Help Center
Everything, in one place.
The rules you play by and the terms you sign up to. Pick a section, or jump straight in.
Community Guidelines
How to behave, how to stay safe, and what happens if you break the rules.
Read →Terms of Service
The terms that govern your use of LittleWorlds.
Read →Terms of Sale
How Gold, membership and item purchases work.
Read →Privacy Policy
What we collect, why, and your rights over your data.
Read →The short version
Be decent to each other.
That covers most of it. The rest of this page is the detail, and it exists because "be decent" means different things to different people, and because you deserve to know where the lines are before you cross one.
These guidelines apply everywhere LittleWorlds exists — in the game, in chat, in your spaces, on our Discord, and anywhere else you're representing yourself as part of this community.
1. Treat people properly
Do:
- Assume the person you're talking to is having a harder day than you can see.
- Let people play the way they want to play, even if it's not how you'd do it.
- Welcome new players. You were one once.
Don't:
- Harass, bully, threaten or intimidate anyone.
- Pile on. If someone's already being dealt with, walk away.
- Follow someone around, spam their space, or keep messaging them after they've asked you to stop.
- Attack people for who they are — race, religion, nationality, disability, gender, sexuality, or anything else about them.
- Wish harm on anyone, including yourself as a joke. We can't tell the difference from a chat log, and we'd rather check in than scroll past.
2. Keep it suitable for everyone
LittleWorlds is for a general audience, and plenty of the people here are young. That shapes what's acceptable.
Keep out of chat, usernames, space names and anything you build:
- Sexual or explicit content of any kind.
- Graphic violence or gore.
- Slurs and hate symbols.
- Content promoting self-harm, eating disorders, drugs or suicide.
- Real-world extremism, terrorism or hateful ideologies.
Mild swearing in passing isn't what we're policing. Using language as a weapon is.
3. Look after yourself
This one's advice as much as a rule, and it's the most important thing on this page.
Don't share personal information — yours or anyone else's. That means your real name, address, school, workplace, phone number, email, socials, or anything that could be used to find you offline. Don't share photos of yourself.
Don't share anyone else's information either. Posting someone's private details, even if you think it's harmless, even if they told you themselves, is a permanent ban.
Be careful about moving conversations elsewhere. If someone you've just met wants to talk somewhere private, off LittleWorlds, away from where anyone can see — that's a reason to be cautious, not flattered. Tell us.
If an adult makes you uncomfortable, tell someone. Report it here, and tell a parent, guardian or another adult you trust. You will never be in trouble for reporting something.
4. Zero tolerance
Some things skip the warnings entirely. Do any of these and you're permanently banned, with no appeal, and we will report you to the police and to child protection authorities:
- Any sexual content involving or aimed at someone under 18.
- Grooming, or any attempt to build an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
- Asking a minor to keep a conversation secret, to move to another platform, or to send photos.
- Credible threats of real-world violence.
- Publishing someone's private information with intent to harm them.
If you see any of this, don't argue with the person and don't investigate it yourself. Report it and get out of the conversation. Email [SAFETY EMAIL] if it's urgent.
5. Your spaces
Your space is yours. Build what you like in it.
That said, it's still a public place when you let people in:
- Anything you build has to follow the same content rules as chat.
- Don't use a space to bait, trap, humiliate or embarrass someone.
- Don't build something designed to break the game or lag other players out.
- If you invite people in, you're responsible for what happens there. Kick people who are behaving badly.
6. Trading and the economy
- Don't scam people. Lying about what you're offering, switching an item at the last second, or promising to "pay the rest later" and not doing it — all of it is a bannable offence.
- Trades are final. We won't reverse one because you misread it or regret it. Check before you confirm.
- No real money. Don't buy, sell or trade items, currency or accounts for real-world money, gift cards, or anything else of real-world value. It draws in scammers, it's impossible to police, and it will get your account closed.
- Don't beg. Asking once is fine. Following people around asking is not.
7. Play fair
- No cheats, bots, macros, auto-clickers, modified clients or third-party tools that give you an advantage.
- Found a bug that gives you free items, duplicates things, or breaks the economy? Report it, don't farm it. People who report exploits get thanked. People who quietly exploit them get their accounts wiped.
- Don't attack the servers, other players' connections, or anyone's account.
