Privacy policy

Last updated 31 October 2026

Who we are

HexHeim is a board game published by HyveHeim. Contact us at [email protected].

Playing on your device

Games against the computer, daily board games and games where friends share one phone stay on your device: their moves are sent only if you choose to send them (apart from the anonymous one-line totals described under Game totals and problem reports): with the switch Count my games against the computer in the app's Scoreboard, or for the daily board as described below. Both are off until you turn them on.

While it is on, each game against the computer that you started with the switch on is sent to the scoreboard when it ends, or the next time you are online: the board, the level, the mode and any extra rules, who moved first, every move, your random player ID and your name. The server replays the game to check it, then updates your rating. Games finished while the switch was off are never sent. Turning the switch off stops sending, including games still waiting to be sent.

Daily board

The daily board is one board a day, the same for everyone, played against the computer. Your first finished daily game of a day (or the one you give up) is your result. It stays on your device unless you choose to send it: tap Send my result on its result sheet, or turn on Send my daily board results in the app's Scoreboard. Sending shows your rank among that day's players. Once you have chosen it, each later result is sent when you are online, on its day or the day after (UTC): the date, every move and your random player ID. Nothing else is sent: the server works out the board from the date, replays the game to check it, and ranks it against the other results of that day. A result you finished before choosing is sent then, if its day can still count. Turning the switch off stops sending; it does not delete results already sent (Delete my data does). Practice games after your result are never sent. A result that could not be sent in time stays on your device.

For each result the server stores, under a one-way hash of your player ID: the date, the result (win, draw or loss), how many moves you made, how many pieces you and the computer had, and the time it arrived. Your name is stored with it, and shown in the day's top list, only while you have chosen to show your name on the scoreboard; turning that off removes it. Results are deleted after 30 days.

Online play

When you play online, the app makes a random player ID on your device and sends it, with the name you choose, when it connects. Online you show as your player tag, with the icon you pick: a tag is unique, and if you have none yet, the name your app sends becomes your tag when nobody else has it (otherwise you show as Player until you pick one). Names and moves of a match are kept only while the match is open, and deleted at the latest 30 minutes after the last player leaves or disconnects. A waiting room that does not start within 10 minutes is closed.

Game totals and problem reports

Game totals. Unless you turn off Send anonymous game totals and error reports in the app's Scoreboard, after each game the app sends one line about it: the kind of game (against the computer, friends on one phone, daily board, quick match or private room), the number of players, the map, the mode and extra rules, the computer's level, whether you moved first, the result for you, how the game ended, its length and margin (in broad bands), how many times you used undo (in bands), and whether a lesson was finished or skipped; with the app version and whether it is the app or the web page. No player ID, no name and nothing that tells one player from another is sent. The server adds the line to a count for that day and keeps only the counts, never the line itself. We use the counts to make the game better: the computer's levels, the maps and the modes.

Errors. With the same switch on, errors the game runs into, and a crash of the app, are sent: what went wrong (the error and where in the game's code), what was on the board (the map, mode and move number), the app version and the kind of device (for example "Pixel 9, Android 16", or "Windows PC, Windows 11"). Identical errors are counted together.

Report a problem. When you send a report from How to play, what you write is sent with the same details. It is not linked to your player ID or name, so please do not include personal details in it.

These are sent over an encrypted connection. Our server uses your connection's address only for a moment, to stop one sender from sending too many, and does not store it.

HexHeim Plus

HexHeim Plus is a subscription sold through Google Play in the Android app, and through the Microsoft Store in the Windows app. The store handles the payment: we never see your payment details, your Google or Microsoft account or your email address. The app asks the store on your device whether you have Plus, to show the Plus looks; on your device it remembers only when Plus was last confirmed, and the Windows app also its Microsoft Store ID key (below), until that runs out.

When you make a private room, the app sends a code for your subscription with the request: in the Android app, the purchase token Google Play gives each purchase; in the Windows app, a Microsoft Store ID key, a code the Microsoft Store makes for HexHeim that stands for your Microsoft account without naming it. Our server asks the store whether that subscription is active. So that it need not ask again for every room, it keeps a one-way hash of the token, when the subscription runs out and when it was last checked. This is not linked to your player ID or your scoreboard entry. It is deleted when the subscription runs out, or after 30 days without a room made with it. How Google and Microsoft handle your purchase is described in their own privacy policies.

