Terms of Service (legal version)
Last Updated: October 17, 2026
These Terms of Service (the "Terms") govern access to and use of Hestia Games. A plain-language version of these Terms, organized in the same numbered sections, is published alongside them. The two versions are intended to have the same meaning. In the event of any inconsistency or ambiguity between them, the interpretation more favorable to the user shall prevail, and Hestia's Creations will correct the inconsistent text.
1. Parties and Definitions
1.1 Hestia Games is operated by HESTIAS CREATIONS LLC, an Oregon limited liability company ("Hestia's Creations," "we," "us" or "our").
1.2 "Service" means the website at games.hestiascreations.com, the games, applications, releases, account features and online features made available through it, and any related services we provide.
1.3 "User" or "you" means any individual who accesses or uses the Service. "Account" means a registered user account. "Member" means a User whose Account has an active Membership, whether paid, shared through a Household or granted free of charge. "Membership" means the subscription described in Section 5.
1.4 "Release" means a numbered, dated version of the members' games published by us (for example, release 2026.10).
2. Acceptance and Modification
2.1 By accessing or using the Service, or by creating an Account, you agree to be bound by these Terms, the Privacy Policy and the Cancellation and Refund Policy, each of which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.
2.2 We may amend these Terms. For any amendment that materially affects your rights or obligations, we will provide notice by email to the address associated with your Account at least thirty (30) days before the amendment takes effect, and will update the Effective Date above. Your continued use of the Service after the amendment takes effect constitutes acceptance. If you do not accept an amendment, you may cancel your Membership before it takes effect in accordance with Section 6. Non-material amendments, including corrections and clarifications, may take effect upon posting.
3. Eligibility
3.1 The free games may be used by anyone without an Account. Use of the free games without an Account does not transmit personal information to us.
3.2 You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to create an Account. During registration we ask for month and year of birth solely to determine eligibility. That information is not retained. We do not knowingly permit any person under thirteen (13) to create an Account.
3.3 If you are under eighteen (18) years of age or under the age of majority where you reside, you may use an Account only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, who agrees to these Terms on your behalf and accepts responsibility for any payment made for your Account.
3.4 Memberships are offered only to residents of the United States.
4. Accounts
4.1 Authentication to the Service is by a one-time code sent to the email address associated with the Account. You are responsible for maintaining the security of that email account. Any person with access to it may be able to access your Account.
4.2 Each Account is for use by a single individual. You may not share, sell, transfer or license your Account or its access credentials. Membership may be shared only through the Household feature in Section 8.
4.3 You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your Account.
4.4 Usernames are publicly visible. A username may not be obscene, offensive, harassing or misleading, may not impersonate any person or entity, and may not contain personal contact information. We may reset or require the change of any username that violates this Section.
5. Membership, Fees and Automatic Renewal
5.1 Membership is offered at the prices stated at checkout, currently US $4.99 per month or US $34.99 per year, exclusive of applicable taxes, which will be added where required by law.
5.2 AUTOMATIC RENEWAL. YOUR MEMBERSHIP WILL RENEW AUTOMATICALLY AT THE END OF EACH MONTHLY OR ANNUAL TERM, FOR A TERM OF THE SAME LENGTH AND AT THE THEN-CURRENT PRICE, AND THE PAYMENT METHOD YOU PROVIDED WILL BE CHARGED, UNLESS AND UNTIL YOU CANCEL IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 6. We will obtain your affirmative consent to these automatic renewal terms before any charge, and will retain a record of that consent as required by law.
5.3 Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. or its affiliates ("Stripe"). We do not receive or store full payment card numbers.
5.4 We will send you a reminder by email at least once in each twelve-month period of your Membership, stating the renewal frequency, the amount of the charge and how to cancel. For annual Memberships, we will additionally send a reminder not fewer than fifteen (15) and not more than forty-five (45) days before each annual renewal.
5.5 If a renewal payment fails, our payment processor may retry the charge. Your Membership will remain active for up to fourteen (14) days while payment is retried. If payment is not completed within that period, your Membership will end, and Section 7 will apply.
6. Cancellation
6.1 You may cancel your Membership at any time online, in a single action, by selecting Cancel membership on your Account page, or by sending a cancellation request to the email address in Section 21.
6.2 Cancellation takes effect at the end of the then-current paid term. You will not be charged for any subsequent term. Your Membership remains active until the end of the paid term. The Cancellation and Refund Policy governs cancellation and refunds in further detail.
7. Retained Releases
7.1 We will retain each Release on our servers for as long as we operate the Service.
7.2 Upon the expiration or termination of your Membership for any reason other than termination under Section 15.2, you will retain a perpetual, non-transferable right, subject to these Terms, to access and use the most recent Release published during the period in which your Membership was active (the "Retained Release"), on any device on which you sign in to your Account.
7.3 We will not remotely delete or disable any game or Release installed on your device.
7.4 After your Membership ends, you will not receive subsequent Releases, and features that require an active Membership and our servers, including online chess, leaderboards and member voting, will be unavailable until you renew.
8. Households
8.1 A Member may share their Membership with up to five (5) additional Users, for a Household of not more than six (6) Accounts in total, or such larger number as we approve on request.
8.2 Households are intended for family members and personal acquaintances of the sharing Member. Places in a Household may not be sold, rented or offered to the public.
8.3 The sharing Member (the "Household Owner") is solely responsible for payment. The Household Owner may remove any Household member, and any Household member may leave a Household.
