Privacy
Last updated 16 October 2026
Dinner is Ruined! is a game you can play without an account. This page explains what we keep if you do make one, why, who else handles it, and how to have it changed or deleted. We keep as little as we can, we don't sell it, and there's no advertising or tracking in the game.
Playing as a guest
As a guest we don't keep anything about you. While you're in a game, the game server knows the random name you were given and what your cat or human is doing, and forgets it when the game's over. We don't set any cookies for guests. Your browser keeps a random code, shared by its tabs, so the game never puts the same browser in a lobby twice; it's only held while you're connected, never stored. We do count how many people open the game and play each day, all together, in a way that can't tell anyone apart. (If you report someone, or someone reports you, the report keeps the random name you had: see below.)
If you make an account
We keep:
- Your email address, to sign you in, and to send you a link to confirm it or to reset your password if you forget it. We don't send newsletters or marketing.
- Your name in games, which other players see.
- Your password, but only as a scrambled one-way "hash": we can check a password against it, but nobody (us included) can read your password from it.
- How your games went: which side you played, whether you won, your score, awards, XP and level, and the characters you've unlocked.
- When you joined and last signed in, and which browsers are signed in (as a random code in a cookie, kept for 30 days from your last visit).
- Which days you played on (just the dates), so we can see whether people come back.
To stop abuse (someone guessing passwords, say), the game server briefly remembers the internet addresses that sign in or make accounts, in memory, for up to an hour. They aren't stored.
Reports, moderation and errors
- Reporting a player. If you report someone, we keep your name in the game, who you reported (their name, and their account if they have one), which lobby, the reason and anything you wrote. Our moderators see it to deal with it, along with what they did about it. The player you reported isn't told who reported them.
- Moderation. If a moderator renames or bans an account, we keep a record of what was done, by whom and why. A banned account can't sign in until the ban ends.
- Errors. If the game goes wrong in your browser, it tells us the error, which page it happened on (without the lobby code) and your browser's name and version, so we can fix it. Nothing about who you are. We keep these for 30 days after the error last happened.
Cookies
Signing in sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in. It's needed for the game to work, can't be read by other websites, and isn't used for anything else. There are no tracking or advertising cookies.
Who else handles it
- Railway runs the game server and the database your account is kept in.
- Resend sends our emails (your email address and the email itself pass through it).
- Google Fonts provides the game's fonts; your browser fetches them from Google, which sees your internet address when it does.
These services may keep data outside New Zealand. They only use it to provide their service to us.
How long we keep it
For as long as you have an account. When you delete your account, everything above that's linked to you is deleted straight away: your email, name, password hash, level, unlocks and saved games. (Records of games other people played stay, without anything that identifies you. Reports you made, or that were made about you, keep the name used in the game at the time, but are no longer linked to your account.)
Your rights
Under New Zealand's Privacy Act 2020 (and, if you're in Europe or the UK, the GDPR) you can ask to see what we hold about you, have it corrected, or have it deleted.
- You can change your name and password, or delete your account, yourself: sign in, then open Account on the game's home screen.
- For anything else, email us at hello@dinnerisruined.app.
If you're not happy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in New Zealand (or your own country's data protection authority).
Rules
How everyone’s expected to play, and what happens if they don’t, is on the rules page.
Children
Anyone can play as a guest. Accounts are meant for people 13 and over; if you're younger, ask a parent or guardian first.
Changes
If we change what we keep or why, we'll update this page and the date at the top.