Ship Seek: Terms of Service

This is a draft for legal review. It is not a finished, legally checked document. Do not treat it as binding until a solicitor has reviewed it and Josh has signed off on the final wording.

Last updated: 5 September 2026 (draft).

Who these terms are with

Ship Seek is operated by Josh Hosking, an individual based in the United Kingdom, not a registered company. By creating an account, joining a game, or using the app in any way, you agree to these terms.

What Ship Seek is

Ship Seek is a hide-and-seek style party game for phones. A host sets up a game for their group, everyone else joins with a code or a QR link, and the app runs the rules: hide periods, captures, wildcards, radars, chat, and a recap at the end. It is designed to be played by a group who already know each other, on a cruise ship, at an event, or anywhere else a group wants to play.

Accounts

You can sign in with Apple, sign in with Google, sign in with an email one-time code, or join a specific game as a guest without an account (quick join).  Quick join asks for a display name and an email address. The email is saved as an unverified contact, and is attached to your guest account only once you confirm it with a code we send you, so you can get back into your game if you lose your phone. A guest account can later be upgraded to a full account without losing game history. Your email is visible only to you and to Ship Seek admins. A guest account is deleted automatically 90 days after you last used the app, or 30 days if the guest never joined a game, unless it is in a game that is still running. Confirming your email turns a guest into a full account, which is kept until you delete it.

You are responsible for keeping your sign-in method secure. If you believe your account has been used without your permission, contact the support address at the end of these terms.

Hosting a game

Anyone can create a game and become its host. Hosting is a paid feature past a free allowance (a small player count, one wildcard, one game a month); playing is always free for everyone else. As the host, you are responsible for:

who you invite into your game, including making sure every player is old enough and aware of what the game involves (see "Children" in Docs/Privacy-Policy.md);
explaining the rules of your game and making sure players consent to being photographed as part of it (the app also shows its own consent prompt before a player's first capture, see Docs/Consent-Copy.md);
responding reasonably if a player raises a dispute, a report, or asks to be removed from your game.

Ship Seek is a game for playing on real premises with real physical movement (walking around a ship, hotel or venue). Play sensibly, follow the rules of the venue you are in, and do not use the game in a way that could put you or anyone else at risk.

User-generated content

Ship Seek only works because players contribute content: a display name, a profile photo, chat messages, capture evidence photos, and wildcard or radar responses (text, photos or short video clips) . By using the app, you agree that:

you own the photos you take, or otherwise have the right to share them within the game;
you will not post or send anything abusive, harassing, sexually explicit, illegal, or that violates someone else's rights;
you consent to being photographed by other players as part of gameplay, and understand those photos are visible to other members of the same game (never posted publicly), and are deleted automatically after the retention period described in Docs/Privacy-Policy.md;
you can report any photo or message you believe breaks these terms, and can block another player at any time, both from inside the app;
if you send a voice note in a game's Everyone chat, you agree that everyone in that game can listen to it. It is stored privately, the microphone is used only while you hold the record button, and the note is deleted when the game ends or is cancelled unless it has been reported, in which case it is held for review. The host can turn voice notes off and remove a note;
your badges are visible to players you share a game with, to your accepted friends and to the people in your crews, and you appear on the global leaderboard unless you turn that off in your profile (it takes effect straight away).

Ship Seek may remove content, suspend an account, or end a game if it reasonably believes these terms have been broken. Reports go to a moderation queue and are reviewed by Ship Seek's admin.

Purchases

Game Pass, Host Pro, and library packs are purchased through the Apple App Store or Google Play on mobile, or through RevenueCat's web billing (processed by Stripe) on the web.  Web purchases are offered only when that option is switched on, and only to a signed-in full account, not a guest. Test (sandbox) purchases made by App Review or testers grant the same access as real ones. Prices are shown in your local currency by the store before you buy. Purchases are managed and refunded according to the policies of the store you bought through (Apple's or Google's refund process), not directly by Ship Seek, since Ship Seek does not hold your payment details. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled through the store's own subscription management, and can be restored on a new device using the store's restore-purchases option.

Account deletion

You can delete your account entirely from inside the app at any time.

This changes your profile name to "Deleted player" and removes your profile photo and email address. In games you played, your name is replaced with Deleted player, your deck reports are removed and your chat messages stay without your name. Your own photos, clips and voice notes are queued for removal at once (a reported file is held until the report is resolved); see Docs/Privacy-Policy.md. You cannot delete your account while you are hosting or playing in a game that is running (active or paused); finish or leave the game first. Deletion cannot be undone once actioned.

Your data

You can download a copy of your data from your profile in the app or on the website, once every 10 minutes. See Docs/Privacy-Policy.md for what is kept and for how long.

Disclaimers

Ship Seek is provided as-is, run by one person, and is a party game, not a safety system, a security product, or a substitute for supervision at whatever venue you play it in. Ship Seek is not responsible for what happens during physical gameplay, injuries, disputes between players, or issues arising from the venue itself. Play within whatever rules the venue (a ship, a hotel, an event) sets, and use common sense.

To the extent permitted by law, Ship Seek's liability to you is limited to the amount you have paid for the specific feature giving rise to a claim, if any. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death, personal injury caused by negligence, or fraud, where the law does not allow such a limit.

Changes to these terms

These terms may be updated as the app changes. Continued use of the app after an update means you accept the new terms. Material changes will be reflected in the "Last updated" date at the top of this document.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, without regard to conflict of law principles. This is a placeholder pending legal review; confirm this is the right choice once the business structure (sole trader, or an incorporated entity) is settled.

Contact

For anything in these terms, contact Josh Hosking at the support email address listed in the app and on shipseek.app. As this is a draft, that address is not yet finalised here; add it to this section before publishing.

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