The Catalyst

Privacy Policy – The Catalyst

The game records how far you get, never who you are, so the tricky levels can be made fairer.

There is no account, no sign-in, no advertising and no analytics company. We never ask for your name, email address, contacts, location or anything else that says who you are, and we never sell anything about you.

Information we collect

1. Your saves, kept on your own device

Your three banks – how far each run has got, what you have found, how much help you chose – and your settings (sound, and whether play notes are sent) are saved in your browser on your own phone or computer. They are not sent to us, apart from the little the play notes below carry (the level, the help chosen, how many things you have found). The Android app opens the game in Chrome, so it shares Chrome's copy on that phone.

2. Play notes, sent while you play

At a handful of moments – a level started or finished, a run that has stalled, the ring overflowing, a run left – the game sends a short note about how the level went: the level, the coins on the ring and in your hand, lives and hints left, the help setting, how long the level took, the size of the board on your screen and the game's version. A stall or an overflow comes with a small picture of the game board (only the game – nothing else on your screen).

The notes carry no name, account or address. Each device makes up a random play number the first time it plays and puts it on its notes, so one player's runs can be followed from level to level. It is not tied to anything else, and you can see it in the game: Play notes, at the foot of the banks page. You can switch the notes off there at any time.

3. Bug reports, only when you press BUG

From the game, a report holds what you typed, a picture of the game screen, where you were in the game (the level, what was on the ring and in your hand, what you had found, lives and hints left), your screen size, your browser's name and version, and your play number. From the front page it holds what you typed, the page you were on, your screen size and your browser's name, and no picture. If the server does not answer, a report from the game waits in your browser and is sent the next time the game can reach it.

4. Your connection's address and the server's logs

Like every website, our server sees the internet address (IP address) your connection comes from. The game uses it for one thing: to stop one connection sending too much at once. It sits in a short list that forgets it after about ten minutes and is never written into the notes or the reports.

The web server also keeps a log of each request, as every web server does: the address, the time, the page or file asked for, the page that linked to it and the browser's name, and a second log of requests that went wrong.

Cookies

The game and the website set no cookies of their own. Cloudflare, which protects the site (see below), can set a strictly necessary security cookie when it checks for automated traffic.

How we use it

• Play notes show where players get stuck, so the hard levels can be made fairer. A public page, the traces page, shows totals for each level and recent board pictures from stalls and overflows; it never shows play numbers.
• Bug reports are read to find and fix what went wrong.
• Addresses and server logs are used only to run the site and protect it from abuse.

We use this information because we have a legitimate interest in making the game work and keeping it running (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f)). Nothing is used for advertising, profiling or any decision about you.

Who we share it with

We do not sell, rent or give your information to anyone. Two companies handle it as part of running the game:

• Cloudflare, Inc. – our hosting and network provider. Every request to thecatalystgame.com, including each note or report the game sends, passes through Cloudflare on its way to our server, so Cloudflare sees your connection's address and what was asked for. It processes this to deliver and protect the site, under Cloudflare's privacy policy.
• Google – if you install the app from Google Play, Google handles the download and updates under Google's privacy policy, and gives us only anonymous totals and crash reports through Google Play Console.

The typefaces are served from our own server; no page asks Google Fonts or anyone else for anything. Our server is in Stockholm, Sweden.

How long we keep it

• Play notes and their board pictures: 90 days, then deleted automatically.
• Bug reports and their pictures: 12 months, then deleted automatically.
• Server logs: 14 days, then deleted automatically. They can be read only by the server's administrator, and are not backed up or sent anywhere.
• Connection addresses in the game's short list: about ten minutes.
• Your saves stay on your device until you clear them.

Your choices and deletion

• Stop the play notes: in the game, open Play notes (foot of the banks page) and switch Send play notes off.
• Have your notes and bug reports deleted: write to support@thecatalystgame.com with the play number shown on the Play notes page. We delete every note and every bug report carrying that number, with their pictures, within 30 days and tell you when it is done. For a bug report sent before 21 October 2026, which carries no number, tell us roughly when you sent it and its number if you have it.
• Delete your saves: clear this site's data in your browser (for the Android app, Chrome's site data for thecatalystgame.com), or uninstall the app. That also gives your device a new play number.

You also have the right to ask what we hold about you, to object to its use and to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk). Because we hold no names or contact details, the play number is how we find what belongs to you.

Children

The Catalyst is meant for players aged 13 and over and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us something that identifies them, write to us and we will delete it.

Security

Everything between your device and the site travels over an encrypted connection (HTTPS). The raw notes, the bug reports and the logs are not public and can be read only by the server's administrator.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version is posted on this page with a new date below.

Contact

Cowl Labs Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom · support@thecatalystgame.com