8.4 A User who leaves or is removed from a Household, or whose Household ends, retains a Retained Release under Section 7 on the same terms as a paying Member.
9. Complimentary Memberships
We may, in our discretion, grant Memberships free of charge, including to founding members or as gifts. A complimentary Membership confers the same rights as a paid Membership, may be limited to a term we specify, and is subject to Section 7 upon its expiration. A complimentary Membership will not convert to a paid Membership unless you separately purchase a Membership and provide the consent described in Section 5.2.
10. Price Changes
We may change Membership prices. We will notify you by email at least thirty (30) days before a price change applies to your Membership. Any change will take effect at the first renewal following that notice period. You may avoid the new price by cancelling before that renewal.
11. Refunds
Refunds are governed by the Cancellation and Refund Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
12. Acceptable Use
You shall not, and shall not attempt to:
(a) use any chess engine, software assistance, other person or external assistance during an online game, or intentionally lose or manipulate games to affect ratings or standings;
(b) create or use multiple Accounts to evade a suspension, ban or limitation;
(c) harass, threaten, abuse or intimidate any User or any of our personnel;
(d) access the Service by automated means, including bots, scrapers or scripts, or interfere with, disrupt, overload, probe or circumvent any security or access control of the Service, including access controls on the members' area;
(e) copy, distribute, resell, sublicense or otherwise make available any members' game, Release or access to the Service; or
(f) use the Service in violation of any applicable law.
13. User Content and Submissions
13.1 You retain ownership of content you submit to the Service, including your username, game records, suggestions and votes ("User Content"). You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, reproduce, display and distribute User Content as necessary to operate and provide the Service, including displaying your game records to other Users.
13.2 Any idea, suggestion or feedback you submit (a "Submission") is provided voluntarily and without expectation of compensation. You grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, modify and commercialize any Submission without obligation, payment or attribution to you. We are not obligated to implement any Submission.
13.3 You represent that you have all rights necessary to submit your User Content and Submissions, and that they do not infringe the rights of any third party.
14. Intellectual Property
The Service, including all games, artwork, audio, text and software, is owned by Hestia's Creations or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Third-party materials are used under their respective licenses and are credited within the Service. Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Service for your personal, non-commercial entertainment. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. You may not reproduce, modify, distribute, sell or publicly display any part of the Service without our prior written permission.
15. Suspension and Termination
15.1 If you breach these Terms, we may issue a warning, restrict your access to particular features (including online chess), suspend your Account or terminate your Account. In cases of serious or repeated breach, we may act without prior notice.
15.2 If we terminate your Account for breach of these Terms, no refund will be issued for any remaining paid term, and your Account will no longer have access to Releases on our servers, including any Retained Release. Termination will not cause games already installed on your devices to be removed.
15.3 If we terminate your Account for any reason other than your breach of these Terms, we will refund the unused portion of any prepaid fees on a pro rata basis.
15.4 You may delete your Account at any time from your Account page. Deletion cancels any active Membership.
16. Changes to the Service; Discontinuation
16.1 We may modify, add or remove features, games or content of the Service.
16.2 We will not implement a change that materially diminishes the value of progress earned by Users unless that change is approved by a vote of paying Members, except where the change is required for legal, safety or cost reasons, in which case we will disclose the change and its reason in the release notes.
16.3 If we discontinue the Service, we will provide Members with at least ninety (90) days' notice by email, will cease all charges, and will refund on a pro rata basis any fees paid for any period after the date of discontinuation. Games already installed on your devices will continue to operate offline.
17. Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability; Indemnification
17.1 EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS, THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.
17.2 TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS (US $50). WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA OR GOODWILL.
17.3 Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of certain damages. In those jurisdictions, the exclusions and limitations above apply only to the extent permitted by law.
17.4 You shall indemnify Hestia's Creations against any third-party claim, and the resulting losses, costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, arising from your breach of these Terms or your violation of law.
18. Dispute Resolution and Governing Law
18.1 Before filing any claim, you agree to notify us by email of the dispute, and both parties agree to attempt in good faith to resolve it informally for thirty (30) days.
18.2 These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to Section 18.3, any action arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Oregon, and the parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.
18.3 Either party may bring an individual claim in a small claims court of competent jurisdiction, including in the county where you reside.
18.4 Nothing in these Terms limits any right you have under the consumer protection laws of the state in which you reside that cannot be waived by contract.
19. App Store Purchases
If you purchase a Membership through Google Play, the Apple App Store or another third-party platform, the payment, billing, cancellation and refund terms of that platform govern that purchase. In all other respects, these Terms apply.
20. General Provisions
20.1 Entire Agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and the Cancellation and Refund Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Service.
20.2 Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
20.3 No Waiver. Our failure or delay in enforcing any provision is not a waiver of that provision or of our right to enforce it.
20.4 Assignment. We may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of all or part of the Service, provided that the assignee assumes our obligations under Sections 7 and 16. You may not assign these Terms or your Account.
20.5 Notices. We provide notices to the email address associated with your Account. Notices to us must be sent to the email address in Section 21.
20.6 Copyright Complaints. Notices of claimed copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512, may be sent to our designated agent at the email address in Section 21 and must include the information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3).
21. Contact
HESTIAS CREATIONS LLC, Oregon, United States. Email: games@hestiascreations.com.
Portions of these Terms are adapted from the policies of 37signals LLC (github.com/basecamp/policies), licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, and have been modified.