- One account per person, unless we've said otherwise. Don't make new accounts to get around a ban — that turns a temporary suspension into a permanent one.
8. Impersonation
Don't pretend to be someone else — another player, a moderator, or anyone from the LittleWorlds team.
We will never ask for your password. Not in chat, not in a DM, not on Discord, not ever. Anyone who does is trying to steal your account. Report them.
9. Reporting
If something's wrong, tell us. It genuinely helps, and reports are confidential — we won't tell the person who reported them.
- In game: use the report option on the player or space.
- Urgent safety concerns: [SAFETY EMAIL]
- Everything else: [SUPPORT EMAIL] or the support channel on our Discord.
The more you can give us — usernames, roughly when it happened, a screenshot — the faster we can act.
Don't report someone for beating you in a fight, decorating badly, or disagreeing with you. False reports made to harass someone are themselves a breach of these guidelines.
10. What happens if you break these
We'd rather correct behaviour than lose players. Most things start small:
| First, minor | A warning, and usually a conversation |
| Repeated, or worse | Chat mute, or a temporary restriction on features |
| Serious, or continuing | Temporary account suspension |
| Severe, or repeated after suspension | Permanent ban |
| Zero tolerance list | Immediate permanent ban, reported to authorities |
We take context into account. A 13-year-old saying something stupid once is not the same as someone deliberately targeting people, and we'll treat them differently.
11. Moderators
Moderators are volunteers and staff who keep this place liveable. They're players too.
- Follow reasonable instructions from a moderator.
- Don't argue with a decision in public chat — appeal it properly instead.
- Don't abuse or harass moderators. They're doing an unpaid, thankless job so that you have somewhere nice to be.
If a moderator behaves badly, report it to [SUPPORT EMAIL]. We'd want to know.
12. Appeals
Think we got it wrong? Email [SUPPORT EMAIL] within 30 days. Tell us your username, what happened, and why you think the decision was mistaken.
We'll look at it properly and give you a straight answer. You get one appeal per decision, and our answer is final. Bans from the zero tolerance list aren't appealable.
13. These will change
We'll update these guidelines as the community grows and as we run into things we didn't anticipate. Significant changes get announced on our Discord and on the website.
Not everything you might do wrong is written down here. If something is clearly against the spirit of this page, we'll treat it that way even if there's no bullet point for it.
Questions? Come and ask in the Discord: [DISCORD INVITE]
See also: our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
1. Acceptance of these Terms
LittleWorlds aims to give you the best possible experience. To keep the service fun and fair for everyone, we have to set some rules. By creating an account, accessing the LittleWorlds website, or using the game, you agree to these Terms of Service. If you do not agree with any part of them, you must stop using the service.
These Terms form a binding agreement between you and [LEGAL ENTITY OR OPERATOR NAME] ("LittleWorlds", "we", "us", "our").
LittleWorlds is an independent, fan-made project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected in any way to Outsmart Ltd, the original creators of SmallWorlds, or to any other game or company. All trademarks, service marks and copyrights referenced remain the property of their respective owners.
2. What LittleWorlds is
LittleWorlds is a browser-based virtual world. You can create an avatar, build and decorate spaces, collect and trade items, chat with other players, take part in activities and games, and use other features we make available.
The service is under active development. Features may be added, changed, limited or removed at any time.
3. Early access and development status
LittleWorlds is currently in early access / testing. This means:
- The service may be unavailable, unstable, or contain bugs.
- Features may not work as described, or may change without notice.
- Game data — including accounts, avatars, items, currency balances and spaces — may be reset, wiped, rolled back or lost, whether deliberately (for example, at the end of a test phase) or accidentally.
- We do not guarantee that anything you build, earn or purchase during early access will carry over to later versions.
You accept these risks by taking part. If you are not comfortable with them, please wait until the service leaves early access.
4. Eligibility and minimum age
You must be at least 13 years old to create an account and use LittleWorlds. If the minimum age for consenting to online services in your country is higher than 13, that higher age applies to you.
If we become aware that an account belongs to someone under the minimum age, we will suspend or delete it.
5. Players under 18
If you are under 18, you may only use LittleWorlds with the knowledge and permission of a parent or legal guardian. By using the service, you confirm that you have that permission.
