Terms of Service

Last updated: [DATE]

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]