Terms of Service

01The app

Local Line is a train-driving game. You drive simulated passenger services, stopping at stations as accurately and as close to the timetable as you can, and the app grades each run. Some lines are open from the start; others are unlocked by earning a mastery grade on the line before them, or by buying them (section 5). Every finished run is scored and reported to our server, and complete runs of a line are ranked on that line's world board (section 3).

02Licence

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to install and play the app on Android devices or iPhones that you own or control (on iPhone, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions), for your own non-commercial entertainment. You may not:

• copy, modify, decompile, reverse-engineer, or create derivative works of the app or its assets, except where the law expressly allows it;
• sell, rent, lend, or redistribute the app or any of its content, or extract its artwork, sounds, or data for use elsewhere;
• cheat, tamper with saved data or with reports sent to our server, or use modified builds or automation to post world-board scores;
• probe, overload, or interfere with our server, or send it requests other than those the app makes;
• use the app in any way that breaks the law or these terms.

The app, including its code, artwork, sounds, route designs, and names, is our property or that of our licensors and is protected by copyright and other laws. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

03World boards and board names

Each line has world boards, kept on a server we run, that rank complete, free runs of the whole line for the day, the week, and all time. The app reports every finished run to the server, which rescores it from the per-station results and decides whether it qualifies; a run picked up from a wreck, a daily run, or a run of part of a line does not. The server's score is final where it differs from the one shown in the cab. You need no account: the app identifies itself with a random player ID (see the Privacy Policy).

You may choose a name to show beside your scores. Names must be 3 to 14 letters, digits and spaces. Do not pick a name that is offensive, that impersonates someone else, that includes contact details, or that infringes anyone's rights. We may change or remove a name, remove scores, or bar a player from the boards where we reasonably believe a name breaks these rules or a score was obtained by cheating, tampering, or a bug, without notice and without liability. Board rows for the day and week expire on their own; see the Privacy Policy for retention.

If you turn alerts on, the app may send you a notification when another player beats your best on a line. Alerts are optional and can be switched off at any time with the ALERTS switch in SETTINGS. Boards, ranks, names, and alerts are for entertainment, carry no monetary value, and may be reset, changed, or withdrawn in a future version.

04Advertising

The free version of the app shows ads served by Google AdMob, and offers rewarded ads that you can choose to watch for a perk in the game, such as a waived penalty or a second attempt at the daily run. Perks are granted by the app when Google reports the ad as completed; we cannot grant a perk for an ad that fails to load or play. Perks carry no monetary value. Buying the ad removal (section 5) turns off the banner and full-screen ads; rewarded ads stay available so that you can still choose to watch one for a perk.

05In-app purchases

Locked lines and the ad removal can be bought as one-time, non-consumable in-app purchases through Google Play's billing system on Android or the App Store on iPhone. Prices are shown by the store before you confirm. Purchases are tied to the Google or Apple account used to buy them and are restored by the app on that account after a reinstall or on a new device.

Refunds are handled by Google under Google Play's refund policy, or by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com; we cannot process refunds directly. A purchase gives you the licence described in section 2 for that line, or the removal of ads from the app, and nothing more. A line that you unlock by earning the mastery grade is not a purchase and is not refundable in any form. If the app is withdrawn from a store or a line is removed from a future version, we will make reasonable efforts to keep purchased content available to existing owners, but we cannot guarantee it indefinitely.

06Your progress and your data

Scores, records, unlocks, and settings are saved on your device. Run reports and board entries are also kept on our server under your player ID, but they are not a backup: the server cannot restore records, unlocks, or a board name to a phone after the app's data is cleared, the device is reset, or the app is uninstalled, because the new install gets a new player ID. Purchases are the exception: they are restored through your Google or Apple account. On iPhone, restoring the phone from its own backup also restores the app's progress (see the Privacy Policy).

You can delete everything the server holds about you at any time with DELETE MY DATA in the logbook. This removes your name and your board entries and cannot be undone. What the app and the server collect, and for how long, is described in the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

07Not affiliated with any railway

The app is a work of fiction. Its lines, stations, trains, timetables, and scenery are simplified and stylised, and some are inspired by real cities and railways. The app is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any railway operator, transit agency, rolling-stock manufacturer, or government body, and it makes no claim to their names, marks, or liveries. Nothing in the app is a guide to how real trains are driven.

08Updates and changes

We may update the app at any time, including to add, change, rebalance, or remove lines, trains, scoring rules, and features. Updates may change how a line scores or unlocks, and may reset or re-rank world boards. We may also discontinue the app, the server, the boards, or any part of them. The server may be unavailable from time to time; the app still plays and scores runs offline and reports them later. We will update these terms when needed by changing the effective date above; continued use after a change means you accept the updated terms.

09Disclaimer of warranties

The app is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the app, the server, or the world boards will be uninterrupted, error-free, or compatible with every device. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of these exclusions may not apply to you.

10Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, progress, or profits, arising from your use of or inability to use the app. Our total liability for any claim relating to the app is limited to the amount you paid us for the app or its in-app purchases in the twelve months before the claim, or, if you paid nothing, to zero. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or your statutory rights as a consumer.

11Termination

You can end this agreement at any time by uninstalling the app, and remove your server data first with DELETE MY DATA if you wish. We may end it if you break these terms, in which case your licence to use the app ends and we may remove your board entries. Sections 2, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 13 survive termination.

12General

These terms are the whole agreement between you and us about the app. If any part of them is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our not enforcing a term is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these terms; we may assign them to a successor publisher of the app. These terms are governed by the law of the place where we are established, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules, and mandatory consumer-protection law of the country where you live still applies to you.

13If you got the app from Apple's App Store

• These terms are between you and us, not Apple. We, not Apple, are responsible for the app and its content.
• Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for the app.
• If the app fails to conform to any warranty that applies, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) for the app. To the extent the law allows, Apple has no other warranty obligation for the app, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs or expenses caused by a failure to conform to a warranty are our responsibility, subject to sections 9 and 10.
• We, not Apple, are responsible for addressing any claims by you or a third party relating to the app or your use of it, including product liability claims, claims that the app fails to meet a legal or regulatory requirement, and claims under consumer protection, privacy or similar laws.
• If a third party claims that the app or your use of it infringes their intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are responsible for investigating, defending, settling and discharging that claim.
• You confirm that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• You must comply with any third-party terms that apply when using the app, such as your mobile carrier's.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms, and once you accept them Apple may enforce them against you as a third-party beneficiary.

14Contact

Dion
Email: support@dionyang.com (the address behind the FEEDBACK row in SETTINGS). Questions, complaints and claims about the app go to this address.