Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 19, 2026

1. Who we are

AwayWard is a free idle MMORPG developed and operated by Thromblo Creates ("we", "us", "Thromblo Creates"). This policy explains how we handle information in connection with the AwayWard game client, its optional online services, and this website. By playing AwayWard or using this site, you agree to this policy.

2. The information we handle

No account, by design

AwayWard does not require you to create an account. We do not ask for your email address, a password, a phone number, or your legal name in order to play. Your game progress is saved locally on your device.

Device identifier

When online features are enabled, the game generates a random, unguessable identifier (a UUID we call your player_id) to represent your device. It is stored on your device and in our database and is how the server recognizes your saved online state. Treat it like a key: anyone who holds it can act as your online profile.

Identity you choose to share

• A display name and a unique @handle used so friends can find you for parties and clans.
• A compact appearance recipe for your head-bust portrait (about 150 bytes of short ids and color values). It is not a photo, and no image is uploaded; your portrait is re-drawn locally from the recipe.
• The small set of public cosmetics you choose to display to others (such as an equipped title).

Gameplay data for shared features

When you use an online system, only the data that system needs is stored, for example:

• Leaderboard: level, power, class, gold, kills, boss kills and rebirths.
• Player market: the gear items you list, their price, and the buyer/seller of a sale.
• Parties, factions and clans: your membership and contribution totals.
• World raids and seasons: your damage, hits and seasonal contribution, attributed to your faction.
• House gallery: a house you choose to publish (its name, layout and coziness) and the likes you cast.
• Inbox: cross-player notifications addressed to you, such as a party invite or a "your item sold" alert.
• Trial Rift ladder: your best weekly depth.

Technical data

Our API uses your IP address transiently to apply abuse rate limits; these counters are kept in memory and are not used to build a profile of you. Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs.

Optional Discord integration

If you choose to connect Discord, the game can import your Discord avatar and set a "Rich Presence" status (for example, "Raiding the Void Titan"). This is optional, handled through Discord's own SDK, and governed by Discord's terms and privacy policy. You can decline or disable it, and the game works fully without it.

Offline Mode

When you enable Offline Mode, or when our servers are unreachable, the game transmits nothing. The whole world, including rivals, the market and the leaderboard, is simulated locally on your device.

This website

This site sets no advertising or analytics cookies and runs no third-party trackers. It loads web fonts from Google Fonts, which means your browser makes a request to Google to fetch them and Google may receive your IP address as part of that request, as described in Google's privacy policy.

3. How we use information

• To run the online features you choose to use (leaderboards, market, parties, factions, raids, seasons, the house gallery and the inbox).
• To recognize your device so your online progress persists.
• To prevent abuse and keep the shared world fair (rate limiting and input sanitization).
• To deliver cosmetic or supporter perks you have unlocked.
• To diagnose problems and improve the game.

4. Use of AI models (Anthropic)

AwayWard's code, tooling and this website are built with the assistance of Anthropic's Claude AI models, used by our team as a development tool. To be clear about what this does and does not mean for you:

• The game client and our sync backend do not send your personal data or your gameplay data to AI models during normal play. Online play talks only to our own API.
• We do not use your personal data to train AI models.
• If we ever add a player-facing feature powered by AI (for example, a support assistant or generated content), we will process it through Anthropic's API under Anthropic's usage policies, limit it to what the feature needs, and update this policy to describe it before launch.

5. Where your data is stored and how it is secured

Online data is stored in a PostgreSQL database hosted on Railway, a cloud infrastructure provider, and is transmitted over encrypted HTTPS connections. AwayWard is a single-player, client-authoritative game: the client reports its own stats and the server cannot fully verify them. We apply per-IP rate limits, bound and sanitize incoming values, and scope writes to the holder of the device ID. These measures limit abuse and junk data; no online system is perfectly secure, and you share online data at your own discretion.

6. What is visible to other players

Some information is shared by design so the social features work. When you opt into online play, other players can see your display name and @handle, your portrait and equipped cosmetics (such as your frame, name color and title), your leaderboard standing, your market listings, and any house you publish. Do not put anything private in a name, a handle or a house you publish.

7. Sharing with third parties

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only as needed to run the game:

• Hosting: Railway, which stores and serves our database and API.
• Payments: if you make a purchase, it is handled by the relevant platform (for example Patreon, Steam or itch.io) under that platform's own terms and privacy policy. We do not receive or store your full payment card details.
• Discord: only if you connect it, and only as described above.
• Legal: where we are required to by law, or to protect our rights and the safety of players.

8. Retention and deletion

Online records are kept while your device stays active. A routine sweep removes data for players who have not been seen for an extended period, so inactive online data is not retained indefinitely. During the game's beta period, a minimal founder record (device ID and the display name and handle at the time) is kept on a durable list so beta supporters can re-claim their cosmetic entitlement after a local save wipe.

You can ask us to delete your online data. Because there is no email account tied to your profile, we identify your records by your device ID (player_id), so please include it in your request. You can also clear your local save from within the game at any time.

9. Children

AwayWard is not directed to children under 13 (or under the minimum age of digital consent in your country, such as 16 in parts of the EEA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under that age. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will remove it.

10. Your choices and rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or restrict the processing of your personal data, and to object to certain processing. You can exercise these by contacting us. Core self-service controls are built in: Offline Mode stops all transmission, and you control what name, handle, appearance and house you share.

11. International transfers

Our hosting and service providers may process and store data in countries other than yours. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the game evolves. We will revise the "Last updated" date above and, for material changes, give notice through the game or our community channels.

13. Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: use our contact form or reach Thromblo Creates in our official Discord server.

This policy is provided in good faith to describe our actual practices. It is not legal advice. If you are relying on it for a commercial launch, have it reviewed by qualified counsel for your jurisdiction.

Read the Terms of Service