Effective date: September 30, 2026
Ampersand Game Studios Ltd (“we”, “us” or “our”), a company registered in the United Kingdom, makes the Star Escape game (the “Game”). This policy explains what information the Game and the providers built into it process, why, and the choices you have.
Sections marked version 0.9.5 and later describe those software versions, starting with the upcoming iOS and Android update. Older releases worked differently, and the section on earlier versions explains how.
Summary for version 0.9.5 and later
- You can play the Game, use the store and choose rewarded ads without signing in or making an account yourself.
- Your Dark Matter balance, items, scores, settings and purchase delivery records are saved on your device. They are not synced to our game server.
- Firebase Analytics and the older Crashlytics crash reporting are switched off in the iOS and Android apps. This also applies if an earlier version of the Game had turned them on. Google AdMob still processes the advertising analytics and diagnostics described below.
- Online features (Apple Game Center or Google Play Games sign-in, online leaderboards and our game server) are only used by players who confirm they are 18 or over and have accepted this policy and our Terms and Conditions. When our game server is reachable, the first sign-in automatically creates a player account on it. If you are under 18 or have not chosen an age, the Game does not start these sign-ins and does not send records to our game server.
- Our game server is currently unavailable, so online sign-in to it and online leaderboards may not work.
- Rewarded video ads are optional and are provided by Google AdMob. No ads are requested until your age and privacy choices are saved and Google’s consent tools allow it. Ads are requested for a general audience, with extra child-directed protections for players under 18.
- On iOS, players 18 and over may see Apple’s App Tracking Transparency request before ads start. Players under 18 never see it. You can play and earn ad rewards whether or not you allow tracking.
- Purchases are processed by Apple or Google. We never receive your payment card details.
Information on your device
The Game saves the following on your device: your Dark Matter balance, items and equipment, scores and statistics, settings, your age choice (under 18 or 18 and over), your acceptance of this policy and the Terms and Conditions, and records that stop a purchase from being delivered twice.
The age setup only records whether you are under 18 or 18 and over. It does not ask for or save your date of birth or exact age.
This information is not synced to a cloud account, including any player account on our game server. If you delete the Game or its data, you can lose your progress and locally saved Dark Matter, including Dark Matter from purchases. Consumable Dark Matter is not a cross-device account balance.
Online features (18 and over only)
Online features are only available to players who confirm they are 18 or over and have accepted this policy and the Terms and Conditions. They are used only when you are online.
When they are used:
- Sign-in. The Game signs in with Apple Game Center on iOS or Google Play Games on Android. It sends our game server the information needed to verify that sign-in. For Game Center this is your player ID, player name and Apple’s verification signature. For Google Play Games it is a Google ID token.
- Automatic player account. The first time our game server verifies a sign-in, it automatically creates a player account for you. The account stores your Game Center player ID and player name, or your Google Play Games player identifier and the given name from your Google ID token. Later sign-ins use the same account. The Game does not currently have a screen to manage or delete this account; see “Your rights and deletion requests” below.
- Game server records. Our game server at
star-escape-api.ampersandgamestudios.comreceives run results and statistics (for example distance, star systems reached, Dark Matter collected, time survived and equipped item codes), item records and leaderboard requests. The Game only sends these records over HTTPS to that exact address. - Leaderboards. Scores may be shown to other players on online leaderboards.
If you are under 18 or have not chosen an age, the Game does not start Game Center or Google Play Games sign-in, and does not create or send game server records. This includes records saved by an earlier version. Your local progress, wallet and items do not depend on our game server, so you can still play and use the store without it.
Current status: our game server is currently unavailable. While it is unavailable, the requests above do not complete, and online sign-in to our server and online leaderboards may not work. Game Center or Google Play Games may still sign you in to their own services. This does not affect local play, the store or rewarded ads.
Advertising (version 0.9.5 and later)
The Game offers optional rewarded video ads from Google AdMob:
- After a first crash in a run, you can watch an ad to revive that same run once.
- After that revived run ends, you can watch a second ad to double the Dark Matter earned in that run.
Choosing Skip or No thanks, or having no ad available, does not stop normal play. A reward is given only after Google reports that the ad was watched through and has closed.
- Consent. The Game uses Google’s User Messaging Platform (UMP) to check whether ads may be requested in your region. Where required, UMP shows Google’s consent form. Players 18 and over can reopen these choices at any time from Settings > Ad Privacy when Google indicates privacy options are available where they live.
- When ad activity starts. The Game does not start AdMob or request ads until you have chosen your age and accepted this policy and the Terms and Conditions on the first screen. After that, once UMP allows ad requests, the AdMob SDK starts and may load a video ad in advance, before you choose Watch. Ad-related processing can therefore happen even if you never watch an ad.
- Content and age. Ads are requested with Google’s General audience content rating. For players who choose under 18, the Game applies Google’s “under the age of consent” setting (TFUA) to consent and ad requests. After their choices are saved, these players may receive General-rated ads with that setting if UMP allows ad requests. TFUA limits personalised advertising. It does not mean no information is processed.
- App Tracking Transparency (iOS). For players 18 and over, after UMP allows ad requests and before Google’s ad SDK starts, the Game may show Apple’s App Tracking Transparency request. It asks whether Google may use your device’s advertising identifier (IDFA) to personalise ads and measure ad performance across other companies’ apps and websites.
