Terms of Use

Acceptance and Apple's EULA

In a hurry, or reading in another language? A plain-language summary of these Terms is at tideward.app/terms/simple, in fifteen of the sixteen languages the game speaks. It is a summary: these full Terms govern.

By downloading, installing, or using Tideward (the "App"), you agree to (a) Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement (the "Apple EULA"), which governs your license to use the App, and (b) these Terms of Use, which add gameplay-specific rules. Where the Apple EULA and these Terms address the same subject, the Apple EULA controls the App-store license layer; these Terms govern the parts the Apple EULA leaves unaddressed.

If you do not agree to either, do not use the App.

Where Tideward is available

Tideward is offered through Apple's App Store, in the countries and regions listed on its App Store product page, which is the authoritative list. These Terms are written around U.S. law. If you live somewhere else, the mandatory consumer laws of the place where you live still apply to you, as described under "Mandatory local consumer law generally" below, and where those laws give you rights these Terms cannot limit, those rights win. Where a place requires provisions of its own, we add them to these Terms.

License scope and ownership

Your license to use the App is the license described in the Apple EULA, non-transferable, limited to Apple-branded devices you own or control, subject to Apple's Usage Rules and Family Sharing rules. Manu Games LLC retains all right, title, and interest it holds in the App, the Tideward name and marks, the artwork, the source code, and the underlying systems, and reserves every right not expressly granted. You retain ownership of your save data.

Nothing in this section is a claim that every individual asset in the App carries copyright protection in every jurisdiction. Some of the artwork was produced with AI image-generation tools (see AI-generated content below), and jurisdictions differ on the protection available to such material. That does not change your license, your purchase, or anything you can do in the game; it simply means we describe what we own accurately rather than overclaiming.

What the in-app purchase unlocks

The game itself is unlocked by a single, one-time, non-consumable in-app purchase (the "Full Version Unlock"). Purchasing it unlocks access to the full game on every Apple device you sign into with the same Apple ID. It is not a subscription, and contains no auto-renewal, no virtual currency, no battle pass, no chance-based content, and no recurring charges of any kind.

Beyond it, Tideward offers a small, fixed set of optional cosmetic in-app purchases: a handful of profile icons and a card background. They are one-time, non-consumable purchases like the unlock, and they are purely decorative. Nothing sold in Tideward, cosmetic or otherwise, makes your character stronger, faster, or luckier, or grants any advantage in gameplay or on leaderboards. There is no pay-to-win mechanic in this app and no way to buy progress.

Family Sharing differs between the two. The Full Version Unlock is enabled for Family Sharing, so one purchase covers your household as Apple permits. The optional cosmetic items are not Family Shared and apply only to the Apple ID that bought them.

Your unlock buys the whole game as it stands, and our commitment to keep it working: bug reports sent through the in-app report form or our Discord get fast attention, and fixes ship free. We intend to keep that pace of response for a long time to come. Small additions that broaden the existing game ship free when they come. We reserve the right to release a separate, materially distinct product (for example, a sequel or a major standalone expansion) as a new App or paid IAP; if we do, we will say so plainly before you are asked to pay anything new.

The current price is set in the App Store and shown to you before purchase. Apple sells the App and its in-app purchases on our behalf and handles payment and refunds.

Free demo scope

The free portion of Tideward is a meaningful demo, not a teaser. It includes a defined subset of the skill tree, so you can form a real opinion about whether the game is for you before you decide whether to buy. The exact contents of the free demo may change as the game evolves; the App will tell you clearly which features are in the free tier and which require the unlock before you encounter any paywall.

Restoring purchases

The App provides a "Restore Purchases" button that re-reads your StoreKit entitlements. If you previously purchased the unlock or any cosmetic item with the same Apple ID, this button restores them at no additional cost. You can also use Family Sharing as Apple permits, which covers the Full Version Unlock but not the optional cosmetic items.

Refunds

All refunds for App Store purchases are handled by Apple. To request a refund, use Apple's portal at reportaproblem.apple.com. Manu Games does not directly issue App Store refunds; Apple handles payment and refunds for App Store purchases. In many countries Apple sells the App as our agent, which makes Manu Games the seller, and any right the law gives you against the seller is a right against us.

U.S. state unfair-and-deceptive-practices statutes (including California's Unfair Competition Law (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17200), New York General Business Law §349, and analogous statutes in other states) and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act provide a baseline floor of consumer-protection obligations that apply to Manu Games as the seller. Nothing in these Terms is intended to disclaim those non-waivable obligations.

If Apple declines a refund you believe is owed under those statutes, write to legal@manugames.com with the order ID, the date of purchase, the basis on which you believe a refund is owed, and any communications you've had with Apple. We'll work with you in good faith.

Randomized in-game rewards

Tideward contains random in-game item drops obtained through gameplay only. There are no real-money inputs to randomized rewards. Every purchase in the App, the unlock and each cosmetic item alike, is one-time, non-randomized, and tells you exactly what you are getting before you pay; none includes chance-based outcomes, loot boxes, gacha mechanics, or paid surprise mechanics of any kind.