Parents and guardians: by permitting a child under 18 to use LittleWorlds, you agree to these Terms on their behalf and accept responsibility for their activity on the service, including any purchases made through their account.
We recommend that parents and guardians review our Community Guidelines and Privacy Policy with younger players, and make use of any parental or safety settings we provide.
6. Your account
- You are responsible for keeping your login details secure, and for all activity that happens under your account.
- Tell us immediately if you believe your account has been accessed by someone else.
- Do not share your account with anyone, and do not use anyone else's account.
- Do not sell, buy, gift, rent, trade or transfer accounts, whether for real money, virtual currency, or anything else of value.
- You may not create additional accounts to evade a suspension, ban, mute or other restriction.
- We may limit the number of accounts one person or household may hold.
7. Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- Harass, bully, threaten, stalk, intimidate or incite violence against anyone.
- Post or send content that is hateful, discriminatory, profane, sexually explicit, violent, graphic or otherwise inappropriate for a general audience.
- Impersonate another person, a member of staff, or LittleWorlds itself.
- Publish anyone's private or personal information, including your own or another player's real name, address, school, workplace, phone number or financial details.
- Spam, flood chat, advertise, solicit, or promote other services without permission.
- Cheat, exploit bugs, use bots, macros, automation, modified clients, or any third-party software that gives an unfair advantage.
- Attempt to hack, disrupt, overload, reverse engineer, decompile, scrape or gain unauthorised access to the service, its servers, or other users' accounts.
- Buy, sell or exchange in-game items, currency, accounts or services for real-world money or anything of real-world value outside the systems we provide.
- Use the service for any unlawful purpose, or in breach of any applicable law.
- Encourage or assist anyone else in doing any of the above.
Certain features let you publish content that other players can see. LittleWorlds is intended for a general audience, and you are responsible for making sure anything you publish is suitable for one.
8. Child safety — zero tolerance
We have no tolerance whatsoever for content or behaviour that sexualises, exploits or endangers a child. This includes, without limitation:
- Any sexual or romantic content involving, or directed at, a person under 18.
- Grooming, or any attempt to build an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
- Encouraging a minor to keep secrets, move to a private platform, share images, or conceal a conversation from a parent, guardian or trusted adult.
- Requesting, sharing or distributing sexual imagery of a minor.
Accounts involved in any of the above will be permanently banned without warning or appeal, and we will report the matter to law enforcement and to the relevant child protection authorities, providing any account information they lawfully request.
If you encounter something of this nature, report it immediately using the in-game report tool or by emailing [SAFETY EMAIL].
9. Your content and the licence you give us
You keep ownership of the content you create and submit — avatar designs, space layouts, text, images and anything else ("Your Content").
You grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, copy, display, reproduce, adapt and distribute Your Content solely for the purpose of operating, promoting and improving LittleWorlds. This licence lasts only as long as Your Content remains on the service, plus a reasonable period afterwards for backups and technical operation. It ends when you delete Your Content or your account, except where we must retain a copy by law or for safety and moderation records.
You confirm that:
- Your Content is yours, or you have permission to submit it.
- Your Content does not infringe anyone's copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights.
- Your Content does not break any law.
We do not claim ownership of Your Content, and we will not sell it.
We may remove any content at our discretion, including content that breaches these Terms or our Community Guidelines.
10. Reporting, moderation and appeals
We rely on players to help keep the service safe. Report anything that breaches these Terms using the in-game tools or by contacting [SUPPORT EMAIL].
We may review reported content and accounts, and take action including warnings, muting, item or feature restrictions, temporary suspension, or permanent bans.
If you believe a moderation decision against your account was wrong, you may appeal once by contacting [SUPPORT EMAIL] within 30 days. We will review appeals in good faith, but our decision is final. Bans for child safety breaches, or for threats of serious real-world harm, are not appealable.
11. Virtual items, currency and the in-game economy
LittleWorlds includes virtual items, virtual currency, and a player-driven economy in which items can be earned, traded and sold between players.
You need to understand the following:
- Virtual items and virtual currency are licensed to you, not sold. You receive a personal, revocable, non-transferable licence to use them within LittleWorlds, and nothing more.