- If you allow tracking, Google may use the identifier for those purposes, still limited by the choices you made in Google’s consent form.
- If you don’t allow tracking, or restrict it in iOS settings, the IDFA is not available and rewarded ads are still offered without personalisation. Non-personalised ads still involve some processing of device, app and ad-interaction information, as described below.
- Players under 18 are never shown this request, and the IDFA is not made available to ads for them.
- You can change your choice at any time in iOS Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
- Identifiers set by the Game (iOS). The Game turns off Google’s publisher first-party ID for all players on iOS. This does not turn off every other identifier or kind of ad-related processing.
- What Google may process. Google may process device and app information, IP address, advertising or app-specific identifiers where your device allows it, ad interactions and diagnostics, as described in Google’s privacy policy and how Google uses information from apps that use its services. Google processes this under its own policies and is not acting only on our instructions.
Your device settings (for example App Tracking Transparency on iOS, or deleting or resetting your advertising ID on Android) can limit advertising identifiers. They do not control every kind of data an app or SDK processes.
Purchases (version 0.9.5 and later)
The store sells six Dark Matter packs (consumable in-app purchases), priced by Apple or Google in your local currency. Apple and Google process payment, keep their own purchase records and handle refunds under their own terms. We never receive your payment card details.
The Game checks Apple’s or Google Play’s purchase information for each purchase. It then saves the transaction or purchase token, product identifier and Dark Matter granted on your device, so each purchase is delivered once and interrupted purchases can be recovered. Dark Matter is added on your device without our game server. A game server outage does not block a purchase.
Analytics and crash reporting
In the iOS and Android apps from version 0.9.5, Firebase Analytics and legacy Crashlytics are switched off in the app’s native settings and are not turned on by the Game. This applies even if an earlier version had previously turned collection on. The Game does not send its own gameplay analytics or crash reports in these versions. Advertising providers still process the ad analytics, measurement and diagnostic information described under Advertising. Desktop editions of Star Escape are separate and are not covered by this statement.
Earlier versions
Versions before 0.9.5 processed more information. Depending on the version, this could include:
- Firebase Analytics events and user properties, such as gameplay and usage events, run statistics, settings, the under-18 or 18-and-over age category, and purchase events Firebase records automatically.
- Crash and diagnostic reports.
- Apple Game Center or Google Play Games sign-in, an automatically created player account on our game server, and game server records including scores and leaderboards, for players who were not limited in the way described above.
- Advertising from Google AdMob and Unity Ads, with the privacy settings available at the time.
Updating to version 0.9.5 or later stops these for the current Game, as described above. It does not delete information that providers or our game server already received. Unity Ads is not included in version 0.9.5 and later. See Unity’s privacy policy.
How we use information
We use information to run the Game and its optional online features, deliver purchases and prevent duplicate grants, show optional rewarded ads, provide support, keep the Game secure and fix problems, and meet legal obligations.
Our legal bases under UK and EU data protection law are:
- performing our agreement with you (the Game, purchases and features you choose to use)
- our legitimate interests in running, securing and supporting the Game
- consent where the law requires it, including advertising consent collected through Google’s UMP
- legal obligations
Sharing and transfers
We share information only with the providers described in this policy (Apple, Google and, for earlier versions, Unity), when required by law, to protect rights and safety, or as part of a business transfer (in which case we will give notice). Providers process information under their own privacy policies. Information may be processed outside your country, including in the United Kingdom and the United States. Where the law requires, we rely on appropriate safeguards for transfers we control.
Retention
Information on your device stays until you delete the Game or its data. We keep game server records only as long as needed for online features, security, support and legal obligations. Apple, Google and Unity keep information according to their own policies.
Children
Star Escape is rated 9+ on the App Store. It is not an adults-only game and is not in Apple’s Kids category. A store age rating describes the Game’s content. It is not an age of consent for data processing or advertising.
In version 0.9.5 and later, players who choose under 18, or who have not chosen an age, do not use Game Center or Google Play Games sign-in or our game server. No ads are requested before an age and the agreements are saved. After a player saves an under-18 choice, ads may be requested with Google’s under-age-of-consent and General audience settings if UMP allows it. On iOS, these players are never shown Apple’s tracking request. Parents and guardians should supervise store purchase permissions on the device.
Your rights and deletion requests
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to processing of your personal data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent.
This includes a player account on our game server, if one was created automatically when you used online sign-in. The Game does not currently have an in-app screen to manage or delete that account or other data, and signing out of Game Center or Google Play Games does not delete it.
To make a request, contact us using the details below. Where possible, tell us your platform and, if you used online features, your Game Center or Google Play Games player name. We will respond as required by applicable data protection law. Some information is controlled by Apple, Google or Unity, and we will direct you to them where needed. We may need to verify your identity. You can also delete the Game and its data from your device at any time.
You can complain to a data protection authority. In the UK this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).
Links to other sites
The Game links to our website and social media pages. Those sites have their own privacy policies.
Changes to this policy
We will post changes on this page and update the effective date. Where a change is significant, we will also give notice in the Game or on our website before it takes effect.