Privacy
What we do not do
- No account is needed to play, and the site does not ask for your name. (During the closed playtest, Play offers a waiting list and asks invited players for their email and invite code; see below.)
- This site sets no cookies except one sign-in cookie during the closed playtest (below).
- No analytics, advertising or tracking scripts.
- This site and the game load nothing from other sites: no external fonts, scripts, videos or images. The one thing that leaves for another site is an email address you choose to send to the email list (below).
The playtest waiting list
While the demo is a closed playtest, Play lets you join its waiting list. If you type your email, tick the box and press Join the waiting list, our server keeps that address and the time you joined, on our host (Railway). We use it only to choose testers by hand and to send you an invite if you are chosen. It is not shared, sold or used for anything else, and it is deleted when the playtest is over. To be taken off the list sooner, reply to any email we send you. Nothing is kept if you do not press the button.
The closed playtest sign-in
An invited player enters the email they were invited with and the invite code from their invite. Our server checks them and, if they match, sets one sign-in cookie (sb_play) so it does not ask again for 30 days. The cookie holds only an expiry date, a scrambled fingerprint of your address and a signature; it cannot be read back into your address. The server does not store or log your address or the password, and uses them for that check and nothing else. If too many wrong tries come from one place, it waits a few minutes before it checks again. When the demo opens to everyone, this sign-in is removed.
The email list
When the landing page shows the email list, joining it is up to you. Nothing is sent until you type your address, tick the box and press Join the list. The form then sends the address straight to our email list provider, Buttondown or EmailOctopus, which opens its own page in a new tab and emails you a link to confirm. Nothing happens until you click that link (double opt-in). We use the list only for news about Soulbearer: when the Steam page opens and when the demo grows. Every email has a link to unsubscribe. The provider keeps the address for that purpose under its own privacy terms. The form sets no cookie on this site, and this site keeps no copy of your address.
What the game stores on your device
The game keeps its data in your own browser, on your own device. It never sends any of it to us.
- Your save (progress, settings and choices) goes in the browser’s local storage for this site. Clearing this site’s data, using a private window, or switching browser or device removes or hides the save. Some browsers, such as Safari, may also clear it after a long absence.
- A short run log for the current tab goes in the browser’s session storage. It holds a bounded list of recent game events, so a problem can be described, and it goes when the tab closes.
Copy details
If the game hits a problem it shows a panel with a Copy details button. What it copies is the game version, the page path, your browser’s user agent (the line that names your browser and system) and the error messages. It never includes your save. Nothing is sent anywhere: the text only leaves your device if you paste it somewhere yourself, such as a message or a feedback form.
What the host keeps
The site is served by Railway. Like any web host, it keeps standard request logs, such as your IP address, the page asked for and the time, for its own security and operation. We do not add anything to them.
Feedback
If this build has a Send feedback link, it opens a separate form run by another provider, and that provider’s own privacy terms apply to whatever you type into it. Nothing is sent unless you fill it in and send it yourself. What you write is used to improve the game.