- Virtual items and currency have no real-world monetary value. They cannot be redeemed for cash, goods or services outside LittleWorlds, and we do not recognise them as your property.
- We may add, change, rebalance, devalue, remove, withdraw or reset any item, currency, price, drop rate or economic mechanic at any time, including in ways that reduce the value or usefulness of things you hold. This is a normal part of running a game economy.
- Your licence to virtual items and currency ends when your account is closed, suspended or terminated, or when the service ends. You are not entitled to compensation for anything lost.
12. Purchases, payments and refunds
We may offer optional paid content, such as virtual currency, cosmetic items or a premium membership.
- All purchases are prepaid and processed by third-party payment providers. We do not store your full card details. Your use of a payment provider is subject to that provider's own terms.
- Prices are shown inclusive of applicable taxes where required. Prices may change.
- If you are a consumer in the UK or EU, you have a statutory right to cancel a purchase of digital content within 14 days — but that right is lost once delivery of the digital content begins with your express consent. By buying and immediately receiving virtual currency or items, you consent to immediate delivery and acknowledge that you lose your right to cancel.
- Outside that statutory right, purchases are non-refundable, except at our sole discretion or where refund is required by applicable law.
- Nothing in these Terms limits your statutory rights as a consumer.
- If you are under 18, you must have permission from the person who owns the payment method before making any purchase. We may refuse or reverse purchases we believe were made without authorisation.
- Fraudulent chargebacks may result in your account being suspended or banned.
13. Trading between players
Where we provide trading features, you use them at your own risk.
- Trades are between players. We are not a party to them and do not guarantee that any trade is fair.
- Completed trades are final. We will not reverse a trade because you changed your mind, misread it, or feel you got a bad deal.
- We may reverse trades, remove items or restrict accounts where we believe a trade involved fraud, exploitation, scamming, a bug, a compromised account, or real-money trading.
- Scamming other players is a breach of these Terms.
14. Intellectual property and IP complaints
Except for Your Content, all rights in the LittleWorlds name, logo, website, code, and the material we provide are owned by us or our licensors.
You may not copy, distribute, modify, sell or create derivative works from the service, except where the law expressly allows it.
If you believe material on LittleWorlds infringes your intellectual property rights, contact [LEGAL EMAIL] with: a description of the work, where the material appears, your contact details, a statement that you believe the use is unauthorised, and confirmation that your complaint is made in good faith. We will investigate and remove infringing material where appropriate.
15. Third-party services
LittleWorlds may link to or integrate third-party services, including our Discord server, social media accounts, and payment providers. We do not control those services and are not responsible for their content, terms or privacy practices.
Where third-party games, widgets or developer tools are made available, they may access limited account information as permitted by our APIs and Privacy Policy — for example your avatar name, display name, friend list and membership status. Our Privacy Policy explains this in detail.
16. Privacy and your data
Our Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and the rights you have over it — including your rights to access, correct, delete and export your data.
By using LittleWorlds you agree to the handling of your data as described there.
17. Availability and changes to the service
We will try to keep LittleWorlds available and working, but we do not promise uninterrupted access. We may take the service offline for maintenance, updates or technical reasons, with or without notice.
We may change, limit or remove any part of the service at any time.
18. Disclaimer of warranties
The service and all materials on it are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express, statutory or implied. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including any implied warranties of merchantability, satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.
We do not warrant that the service will be available, uninterrupted, secure or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the service or its servers are free of viruses or other harmful components. We make no representations about the accuracy or reliability of any content on the service or on any linked site.
We are not responsible for the conduct of any user of the service. You interact with other players at your own risk, and you use the service at your own risk.
If applicable law does not allow the exclusion of some or all of the above, those exclusions apply to you only to the extent permitted by law.
19. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we, our affiliates, and our respective officers, employees, agents, licensors, representatives and third-party providers will not be liable under any legal theory for any indirect, consequential, incidental, special or punitive damages, or for loss of data, loss of virtual items or currency, loss of profit, or loss of goodwill, arising from your use of, or inability to use, the service.
In any event, our total liability to you for all claims combined will not exceed the greater of (a) the total amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose, or (b) £10.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law. If you are a consumer, your statutory rights are unaffected.
20. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless LittleWorlds, our affiliates, and our respective officers, employees, agents, licensors, representatives and third-party providers from any losses, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms or your misuse of the service. We may assume the exclusive defence and control of any such matter at our own expense, and you agree to cooperate with us.
21. Suspension and termination
By you. You may stop using LittleWorlds and request deletion of your account at any time by contacting [SUPPORT EMAIL] or using any in-game option we provide.
By us. We will try to be reasonable and fair, but we may suspend, restrict, or permanently terminate any account at any time, with or without notice, where we believe it is necessary — including for breach of these Terms, for the safety of others, or to protect the service.
On termination, your licence to use the service, and to any virtual items and currency held on the account, ends immediately. We will not compensate you for anything spent, earned, built or purchased on that account.
22. Termination of operations
We may suspend, discontinue or shut down the service, the website, or any part of them, at any time and for any reason, with or without notice. Where practical, we will give advance notice so you can say your goodbyes.
We will not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuation of the service, or for the loss of anything held on it.
23. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. We will change the "last updated" date at the top, and where the change is significant we will give reasonable notice — through the website, an in-game notice, or our Discord.
Continuing to use LittleWorlds after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not accept them, stop using the service and close your account.
24. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of [England and Wales / YOUR JURISDICTION], and the courts of [England and Wales / YOUR JURISDICTION] have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute.
If you are a consumer resident elsewhere, this does not remove any protection given to you by the mandatory law of your country of residence, or your right to bring proceedings there.
We would much rather sort things out directly — please contact us first at [SUPPORT EMAIL].
25. General
- Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in force.
- No waiver. If we do not enforce a provision, that does not mean we have given up the right to enforce it later.
- Assignment. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms. We may transfer ours, for example if the project changes hands, provided your rights are not reduced.
- Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines, form the whole agreement between us about the service.
- No third-party rights. No one other than you and us can enforce these Terms.
26. Contact
- General and support: [SUPPORT EMAIL]
- Safety and urgent reports: [SAFETY EMAIL]
- Legal and IP: [LEGAL EMAIL]
- Community: [DISCORD INVITE]
1. About these Terms of Sale
These Terms of Sale govern anything you buy from LittleWorlds, however you buy it — on the website, in the game, on a computer or on a mobile device.
Every time you make a purchase, you accept these Terms of Sale. They apply alongside our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy; where a purchase is concerned and the two conflict, these Terms of Sale take priority.
When you place an order you are making an offer to buy. The contract between us is formed when we accept that offer, either by sending you a confirmation or by delivering what you ordered. Nothing on the website is an offer by us to sell — we can decline any order.
Seller: [LEGAL ENTITY OR OPERATOR NAME]. VAT number: [VAT NUMBER, IF REGISTERED].
2. What you are actually buying
We may sell:
- Gold — virtual currency, spendable inside LittleWorlds.
- [MEMBERSHIP NAME] — an optional paid membership with additional features.
- Individual virtual items — cosmetics and similar.
In every case, what you are buying is a limited, personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use that content inside LittleWorlds. You are not buying property.
That means:
- Virtual currency, memberships, items and avatars have no real-world monetary value. They cannot be exchanged for cash, goods or services outside LittleWorlds.
- They remain ours. Your rights are limited to using them in the game, in line with our Terms of Service.
- They are consumed at the point of purchase — much like putting a coin into an arcade machine. What you're paying for is the play, not an asset.
- Where bought through a mobile carrier or app store, they are not redeemable for anything that carrier or store offers.
- Attempting to sell, transfer or trade them for real-world money or value outside the systems we provide will end the licence immediately.
- The licence ends if your account is closed, suspended or terminated, or if we discontinue the service.
We may add, remove, rebalance, reprice or devalue any virtual item, currency or feature at any time. This is normal in a live game, and you are not entitled to compensation for it.
3. Who can buy
You may only make a purchase if you are legally able to enter a contract and are authorised to use the payment method.
If you are under 18, you must have permission from a parent or guardian before buying anything, and permission from whoever owns the payment method. By placing an order you confirm you have both.
Parents and guardians: you are responsible for purchases made through your child's account and for setting up spending limits and controls on the payment method, the device and any app store or carrier account involved. If you find a purchase you didn't authorise, contact us at [SUPPORT EMAIL] — we'd rather sort it out with you than have it come back as a chargeback.