Drops are gameplay rewards. Items have no real-world monetary value and are not transferable, sellable, or exchangeable outside the App.

AI-generated content

Tideward's artwork, including the creature portraits and the item and equipment icons, has been produced with AI image-generation tools since the project's first day, then selected, corrected, and finished by a person in an image editor before it shipped. We disclose this because we would rather you hear it from us.

Two things follow, and both are worth stating plainly:

• The App itself contains no AI. It does not run a model, does not generate anything while you play, and never sends anything you do to an AI service. The artwork is ordinary image files, finished before release. The game's design, systems, and balance are human decisions; its code and writing are produced with AI assistance under human direction and reviewed by a person before release.
• No AI feature is being sold to you. The one-time unlock buys game content, not access to any generative service, so nothing here creates an expectation of AI functionality.

Acceptable use

Use the App for personal, non-commercial entertainment. Specifically, you agree not to:

• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the App, except to the extent applicable law permits this notwithstanding the limitation;
• Exploit bugs, glitches, or unintended behavior to manipulate save state in ways that materially affect leaderboards or progression on others' devices;
• Use bots, automation, scripts, memory editors, or modified clients to play the App;
• Resell, transfer, or attempt to share an Apple ID with a paid Tideward entitlement, except as Apple's Family Sharing rules permit;
• Use the App in connection with any unlawful purpose, or in any jurisdiction subject to a U.S. embargo (consistent with the Apple EULA's export-control provisions).

If we detect serious or repeated violations, we may decline to render leaderboard entries associated with the offending account. We do not have access to your save state and cannot ban you from the game itself; account-level enforcement remains with Apple.

Game Center conduct

If you use Game Center, your alias is governed by Apple's Game Center terms. You are responsible for the alias you choose. We may decline to display Game Center aliases on Tideward leaderboards where, in our judgment, an alias is harassing, hateful, sexually explicit, doxxing, or otherwise plainly unsuitable for a 13+ rated game. We do not control Apple's Game Center records and cannot change another user's alias on Apple's side; your remedy for offensive Apple-rendered content is with Apple.

Fair play and leaderboard access

Offline progress is measured against clocks you cannot set, not just your device's, and Tideward always credits the smallest reading available. If the total offline time credited to an account ever exceeds the time that has existed since your Apple account first downloaded Tideward, that account stops submitting scores to the Game Center leaderboards. This happens permanently, on the first occurrence, across every device, whatever you have paid.

What it does not do matters just as much: your save, your progress, your achievements, and your unlock are untouched, and the game stays fully playable. Nothing you bought is withdrawn. The check runs entirely on your device and writes only to your own private iCloud, so we are never told the outcome and hold no record of it.

If you believe the result is wrong, tell us. Settings → Support → Leaderboard Access inside the App carries your case reference and a private email link. We review every one by hand, and we lean toward the player when the evidence is not clear.

Updates and discontinuation

We may update the App from time to time to fix bugs, balance gameplay, add features, and stay current with new operating-system versions. If we ever decide to discontinue active development of Tideward, we will give reasonable notice through the App and the Tideward website at tideward.app, and we will preserve your ability to use what you have already purchased for as long as Apple continues to support the build on its platforms.

Disclaimers and warranty

If you live in Québec, this section does not apply to you.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the App is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE," without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or freedom from defects. Some U.S. states, and many countries, do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or guarantees; where you live under such a law, the exclusions in this section apply only to the extent that law permits.

Limitation of liability

If you live in Québec, this section does not apply to you.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Manu Games's total cumulative liability arising out of or relating to the App or these Terms is limited to the amount you actually paid for the App in the twelve months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. Manu Games will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, or business interruption.

This limitation does not apply to liability that cannot be limited by law, for example, liability for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or any non-waivable consumer-protection remedy under U.S. state or federal law or the consumer law where you live.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify Manu Games against third-party claims arising from your unlawful use of the App, your serious breach of the acceptable-use rules above, or your violation of another person's rights through your use of the App. This is a narrow indemnity for user misconduct only.

Governing law and venue

If you live in Québec, the choice of North Carolina law in this section does not apply to you; Québec law governs these Terms for you.

These Terms are governed by the substantive laws of the State of North Carolina, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to the dispute-resolution section below and the carve-outs that follow, exclusive jurisdiction and venue lies with the state and federal courts of North Carolina.

U.S. state consumer-protection venue carve-out. Some U.S. states' consumer-protection statutes give residents the right to bring claims in their home-state courts under their home-state law, and that right cannot be waived by contract. Nothing in this section overrides those rights; a U.S. resident may bring a consumer-protection claim in their home-state court to the extent state law requires it.

If you live in Québec, the choice of North Carolina courts in this section does not apply to you; you may bring proceedings in the courts of Québec.

