is used for that check and then thrown away; we keep only a short code for it for 40 days, so the same fight can't be posted twice under different saves. Asking for that random number counts against a per-address rate limit, like posting does.

Anyone can see the boards, so please don't use your real full name, especially if you're under 16. An all-time entry stays until you ask us to remove it or the board is reset. A weekly entry is kept after its week ends so the game can show last week's top three.

Each Monday the top three of the week just ended (name, time and fish length) may also be announced in the TideBound Discord server. We can take an entry off the boards on request, but a Discord announcement already made stays in that channel's history.

Accounts (only if you make one)

You can play without one. An account keeps the items you buy, so you can sign in on another device and have them there. There's no password: you type your email address and we send you a sign-in link.

For an account we keep:

• A scrambled copy of your email address (a keyed hash). It lets us recognise the address when you sign in again, but the address can't be read back out of it. We don't keep the address itself.
• A partly hidden copy for display, such as a•••@example.com, so the game can show which account you're signed in to.
• What you bought: Paddle's order number, which item or pack, when, and whether it was refunded.
• When the account was made.
• Which save is yours, if you bought the Founder Pack: your save's leaderboard code and a hashed copy of its secret, so the Founder anchor appears beside your own name on the Shelf boards and nobody else's.

Sign-in links work once and expire after 20 minutes. A device stays signed in for up to 180 days or until you sign out; we keep only a hashed copy of its sign-in code. Your address passes through our email provider, Resend, to deliver the link.

If you post a Shelf time as a Founder Pack owner, the boards show an anchor (⚓) beside your name, so others can see that entry's save belongs to a Founder.

Purchases

Paid items are sold by Paddle.com, our reseller and merchant of record. Paddle runs the checkout, takes the payment, handles tax, sends your receipt and deals with refunds. What you give at checkout (such as your email address, country and payment details) goes to Paddle under Paddle's privacy notice, not to us. Paddle's checkout code is only loaded when you choose to buy, and may use its own cookies or similar storage.

From Paddle we receive the order number, what was bought, and the email address it was paid with. We use that address only to find or make your account (as above) and then discard it. We never see or store card details.

Challenge links (only if you share one)

"Challenge friend" makes a link holding a fish and a size to beat, or a Shelf time to beat. It contains nothing about you. The anonymous stats count how many visits arrive through such a link, not who sent or opened it.

Feedback (only if you send it)

A feedback note or crash report arrives as an email to the maker. It contains:

• your message
• your email address, if you chose to give one
• what was happening in the game (region, level, gear)
• your browser and screen size

We use it to fix the game and, if you asked, to reply, and nothing else. We delete it once it's dealt with, or sooner if you ask.

Protection against abuse

To stop spam and flooding, our server briefly counts requests per IP address, for example a limit of 10 feedback notes per address a day.

Those counters expire on their own, after between a few seconds and one day, and aren't used for anything else.

Like every website, our hosting provider also keeps short-lived technical logs.

Playing on another site

TideBound can also be played on game sites such as CrazyGames, Poki and itch.io. There, that site runs the page around the game, and its own privacy policy covers what it does, including any ads, player accounts and cookies it uses.

The game itself works the same way there, with these differences:

• There are no TideBound accounts or purchases.
• Your save stays in your browser. On CrazyGames it may instead be kept with your CrazyGames account, so it follows you between devices.
• The anonymous statistics, the leaderboards and feedback work as described above, and they come to us at tidebound.app. The statistics note which site you played on.
• If the site shows ads, it decides that, and it shows them through its own systems. If you choose to watch an ad for bonus coins, we're only told whether it played through.

Who handles it for us

These services may process data outside your country, under their own safeguards. We don't sell or rent anyone's data, and we don't share it with advertisers.

Children

TideBound is suitable for all ages. It asks for nothing personal to play, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from children.

Before your first leaderboard post, the game asks what year you were born. The answer stays on your device as "under 13" or "13 and over"; the year itself is not kept or sent. Players under 13 don't type a leaderboard name: the game picks one for them, like "Swift Pike 42", so a child's real name never appears on the board.

The only other places you could type something personal are the feedback form (the email field is optional) and the sign-in form. Buying needs a parent or guardian if you're under 18. If you believe a child has sent us personal details, tell us and we'll delete them.

Your choices and rights

• Stop the stats: Settings → Share anonymous stats.
• Delete your progress: use "Reset save" on the title screen, or clear site data in your browser.
• Remove a leaderboard entry (weekly or all-time) or a feedback note: send a note through Settings → Feedback saying which one.
• Delete your account: send a note through Settings → Feedback from, or naming, the address you sign in with. Items bought on it are lost when it goes. Paddle keeps its own record of the sale, as the law requires of a seller.
• Access, correct or delete what we hold about you: depending on where you live (under the laws of Antigua and Barbuda, the GDPR or UK GDPR, or California law, for example) you may have these rights. Contact us the same way and we'll answer within 30 days.
• The play statistics can't be tied to you, so there's nothing in them we could find or hand over.
• You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Changes

If we change what we collect, we'll update this page and the date at the top before the change goes live.