We may refuse, cancel or reverse any purchase we believe was made without proper authorisation.
4. Prices, currency and tax
- All prices are shown in [CURRENCY, e.g. GBP] and include VAT or other sales tax where it applies. The price you see at checkout is the price you pay.
- We may ask for your country of residence in order to apply the correct tax rate.
- Prices can change at any time. The price shown on the confirmation screen at the point you complete your order is the price that applies to that order.
- If a price is displayed incorrectly due to an obvious error, we may cancel the order and refund you in full rather than fulfil it. We'll tell you if that happens.
- We're not responsible for typographical errors, but we will honour anything you were reasonably led to believe you were buying.
5. Payment
Payments are handled by third-party payment providers. Your use of a provider is subject to that provider's own terms.
You confirm that you are authorised to use the payment method you provide, including any card or account associated with it.
We'll issue a receipt or confirmation for every purchase. Keep it — it's useful if anything goes wrong.
6. Subscriptions and automatic renewal
If [MEMBERSHIP NAME] is sold as a subscription:
- It renews automatically at the end of each billing period, at the then-current price, until you cancel.
- We'll tell you the price and the billing period clearly before you subscribe, and we'll remind you before any price increase takes effect.
- You can cancel at any time, through your account settings or by emailing [SUPPORT EMAIL]. Cancelling stops the next payment.
- When you cancel, your membership continues until the end of the period you've already paid for. We don't refund part-used periods unless the law requires it.
- If we increase the price, we'll give you at least [30] days' notice, and you can cancel before it applies.
- If a renewal payment fails, we may retry it, and may suspend membership benefits until it clears.
7. Your right to cancel, and refunds
Your statutory right to cancel. If you're a consumer in the UK or EU, you normally have 14 days to change your mind about digital content. However, that right is lost once delivery of the digital content has begun with your express consent.
Virtual currency, items and membership benefits are delivered immediately. By completing a purchase you:
- ask us to deliver it straight away, and
- acknowledge that you therefore lose your 14-day right to cancel.
If you'd rather keep that right, don't complete the purchase.
Outside that. Purchases are non-refundable, except at our discretion or where the law requires a refund — for example if what we supplied was faulty, not as described, or never delivered.
We will normally refund where a payment was taken in error, where a purchase was made without the account holder's authorisation, or where a technical fault meant you didn't receive what you paid for. Contact [SUPPORT EMAIL] within a reasonable time and we'll look into it.
We won't normally refund because you changed your mind, spent currency on something you regret, lost items in a trade, were banned for breaking the rules, or because a game update changed how something works.
Refunds go back to the original payment method. We may remove the corresponding currency, items or membership from your account when we issue one.
Nothing here affects your statutory rights as a consumer.
8. Chargebacks
If you believe a charge is wrong, please talk to us first — most problems are quicker to fix directly.
Raising a chargeback without contacting us may result in your account being suspended until it's resolved, and repeated or fraudulent chargebacks may result in a permanent ban. We may also recover reasonable costs charged to us by the payment provider.
9. If your account ends
If your account is closed, suspended or permanently banned — by you or by us — your licence to any currency, items or membership on it ends at the same time.
We won't refund or compensate you for anything unspent, unused or unexpired. This includes bans for breaching our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.
10. If we stop running LittleWorlds
We may discontinue the service at any time. Where we can, we'll give advance notice and stop selling before we do.
If we discontinue the service, your licences end. Subject to your statutory rights, we're not obliged to refund unused currency or the remainder of a subscription period — though we'll try to be fair about it and will say clearly what we intend to do at the time.
11. Payment security
We take security seriously. Transactions are encrypted in transit using TLS, and we never store your full card details — those stay with our payment provider. See our Privacy Policy for how we handle your information.
If you spot an unauthorised charge, contact your bank or card issuer as well as us. Your bank has its own rules about liability for unauthorised transactions and can usually act faster than we can.
12. Things outside our control
We won't be in breach of these Terms if delivery is delayed or prevented by something beyond our reasonable control — including natural events, war, civil unrest, government action, terrorism, fire, flood, strikes, utility or network failures, server or hosting failures, cyber attacks, or serious technical faults.
If that happens, we'll deliver as soon as we reasonably can, or refund you if we can't.