Australia and New Zealand. Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures with the service, you are entitled to cancel your service contract with us and to a refund for the unused portion, or to compensation for its reduced value. You are also entitled to choose a refund or replacement for major failures with goods. If a failure with the goods or a service does not amount to a major failure, you are entitled to have the failure rectified in a reasonable time. If this is not done you are entitled to a refund for the goods and to cancel the contract for the service and obtain a refund of any unused portion. You are also entitled to be compensated for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage from a failure in the goods or service. If you are in New Zealand, nothing in these Terms limits your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or the Fair Trading Act 1986. To claim under these guarantees you may write to us directly at legal@manugames.com, whatever the store's own refund decision.

United Kingdom. If you live in the UK, nothing in these Terms limits your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, including your rights when digital content is faulty, is not as described, or is not fit for purpose, and the choice of North Carolina law does not take away the protection of the UK law that would apply without it. You may bring proceedings in the courts of the part of the UK where you live.

European Union and European Economic Area. If you live in the EU or the EEA, nothing in these Terms limits your rights under the consumer law of the country where you live, including the legal guarantee of conformity for digital content and, where it applies, your right of withdrawal. The choice of North Carolina law does not take away the protection of the mandatory law of your country, and you may bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live.

Mandatory local consumer law generally. If you use the App as a consumer somewhere whose law gives you rights that cannot be limited by agreement (including any statutory guarantee, conformity right, cooling-off right, or right to bring proceedings where you live) this section does not take those rights away from you and does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory rules of your country of residence. Where those rules conflict with anything in these Terms, they win.

Dispute resolution

Before filing any legal action, please write to legal@manugames.com with a description of the dispute and the resolution you are seeking. We will try to resolve disputes informally within 30 days; many issues turn out to be ordinary support questions and are easy to fix.

If you live in Québec, the United Kingdom, the European Union or the European Economic Area, the arbitration agreement and the class-action waiver in this section do not apply to you.

Any unresolved dispute will be resolved by binding individual arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court for any matter within that court's jurisdiction. Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. Class-action and class-arbitration claims are waived to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Opt-out of arbitration. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice to legal@manugames.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms. If you opt out, disputes resolve in court under the Governing Law and Venue section above.

Where arbitration does not apply. This arbitration agreement and the class-action waiver apply only to the extent the law allows. If you are a consumer in a jurisdiction whose law makes pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class-action waivers unenforceable against consumers, this section simply does not apply to you, and your dispute proceeds in the courts available to you under that law. The informal-resolution step above still applies, and we would genuinely rather use it.

Apple as third-party beneficiary

You acknowledge that Apple Inc. and Apple's subsidiaries (together, "Apple") are third-party beneficiaries of the Apple EULA and of these Terms, and that, upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce them against you as a third-party beneficiary. Apple is not a party to these Terms and is not responsible for the App or its content.

Changes to these Terms

If you live in Québec, the Québec paragraph at the end of this section also applies to you, and where it gives you more, it prevails.

We may change these Terms to follow a change in the law or a regulator's guidance, to cover a new region, platform or feature, to reflect a change in how the App works or in what a future purchase includes, to deal with security, fraud or misuse, or to make the wording clearer. The parts we may change are: the acceptable-use and fair-play rules, the description of the App and its features, the purchases section for purchases made after the change, the dispute-resolution, governing-law and venue sections (going forward only), the region-specific sections, and our contact details.

When a change is material, we will post the new Terms on tideward.app together with the clause as it read before, at least 30 days before the change takes effect, and we will tell you inside the App the first time you open a version of the App that carries the change, with a short description and the date it takes effect. We will also announce it on tideward.app. Earlier versions of these Terms stay available at tideward.app/legal/archive/.

Continuing to use the App after the effective date means you accept the change. If you do not accept it, you may stop using the App. Where your local law gives you the right to refuse a change and end the agreement without cost (for example, consumers in Québec when a change increases your obligations or reduces ours), you may do so by writing to legal@manugames.com no later than 30 days after the change takes effect.

Changes apply going forward only. A change never takes away anything you have already bought. A change to the dispute-resolution section does not apply to a dispute that arose before the change took effect, and you may opt out of the changed dispute-resolution section by writing to legal@manugames.com within 30 days of its effective date. If the law requires a change sooner, it takes effect when the law requires, and we will tell you as soon as we can.

Québec. If you live in Québec, we can change these Terms only as Québec's Consumer Protection Act allows: at least 30 days before a change takes effect, we send you a written notice, in French, that sets out the new clause, the clause it replaces, the date the change takes effect, and your right to refuse it. If the change increases your obligations or reduces ours, you may refuse it and cancel these Terms, without cost, by telling us within 30 days after it takes effect.

Contact

Three channels, each scoped to a specific kind of question:

• Refund-rights inquiries, dispute-resolution notices, and other legal notices: legal@manugames.com
• Privacy questions and data-rights requests: privacy@manugames.com
• General support and product questions: support@manugames.com

Manu Games LLC
89 Waynesville Plaza #1028
Waynesville, NC 28786
United States