Terms of Service

1. Agreement to these Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Steve Mulholland ("Joker," "we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of the hosted Joker card game, the Joker Discord Activity, and their related multiplayer services (collectively, the "Service"). By launching, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

2. Eligibility and platform accounts

You must be at least 13 years old and meet Discord's minimum age requirement for your country. If you are not old enough to enter a binding agreement where you live, a parent or legal guardian must review and agree to these Terms for you.

You may use Joker directly through its hosted website or through Discord. A Discord account is required only when launching Joker inside Discord. When using Discord, you must comply with Discord's Terms of Service, Community Guidelines, and other applicable platform rules. Discord is a separate service and is not responsible for Joker.

3. The Service

Joker is a casual card game that supports local single-player play and real-time multiplayer through the hosted website or inside Discord. Direct-site multiplayer may include optional browser voice chat. Multiplayer rooms may include human participants and computer-controlled players. Features, rules, balance, availability, and supported platforms may change as the Service develops.

Discord multiplayer uses a sponsored-room model. One player with an active Lifetime Access entitlement or complimentary hosting access may activate an Activity room for themselves and up to three guests. Those guests do not need to purchase Lifetime Access. The direct website may provide separate multiplayer access without a Discord purchase.

Joker does not offer wagering, prizes, cash value, or the ability to exchange game outcomes for money or other items of value.

4. Limited license

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a personal, limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Service for lawful, non-commercial entertainment. No ownership rights are transferred to you.

5. Purchases and Lifetime Access

Lifetime Access is a durable Discord entitlement that permits the purchasing Discord account to activate supported Joker multiplayer rooms under the sponsored-room model described above. It is personal to that account and may not be transferred, resold, shared as an account credential, or used to circumvent access controls.

We may grant selected accounts complimentary hosting access without a Discord purchase. Complimentary access is personal, has no cash value, is not a Discord Store entitlement, and may be modified or revoked at our discretion. Revoking complimentary access does not alter the rights attached to a separate paid entitlement.

Discord processes the purchase, applicable taxes, receipts, refunds, and payment methods under its own terms and policies. Prices and availability displayed by Discord control at checkout. A refund, chargeback, fraud determination, account action, or entitlement revocation may remove hosting access.

"Lifetime" describes the entitlement's one-time, non-consumable nature; it does not promise that Joker, Discord Activities, or any particular multiplayer feature will operate forever. Access remains subject to these Terms, platform availability, technical compatibility, and our right to modify or discontinue the Service as described below. Mandatory consumer rights are not limited by this paragraph.

6. Fair play and acceptable use

You agree not to:

• cheat, automate play, manipulate timing, or exploit errors for an unfair advantage;
• interfere with, overload, disrupt, or attempt unauthorized access to the Service;
• probe or circumvent security, authentication, rate limits, or access controls;
• impersonate another person or use deceptive, abusive, hateful, or unlawful names;
• harass other players or use the Service to violate another person's rights;
• introduce malware or use the Service for unlawful or fraudulent activity;
• copy, sell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the Service except where applicable law expressly permits it; or
• encourage or assist another person in doing any of the above.

Responsible security research is welcome, but do not access another user's data or disrupt live play. Please report suspected vulnerabilities privately to the contact address below.

7. Player names and interactions

You are responsible for the lobby name and other information you choose to submit. You grant us a limited license to process and display that information solely as needed to operate, secure, and support the Service. Do not submit information you do not have the right to use or information that violates these Terms or Discord's rules.

Multiplayer may involve text-free gameplay interactions or optional live voice communication with other players. You are responsible for what you say and must not use voice chat to harass, threaten, deceive, or share unlawful content. On Discord, use Discord's reporting, blocking, muting, and server moderation tools when appropriate. On the direct website, mute or leave voice chat if another player makes you uncomfortable.

8. Intellectual property

The Service, including its software, game design, text, graphics, audio, branding, and other content, is owned by or licensed to Steve Mulholland and is protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. Discord and third-party names, marks, and services belong to their respective owners. These Terms do not grant a license to use any trademark or branding except as necessary to identify the Service.

9. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what information Joker processes, why it is used, how it is disclosed, and how long multiplayer state is retained. By using the Service, you acknowledge that processing as described in the Privacy Policy.

10. Third-party services

The Service depends on third-party platforms and infrastructure, including Discord, Netlify, and Cloudflare. Your use of those services may be subject to their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for third-party services, outages, account actions, policy changes, or content outside our control.

11. Availability, updates, and termination

We may update, suspend, limit, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time. We do not guarantee that the Service, a particular room, saved state, or feature will always be available or error-free. We may restrict or terminate access when reasonably necessary to enforce these Terms, protect the Service or its users, comply with law, or respond to platform requirements.

You may stop using the Service at any time by leaving or closing the Activity. Sections that by their nature should survive termination—including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and dispute provisions—will survive.

12. Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. We disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade.

We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, accurate, compatible with every device, or free of errors or harmful components. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so some of these exclusions may not apply to you.

13. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Steve Mulholland will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenues, data, goodwill, or use, arising from or related to the Service, even if advised that such damages are possible.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, total liability for all claims arising from or related to the Service will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid for Lifetime Access or other Service purchases during the twelve months before the claim or US $25. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited.

14. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Steve Mulholland from claims, damages, losses, and reasonable costs arising from your misuse of the Service, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of another person's rights. This obligation does not apply to the extent a claim results from our own unlawful conduct.

15. Applicable law and disputes

These Terms are governed by applicable law, without overriding any mandatory consumer protections available to you where you live. Before filing a formal claim, you agree to contact us and make a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute informally. Either party may seek urgent relief where necessary to protect security or intellectual-property rights.

16. General terms

These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service. If a provision is found unenforceable, it will be limited or removed only to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will remain effective. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them as part of a transfer of the Service.

17. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the Service changes. Updated Terms will be posted at this URL with a new "last updated" date. If a change is material, we may also provide notice through the Service or Discord. Your continued use after updated Terms take effect constitutes acceptance where permitted by law.