13. Limitation of liability
We may revise or modify products, product descriptions or pricing without notice.
Our liability in connection with any purchase is limited as set out in our Terms of Service.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for breach of the statutory rights you have as a consumer, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.
14. Complaints
If something's gone wrong with a purchase, email [SUPPORT EMAIL] and tell us your username, what you bought, when, and what the problem is. We aim to respond within [5] working days.
If you're a consumer and we can't resolve it between us, you may be able to take the matter to an alternative dispute resolution scheme, or to the courts. You can also get free advice from Citizens Advice.
15. Governing law
These Terms of Sale are governed by the laws of [England and Wales / YOUR JURISDICTION], and its courts have jurisdiction over any dispute.
If you're a consumer resident elsewhere, this doesn't remove any protection given to you by the mandatory law of your country of residence, or your right to bring proceedings in your local courts.
The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.
16. General
- Severability. If any part of these Terms of Sale is unlawful or unenforceable, that part is severed and the rest still applies.
- Entire agreement. These Terms of Sale, with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, are the whole agreement about your purchases. If a purchase order, email or other message from anyone conflicts with them, these Terms of Sale apply — unless we've agreed otherwise in writing.
- No waiver. Not enforcing a term doesn't mean we've given it up.
- Assignment. You can't transfer your rights under these Terms. We may transfer ours if the project changes hands, without reducing your rights.
17. Contact
- Purchases, refunds and billing: [SUPPORT EMAIL]
1. Your privacy
Your privacy matters to us. We collect as little personal information as we can get away with, we use it only for the purposes described here, and we do not sell it to anyone.
This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and what rights you have over it.
Personal information means information that identifies you or could be used to identify you — your username, email address, date of birth, IP address and similar. It does not include information that is already public or that has been fully anonymised.
If we make a significant change to this policy, we will update the date above and tell you — by email, by a notice on the website, or through a notice when you next log in.
2. Who we are
Data controller: [LEGAL ENTITY OR OPERATOR NAME] Privacy contact: [PRIVACY EMAIL]
LittleWorlds is an independent, fan-made project and is not affiliated with Outsmart Ltd or the original creators of SmallWorlds.
3. What we collect
When you register Username, email address, password (stored only as a secure hash — we never see or store your actual password), and date of birth. We use date of birth to confirm you meet our minimum age and to apply age-appropriate settings.
When you use the game Avatar and character details, spaces you build, items you own, currency balances, friend lists, achievements, progress and settings.
Chat and communications Public and private chat messages, and content you post in shared spaces. These may be logged and retained for moderation, safety and abuse investigation.
Reports and moderation records Reports you make or that are made about you, along with any action taken and our notes on it.
Technical information Our servers automatically log your IP address, browser type and version, device and operating system, timestamps, referring pages, the pages and features you use, and error and crash data.
Cookies and similar technologies Small files stored by your browser. See section 8.
Purchase information If you buy anything, we record what you bought, when, the amount, and a transaction reference. We never store your card number, CVV or other full payment details. Payments are handled entirely by our payment provider, and where you choose to save a card, it is stored in their secure systems, not ours.
What we do not collect We do not ask for your real name, home address, phone number or school. Please do not share those with us or with other players.
4. Why we use it, and our legal basis
Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for each use of your data. Ours are:
| What we use it for | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Creating and running your account, delivering the game | Performance of a contract |
| Processing purchases and keeping transaction records | Performance of a contract; legal obligation |
| Moderation, safety, preventing cheating, fraud and abuse | Legitimate interests; legal obligation |
| Age verification and applying protections for younger players | Legal obligation; legitimate interests |
| Fixing bugs, improving and securing the service | Legitimate interests |
| Service emails you need to receive (password resets, security, important changes) | Performance of a contract |
| Optional marketing or newsletter emails | Consent — you can withdraw it at any time |
| Non-essential cookies and analytics | Consent |
| Responding to legal requests, defending legal claims | Legal obligation; legitimate interests |
We do not use your data for automated decision-making that has a legal or similarly significant effect on you. Automated systems may flag accounts for cheating or abuse, but a person reviews the outcome before any permanent ban, and you can appeal.
5. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.
