What the Shell

1. Who we are

What the Shell is an online simultaneous-turn board game made and operated by Charles Smith, trading as Ludisto, Gartenstr. 3a, 10115 Berlin, Germany. You can reach us at .

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) apply to the What the Shell mobile/tablet apps, the website at whattheshell.games, and the online services behind them (together, “the Service”). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy.

2. What the Service is

What the Shell is a 9×9 simultaneous-turn strategy game where two players place turtles without seeing each other’s move. Captures earn eggs; eggs hatch; five in a row wins. You can play:

• Offline — against the computer or through the tutorial. No account needed.
• Online — against other people around the world. Requires a free account (email + password).

The Service is provided free of charge. We may introduce optional paid features in the future (see section 10).

3. Your account

• You must be at least 16 years old to create an account.
• You must give us a real, working email address, and keep it up to date so we can reach you about your account.
• You are responsible for keeping your password secret. If you suspect someone else is using your account, change your password and email us.
• One person, one account. Don’t share accounts with others and don’t run multiple accounts to circumvent bans, ratings, or matchmaking.
• You can delete your account at any time via the /delete page on our website or by writing to . See the Privacy Policy, section 7, for what we do with your data when you leave.

4. What you agree to do (and not to do)

What the Shell is meant to be a fair and welcoming game. When you use the Service:

• Play honestly. No bots, no AI assistance, no scripted scraping of moves, no collusion with opponents, no deliberate stalling to time someone out.
• Keep display names civil. Your username and any other text you choose is visible to opponents and, potentially, to the public. No harassment, slurs, spam, impersonation, or content that is illegal under German law.
• Don’t abuse the Service. No attempting to break, probe, overload, reverse-engineer or otherwise interfere with the Service, and no using the API in ways we haven’t documented.
• Don’t scrape. You may access the Service only through the official app or website. Automated scraping of the API, inbox, or other players’ games is not allowed without written permission.
• Respect other players. Treat opponents the way you’d want to be treated.

If you break these rules, we may warn you, temporarily suspend you, reset a rating, remove a display name, or terminate your account. For serious or repeat cases we may also report illegal activity to the authorities.

5. Content you provide

You keep all rights to the things you type, pick, or create in the Service (display name, language preferences, future chat, etc.). By providing them you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to store them and show them to you and, where the feature requires it, to your opponents, for as long as we need to operate the Service.

You promise that what you provide is yours to give, doesn’t infringe anyone else’s rights, and complies with German law.

6. Game data and replays

Individual games are visible to their two players. Finished games remain accessible to those players while their accounts exist.

Game records — moves, turn order, outcomes, and the usernames displayed when the games were played — are preserved indefinitely as part of What the Shell’s historical record, including after account deletion. We may also use individual games — together with the usernames displayed when they were played — to showcase or promote the Service. For example: highlighting notable matches on our website or social media, including games in recorded tutorials or marketing materials, app store screenshots, and trailers, and analysing aggregate play patterns to improve the game.

We process this retained data under legitimate interest (see our Privacy Policy for details and for how to exercise your right to object). If you would prefer your historical games not carry your current identity, you can change your username to a non-identifying handle before requesting account deletion. This pre-deletion username change is offered free of charge regardless of any subscription status — email .

7. Availability

We run the Service on a best-effort basis. We try to keep it up and bug-free, but:

• We don’t promise any specific uptime or response time.
• We may take the Service down for maintenance, upgrades, or to respond to incidents, usually without warning.
• We may change, add, or remove features over time. If a change materially reduces what you can do, we will do our best to let you know in advance.

Bugs happen. If you hit one, email us or file an issue — we appreciate it.

8. Termination

• You can stop using the Service any time, and can delete your account by emailing us.
• We can suspend or terminate your account if you break these Terms, if we’re legally required to, or if we shut the Service down. Where reasonable we will warn you first and give you a chance to respond.
• Sections that by their nature should survive termination (liability limits, governing law, anything in section 11) continue to apply after your account ends.

9. Warranty disclaimer and liability

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the maximum extent allowed by German law, we give no warranties beyond what is explicitly stated here.

Our liability to you is limited as follows:

• We are liable without limit for damages caused by intent (Vorsatz) or gross negligence (grobe Fahrlässigkeit), for injury to life, body or health, and under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz).
• For ordinary negligence, we are liable only for breaches of essential contractual obligations (wesentliche Vertragspflichten / Kardinalpflichten) and only up to the typical foreseeable damage.
• Any liability beyond that is excluded.

Nothing in these Terms limits any rights you have as a consumer under mandatory German or EU law.

10. Paid features (if and when)

Today, What the Shell is free. If we add paid features (e.g. a subscription, cosmetics, tournament entries), we will publish separate terms for them, in-app and on whattheshell.games, before you can buy anything. Purchases go through Apple or Google’s stores; their terms also apply. Deleting your account does not automatically cancel a subscription bought through the App Store or Google Play — you need to cancel it in your store account.

11. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

If you are a consumer in the EU, you may bring claims in the courts of your place of residence, and mandatory consumer-protection rules of your home country continue to apply. You can also use the European Commission’s online dispute resolution platform at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We are not obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board and generally do not.

Where permitted, the place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from these Terms is Berlin, Germany.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the Service evolves. If the change is material, we’ll notify registered users in-app and by email at least 14 days before it takes effect. If you don’t agree to the new Terms, you can delete your account before they apply. Continuing to use the Service after the notice period means you accept the updated Terms.

13. Contact

Questions, bug reports, rights requests, complaints: