Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 15, 2026

1. Who I am

AwayWard is a free idle MMORPG developed and operated by Thromblo Creates ("I", "me", "Thromblo Creates"). This policy explains how I 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 I handle

No account, by design

AwayWard does not require you to create an account. I 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 by default; backing it up to the cloud is an optional feature you turn on yourself, described under "Cloud save and cross-play" below.

Device identifier and access token

When online features are enabled, the game generates a random, unguessable identifier (a UUID I call your player_id) to represent your device. It is stored on your device and in my database and is how the server recognizes your saved online state. Alongside it, the game holds a secret per-device access token; every online write (including a cloud save) must present that token, and I store only a one-way hash of it, never the token itself. This means knowing your player_id alone is no longer enough to act as you: the token on your device is the key. Treat that device, and any backup of its save, accordingly.

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.

Cloud save and cross-play (optional)

You can turn on cloud saving from Settings → Cloud. When you do, the game uploads a copy of your local save file to my AwayWard API and stores it, keyed to your device ID, in the PostgreSQL database on Railway. That save is a compact snapshot of your own game progress (such as your character, levels, inventory, currencies and in-game settings); it is treated as an opaque backup and is not mined or sold. Cloud saving lets you restore your progress after a wipe or reinstall and continue the same hero elsewhere. It is off unless you enable it, and you can turn it off and delete the stored save at any time.

You can also link a Discord account so a single hero progresses across the game client and my Discord bot ("Silf"). Linking works through a short, one-time code you generate in the game and enter with the bot; this proves the same person holds both. Once linked, I store the connection between your device ID and your Discord user ID, along with your current Discord display name, so the bot can read and write your cloud save on your behalf. The bot authenticates to my API with its own service key and only ever acts for accounts that completed this link. Linking is optional, and you can unlink at any time from either side, which removes the stored connection.

Technical data

My 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. My hosting provider may keep standard server logs.

Optional Discord integration

Separately from the account link above, the game has a local Discord integration: if you choose to connect Discord, it can import your Discord avatar and set a "Rich Presence" status (for example, "Raiding the Void Titan"). This runs through Discord's own SDK on your device, is governed by Discord's terms and privacy policy, and does not send that data to my servers. You can decline or disable it, and the game works fully without it.

Advertising (mobile)

The desktop builds of AwayWard show no ads. The Android build is ad-supported and displays ads served by a third-party ad network. To serve those ads, the provider's SDK may access a resettable mobile advertising identifier and limited device and usage data, which it handles under its own privacy policy; I do not receive or store that advertising data myself. A one-time in-app purchase to remove ads turns them off. You can also limit ad tracking or reset your advertising identifier in your device's privacy settings. If AwayWard later ships through an app storefront, this section will be updated to name it.

Offline Mode

When you enable Offline Mode, or when my 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, and its fonts are self-hosted, so your browser makes no font requests to any third party. The home page does fetch a few live counts (community size, hero population and download totals) from the AwayWard API, a community Discord service and GitHub; that simply sends your IP address to those services as a normal part of loading the numbers.

3. How I 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 store and return your cloud save, if you enable it, and to carry one hero across the game and my Discord bot if you link a Discord account.
• 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

AwayWard's code, tooling, artwork and this website are created with AI-assisted development using OpenAI's GPT-5.6 family and Anthropic's Claude family of models. To be clear about what this does and does not mean for you:

• The game client and my sync backend do not send your personal data or your gameplay data to AI models during normal play. Online play talks only to my own API.
• I do not use your personal data to train AI models.
• If I ever add a player-facing feature powered by AI (for example, a support assistant or generated content), I will identify the provider, limit processing 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, including any cloud save you upload, 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. I apply per-IP rate limits, bound and sanitize incoming values, and scope every write to the holder of the device's secret access token (of which I keep only a one-way hash). A cloud save is stored as an opaque blob under a concurrency guard, so syncing the same hero from two places cannot silently overwrite newer progress. 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

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

• Hosting: Railway, which stores and serves my database and API.
• Payments: if you make a purchase, it is handled by the relevant platform (for example Patreon, Steam, itch.io, Google Play or the Apple App Store) under that platform's own terms and privacy policy. I do not receive or store your full payment card details.
• Mobile advertising: on the Android build, a third-party ad network serves the ads and processes a mobile advertising identifier and limited device/usage data under its own policy, unless you buy the one-time ad removal. This does not apply to the desktop builds.
• Discord: only if you connect it. This covers both the optional local avatar/Rich Presence integration and, if you link a Discord account, storing the connection so one hero syncs across the game and my Discord bot. Discord's own handling of your data is governed by Discord's terms and privacy policy.
• Legal: where I am required to by law, or to protect my rights and the safety of players.

8. Retention and deletion

Most 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. Two things are deliberately kept durably so they still work when you return: any cloud save you upload and any Discord account link are excluded from that sweep, so a quiet spell on one platform does not lose your backup or unlink your hero. During the game's beta period, a minimal founder record (device ID and the display name and handle at the time) is likewise kept on a durable list so beta supporters can re-claim their cosmetic entitlement after a local save wipe.

You can ask me to delete your online data. Because there is no email account tied to your profile, I identify your records by your device ID (player_id), so please include it in your request. You can also turn off cloud saving and delete the stored save, unlink Discord, and clear your local save, all 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). I do not knowingly collect personal information from children under that age. If you believe a child has provided me information, contact me and I 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 me. Core self-service controls are built in: Offline Mode stops all transmission, cloud saving and Discord linking stay off until you turn them on and can be removed at any time, and you control what name, handle, appearance and house you share.

11. International transfers

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

12. Changes to this policy

This policy is subject to change. AwayWard is in active development, and its online systems, including cloud saving and cross-play, may be added to, changed or removed. I will keep this policy current with the build you are playing: I will revise the "Last updated" date above and, for material changes, give notice through the game or the community channels. Continued play after a change means you accept the updated policy.

13. Contact

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

This policy is provided in good faith to describe my 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