We share it only in these circumstances:
- Service providers who work on our behalf — hosting and infrastructure, content delivery and security, payment processing, email delivery, and error monitoring. They act on our instructions under contract, may only use the data to provide their service to us, and may not use it for their own purposes.
- Other players — your username, avatar, spaces, owned items and anything you post publicly are visible to other players. Your email address and date of birth are never shown to them.
- Where the law requires it — to comply with a legal obligation, court order or lawful request from an authority, or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
- Safety — to prevent or investigate illegal activity, breaches of our Terms of Service, or anything that threatens the safety of any person. Where a child is at risk, we will report to law enforcement and child protection authorities and provide the information they lawfully request.
- If the project changes hands — if LittleWorlds is transferred to, merged with or acquired by another operator, your data may transfer with it. We will tell you first, and your rights under this policy will not be reduced.
Current categories of provider include cloud hosting, CDN and DDoS protection, a payment processor, and an email delivery service. We can tell you who they are on request.
6. Where your data is held
Our servers and service providers may be located outside the UK. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we rely on an appropriate safeguard — an adequacy decision, or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum — so that your data keeps an equivalent level of protection.
7. How long we keep it
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Account and game data | While your account is active |
| Account data after you delete your account | Deleted or anonymised within 30 days, except as below |
| Chat logs | [e.g. 90 days], then deleted |
| Moderation and ban records | Up to [e.g. 3 years], so bans can be enforced and appeals reviewed |
| Child safety records | Retained as long as necessary, and shared with authorities where required |
| Purchase and transaction records | 6 years, to meet tax and accounting obligations |
| Server and security logs | [e.g. 90 days] |
If you are banned, we keep the minimum information needed to enforce that ban — otherwise it could be avoided simply by making a new account.
8. Cookies
We use cookies and similar storage for:
- Essential — keeping you logged in, security, load balancing, remembering your settings. These are required for the service to work and cannot be turned off.
- Analytics — understanding how many people visit and which features they use, so we can improve them. These are optional and only set with your consent.
You can clear or block cookies through your browser settings, though blocking essential cookies will stop you logging in.
We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.
9. Children and younger players
LittleWorlds has a minimum age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, contact [PRIVACY EMAIL] and we will investigate and delete the account and its data.
If the minimum age of consent for online services in your country is higher than 13, that higher age applies.
For players under 18:
- We apply the strongest privacy settings we reasonably can by default.
- We do not show targeted advertising, and we do not profile younger players for marketing.
- We do not ask for more information than we need.
- A parent or guardian may contact us to access, correct or delete their child's data, or to close the account. We may ask for proof of your relationship to the child before acting.
Parents and guardians: we encourage you to talk to younger players about not sharing personal details with anyone online, including other players.
10. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- Be informed about how we use your data — that is what this policy is for.
- Access a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction of data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Erasure of your data, where we have no overriding reason to keep it.
- Restriction of how we use your data while a dispute is resolved.
- Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format, or have it sent to another provider.
- Object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
- Withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the basis we rely on. Withdrawing it will not affect anything done beforehand.
To exercise any of these, email [PRIVACY EMAIL]. We will respond within one month. We may ask you to confirm your identity first, so that we do not hand your data to someone else.
Exercising these rights is free, and we will not restrict or ban your account for doing so.
11. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first — we would rather fix it.
You also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator:
Information Commissioner's Office ico.org.uk · 0303 123 1113
If you live elsewhere, you may complain to your local data protection authority instead.
12. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your data, including encryption in transit, hashed passwords, access controls, and restricting who can see personal data.
No service can be completely secure. Please use a strong, unique password, and do not reuse the one you use elsewhere.
If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify the ICO within 72 hours and tell affected users without undue delay.
13. Marketing emails
We will only send you optional emails about LittleWorlds if you have opted in. Every one of them has an unsubscribe link, and you can also change your preferences in your account settings.
Service emails — password resets, security alerts, and notices about important changes — are not optional while you have an account, because you need them.
14. Third-party links
The website and game may link to third-party services such as our Discord server, social media accounts and payment provider. Those services have their own privacy policies, and we are not responsible for how they handle your data.
15. Contact
- Privacy questions and data requests: [PRIVACY EMAIL]
- General support: [SUPPORT EMAIL]
- Safety and urgent reports: [SAFETY EMAIL]