Lantern Grove Privacy Policy
Effective date: 6 November 2026
Lantern Grove ("the game", "we", "us") is a puzzle game made by Zsolt Bodi. This policy explains what information the game collects, why, and the choices you have. We've tried to keep it short and plain.
In short: you don't need an account, and the game never asks for your email, real name, contacts, photos or precise location. Your progress is saved on your device. When you're online, the game sends a random player ID, your profile name and avatar, your points, gameplay events and error reports to Talo, which runs our leaderboard and analytics. Google AdMob shows the ads and collects its own information to do that.
What stays on your device
Your puzzle progress, completed gardens, settings (music, sound effects, haptics, motion), help items, daily garden history, ad history and any names you've hidden are saved on your device. We can't see the files themselves, though the points history and analytics described below report some of the same activity. The files are removed when you uninstall the game, unless your device's own backup keeps a copy.
What we collect
Random player ID
The first time you open the game, it creates a random ID for your install and sends it to Talo when you're online. The ID isn't linked to your email or Apple/Google account, and the game doesn't show it to you. Talo stores everything described below against this ID, together with your profile name, so these records aren't anonymous.
Like any online service, Talo receives your device's IP address when the game connects.
Profile name and avatar
A new install starts with a random name, such as "Wobbly Turnip-4827", and one of six built-in woodland avatars. You can change the name (2 to 20 characters) and pick another avatar; you can't upload a picture. The name and avatar are sent to Talo even if you never change them. Your profile name and avatar are shown publicly on the weekly leaderboard, together with your score, once you've earned points that week. Please use a nickname, not your real name.
Profile names aren't unique, so two players can have the same name. Before a name is saved, the game removes invisible characters and checks the name against a short English list of profanity and slurs. This check runs on your device and can miss things.
Leaderboard scores
Your weekly points are sent to the leaderboard so you can see where you stand among other players. Other players' games receive your rank, points, name and avatar, along with a technical player ID that isn't shown on screen.
To keep points fair and restore them if your local record is lost, the game also keeps a points history with Talo: codes identifying the gardens you've tried and solved, when you solved them, the points you earned, whether you used help, and that week's scoring rules.
Gameplay analytics
To understand how the game is played and make it better, we record gameplay events such as:
- opening or returning to the game, whether it's the first launch, days since install and time away
- tutorial steps, time spent and whether the tutorial was finished
- gardens started, won, lost or left, with the type of garden, puzzle ID and size, difficulty, time taken, mistakes, lives left, lanterns found, hints and tips used, and your daily streak
- when a help item, help gift or rewarded ad was used, and when the out-of-help offer opened
- ads started, finished or skipped, ad loading error codes, and your ad consent status
- opening the leaderboard, and whether you changed your profile name or avatar (not the name itself)
- hiding another player's name on your phone, with that player's technical ID
- gardens that were slow or failed to generate
Each event also carries basic technical details: the time, the operating system, the game version, the window mode, the screen size and the type of build. We don't use analytics to show you ads or to build an advertising profile. The game has no setting to turn analytics off.
Crash and error reports
If the game crashes or logs an error, it sends Talo a report so we can fix the problem. A report contains the type of error, the first line of its message (up to 120 characters), the function and file name where it happened, how it was caught, and whether it happened in this launch or an earlier one. A crash is saved on your device and sent the next time you open the game. The game sends at most five reports per launch and doesn't repeat the same error.
Before a report is sent, the game cuts file paths down to the file name and removes email addresses and long IDs. Reports aren't meant to contain anything personal, but an error message is free text, so we can't rule it out entirely.
Advertising
The game shows ads from Google AdMob. We ask for non-personalised ads only: they aren't chosen from your interests or your activity in other apps, and the game never asks for permission to track you across apps.
Even for non-personalised ads, Google collects some information to deliver ads, limit how often you see them, measure them and prevent fraud. This can include device and advertising identifiers, ad interactions, diagnostics, and approximate location from your IP address. Where the law requires it (for example in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland), Google's consent form is shown before ads load. Where Google requires a way to change that choice, Settings → Privacy choices appears in the game and you can change it there at any time.
Google's use of this information is covered by Google's own policies:
- How Google uses information from apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Who we share information with
We don't sell your information. We share it only with these providers. Talo processes information for us; Google also uses information as its own policies describe.
| Provider | What for | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Talo (https://trytalo.com) | Leaderboard, gameplay analytics, and crash and error reports | Random player ID, profile name, avatar, scores and points history, gameplay events, crash and error reports, operating system, game version, window mode, screen size, IP address |
| Google AdMob | Showing ads | As described under Advertising |
We may also disclose information if the law requires it.
How long we keep it
Leaderboard entries, analytics and error reports are kept while the game is running and are deleted when no longer needed for those purposes. Data on your device stays until you uninstall the game.
Your choices and rights
- Ads: where the option appears, change your ad consent under Settings → Privacy choices.
- Profile name: change your name or avatar at any time in your profile.
- Delete your data: profile names aren't unique and the game doesn't show you your player ID, so a name alone may not identify you. Email us at hello@playlanterngrove.com before you uninstall, with your exact profile name, your avatar and, if you can, your rank and points on this week's leaderboard. If that isn't enough to be sure which record is yours, we'll ask you to change your profile name to a word we send you, so we can find it. We'll then delete your leaderboard and analytics data and tell you when it's done. Uninstall the game at that point: if you keep playing, it sends your profile and points again. If you've already uninstalled or changed your name, tell us what you remember, but we may not be able to find your data. Uninstalling the game deletes everything stored on your device, but not what Talo holds.
- Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU/UK, or the CCPA in California), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or object to the processing of your information, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Email us to use any of these rights.
Where the GDPR applies, our legal basis is our legitimate interest in running the leaderboard, keeping the game working and improving it. For personalised advertising the basis would be your consent, but we request non-personalised ads only.
Children
Lantern Grove is a general-audience game and isn't directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think a child has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.
This website and email
This website doesn't use cookies, analytics or third-party scripts. Its host may keep standard server logs, such as IP addresses. If you email us, we use your address and message to reply.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update it here and change the effective date above. For significant changes, we'll also let you know in the game.
Contact
Zsolt Bodi
hello@playlanterngrove.com