Playing in a browser

The game at hexheim.com/play is for people we have given a pass. A pass comes as a link that works once. The code in the link stays in your browser until you press Open the game; then your browser keeps one cookie that says which pass it is, so you do not need the link again. The cookie is needed for the browser game to work and is used for nothing else; it lasts a year, or until you choose Sign out of this browser in the Shop. For each pass our server stores the nickname we gave it for our own list, a one-way hash of its link until the link is used, the day it was made, the day its link was used and the last day it was used. In a browser a pass counts as HexHeim Plus. Everything else works as in the app: your settings, saved game and player ID are kept in the browser's own storage on your device.

Scoreboard

Opening the scoreboard in the app sends your player ID so the server can show your rating; this alone stores nothing. The scoreboard creates an entry for you with your first rated game: an online match against other people, or a game against the computer sent as described above. It stores:

• a one-way hash of your player ID, not the ID itself;
• your name, and whether you chose to show it on the public list;
• your player tag and icon, when you took the tag, whether you picked it or it came from your name, and the last day you went online; and a tag you changed from, held for you for a month so nobody else takes it at once;
• your rating and your numbers of games, wins, losses and draws;
• your online rating and how many rated online matches you played. It comes only from matches against other people, and quick match uses it to pair you with players of a similar level;
• the dates you first played and last played a rated game, and how many games against the computer counted today (there is a daily limit);
• for each rated game against the computer, a fingerprint: a one-way hash of the game and your hashed ID, so the same game cannot count twice;
• your daily board results, as described above.

Your name appears on the public list only if you turn that on in the app. If you report a name, the report is stored with your hashed ID.

What we do not collect

We do not collect your real name, email address, contacts, location, advertising ID or device identifiers. The game has no advertising and no tracking, and no analytics that identify you: the game totals described above are anonymous counts. Our server keeps no logs and does not store IP addresses. The app is excluded from Android backups, so your player ID stays on your device.

Where it is stored, and for how long

The game runs on our own server in the European Economic Area, where the GDPR applies, and match and scoreboard data are stored there. Cloudflare carries the connection to it and processes data for us under its data processing agreement: its network handles your IP address to carry the connection.

• Matches: only while the match is open, and at the latest 30 minutes after the last player leaves or disconnects.
• Scoreboard entries: deleted after 12 months without a rated game. Showing or hiding your name does not count as play.
• Player tags and icons: freed after 12 months without going online, or when you delete your data. A tag you changed from is freed a month after the change.
• Reports: kept up to 12 months. They are deleted sooner when the reported player picks a new name or tag or their entry is deleted, and when the reporter deletes their data.
• Game fingerprints: deleted after 60 days, or when you delete your data.
• Daily board results: deleted after 30 days, or when you delete your data.
• HexHeim Plus checks: deleted when the subscription runs out, or after 30 days without a room made with it.
• Game totals (daily counts, with no player in them): kept for two years.
• Web passes: deleted when we cancel the pass.
• Problem reports and errors: deleted 90 days after we mark them solved, and at the latest a year after the last one of their kind arrived.

Why we use it

To run the online matches, the scoreboard, the daily board you choose to use, and HexHeim Plus; and, with the anonymous game totals and problem reports, to find and fix problems and to make the game better.

Your rights

You can see and delete your scoreboard data at any time in the app: open Scoreboard, then Your data. View my data shows everything stored under your hashed ID, including the reports you made and your daily board results. Delete my data deletes your entry, the reports you made, your game fingerprints and your daily board results straight away; on your device it also turns off counting games against the computer and sending daily board results, clears games and daily results waiting to be sent and makes a new random player ID. The HexHeim Plus check, game totals and problem reports are not linked to your player ID, so they are not shown there; they are deleted on their own, as described above. To have a report you wrote removed, email us with its words and the day you sent it. You can also email [email protected] and include the "id hash" shown under View my data, so we can find your entry. We reply within one month. You can also contact your data protection authority.

Children

HexHeim is a general-audience game and is not directed at children under 13. New players get a made-up name. The name filter refuses most contact details and offensive words, any name can be reported, and a name reported by three established players is hidden.

Changes

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date above.