These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of The Hidden Realm mobile application and web hub (collectively, "the Service"), operated as The Hidden Realm ("we", "us", "our").
By creating an account and using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the Service.
You must be at least 13 years of age to use the Service. By agreeing to these Terms you confirm you meet this requirement.
The Hidden Realm is a location-based game that is played in the real, physical world. The game encourages you to walk routes in your local area. The game's mechanics — including Embers, creature encounters, Beacon placement, and Ward territory — are tied to real-world GPS routes that you walk.
By using the Service you acknowledge and agree that:
Players aged 13-17 should have parental or guardian awareness of their participation. Parents and guardians are responsible for supervising younger players in the game's real-world context.
The game involves physical activity including walking and potentially running. You are responsible for ensuring you are medically fit for any physical activity you undertake while playing. Consult a medical professional if you have any concerns about your health and fitness.
To record your journeys, The Hidden Realm tracks your location in the background while a walk is active. This is a normal and necessary function of a location-based walking game. By using the Service you acknowledge and agree that:
We have designed the app to minimise its impact on your device, including reducing how often data is read from and written to storage. However, all background location tracking carries inherent resource use, and you accept this as a condition of using the Service.
By using the Service you agree that:
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts of players who use the game as a pretext for trespassing or illegal activity.
You agree not to use the Service to:
We reserve the right to suspend or permanently ban any account found to be in breach of these terms, at our sole discretion and without prior notice where necessary to protect other players or the integrity of the game.
Embers and all other in-game currency, items, and rewards have no real-world monetary value and cannot be exchanged for cash, goods, or services. All in-game purchases, where applicable, are final and non-refundable unless required by applicable consumer law.
We reserve the right to modify, rebalance, or remove any in-game mechanic, currency value, or item at any time without compensation.
The Hidden Realm, including its name, branding, lore, game mechanics, visual assets, and associated content, is protected by applicable intellectual property and proprietary rights laws. Unless otherwise stated, you may not reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works from any part of the Service without our prior written permission.
Your display name and any content you submit remains yours, but you grant us a non-exclusive licence to display it within the Service.
Certain data within the Service, including geographic and place data, is derived from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) and used under the Open Database License (ODbL). This third-party data remains subject to its own licence and is not covered by our proprietary rights above.
We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability of the Service. We reserve the right to suspend, modify, or discontinue the Service at any time, temporarily or permanently, with or without notice.
Use of the Service does not create any contractual entitlement to its continued provision.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:
Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law.
Your statutory rights as a consumer under UK law are not affected by these Terms.
You may delete your account at any time through the web hub. Upon deletion, all personal data associated with your account — including GPS route data and gameplay statistics — will be permanently deleted within 30 days.
We may suspend or terminate your account if you breach these Terms, with immediate effect where necessary to protect other users or the integrity of the Service.
We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email with reasonable notice before they take effect. Continued use of the Service after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
If you do not agree to updated Terms, you should delete your account before they take effect.
These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
For any questions about these Terms, please contact: