RETROACTIVE

Privacy policy

NovaJump · Last updated 29 October 2026

This policy explains what information the NovaJump app collects, why, and what you can do about it. We collect as little as we can: no email address, no real name, no phone number, no contacts, no photos, no precise location and no advertising identifiers. There are no ads, no advertising or marketing analytics and no tracking across other apps or websites, and we never sell your information. We count a few in-app milestones ourselves to improve the game (see App usage counts), and the app sends crash reports to Unity so we can fix crashes (see Crash reports).

Who we are

NovaJump is made by RetroActive Gaming, a trading name of Northfin Ltd (company no. 15923969, registered office 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ). We are the data controller for the information described here. Contact us at support@retroactivegaming.co.uk.

Your account

The first time you open NovaJump, it creates an online account for you automatically, with a random name such as Commander-1234 that you can change. This happens even if you only play against the computer. Our game server stores:

  • your display name, a random player number and your friend code;
  • a scrambled (hashed) copy of the secret key that lets your device sign in. The key itself stays on your device;
  • your country (see below);
  • when the account was created and when it last connected;
  • your settings: whether you accept friend requests, and whether you finished the tutorial.

On the Steam version, your account is also linked to your Steam ID so it can be restored. Your Steam ID is never shown to other players.

So that a new or reset phone gets your account back, the app also links your account to the game sign-in you already use on your phone, if you are signed in: Google Play Games on Android (a Google service, under Google's privacy policy) or Game Center on iPhone (an Apple service, under Apple's privacy policy). The app never shows a sign-in screen for this. Our server asks Google, or checks Apple's signature, to confirm the sign-in, and stores only the game player identifier that Google or Apple gives NovaJump (your Play Games player ID, or your Game Center team player ID). We do not receive your email address, your Google or Apple account name, your friends there, or anything else. These identifiers are never shown to other players. If a phone signs in with an identifier that is already linked to an account, the phone switches to that account, and anything bought or earned on the phone before that moves into it.

If you agree to help us test new features, we mark your account as a tester so you can try changes early. You can ask us to remove the mark at any time.

Playing

Matches against the computer and Pass & Play are played on your device, and their moves are not sent to us. Your settings and themes are stored on your device. For online play and rewards, our server stores:

  • Stats: games, wins, losses, draws, streaks, rings captured, orbs collected and powers used. You, your friends and your recent opponents can see them.
  • A hidden skill rating, used only to pair you with players of similar ability. Nobody sees it.
  • Recent opponents: the last players you played online, and their names at the time.
  • Your wallet: your Stardust balance, a history of what you earned and spent, the items you own and use, daily reward and puzzle-streak counters (daily puzzle solves are sent to us for rewards), and how many online matches you played today.
  • Recent activity: the days you connected, and for each online match its type, result and length; your daily puzzle solves (number of tries, whether you used a hint); and account changes such as a name reset. We keep at most the last 200 entries, for up to 120 days, to understand how players progress through the game.

Moves in an online match pass through our server to your opponent. The moves are not saved after the match ends.

Friends and chat

We store your friends, friend requests and the players you block. Your friends can see when you are online or in a match.

Chat only works between friends. Messages are passed to the other player in real time and are never stored.

Invites. When a new player adds a friend's code in their first days, they join from that friend's invite: the two become friends at once, and both get Stardust once the new player has finished the tutorial and played an online match. To pay each invite once and apply the limit on rewarded invites, our server stores who joined from whose invite, when, the amount and whether it was paid, and that a new account has played its first online match. The inviter sees how many friends joined and the Stardust earned; both see the reward in their wallet history.

If you install NovaJump on Android from an invite link, the app reads the install referrer that Google Play keeps for the installation, once, when the app first opens (Google's Play Install Referrer service, on your phone). It looks only for the invite code in it, keeps that code on your device, and sends it to us only if you tap to add that friend. On iPhone, the Paste invite key reads your clipboard only when you tap it (iOS asks you first), and only the friend code found there is sent.

Your country

When your account is created (or the first time an older account connects), our server looks up your internet (IP) address in an offline database kept on our own server, and stores only the two-letter country code. It shows as a small flag next to your name. Your IP address is not stored with your account, no address is sent to anyone for the lookup, and the app never asks your device for its location. If you use a VPN, the flag shows the VPN's country.

Country data: IP Geolocation by DB-IP (CC BY 4.0). Flag images: flag-icons by Panayiotis Lipiridis (MIT licence).

Connection details

Like any online service, our server sees your IP address while you are connected. We use it only to make the connection work, to limit how quickly new accounts can be created, and for the one-off country lookup above. It is kept in memory, not written to our player records. When you connect, the app also sends its version number and your device's time-zone offset (for example UTC+1, not a location), which helps time matchmaking; neither is stored with your account.

Our server keeps technical logs (for example: connection opened, match started, your display name and player number) to fix problems and stop abuse. Our hosting provider may also log IP addresses. Logs are deleted automatically after a short period.

App usage counts

To see where new players get stuck and what to improve, the app tells our own server when a few milestones happen: the app opening, starting and finishing the tutorial, your first match against the computer, your first online match, your first daily puzzle, opening the Store, starting and finishing a purchase, tapping a reminder, and seeing an announcement. Each message carries the milestone, its time, your device type (Android, iOS or desktop), the app version, a random number made up by the app when it was installed (not a device or advertising identifier), and your player number if you have an account.

For each install we keep these milestones with their times (at most the last 300), how many times the app was opened and on which days, for 120 days, then delete it. We also keep daily totals (for example "40 tutorials finished on 3 March"), which contain nothing about you, for up to 400 days. This information stays on our server: it is not sent to any analytics or advertising company, and we do not use it to build a profile of you or to target you.

Crash reports

If the app crashes, freezes ("app not responding") or hits a serious error, the released app sends a crash report to Unity Cloud Diagnostics, a service of Unity Technologies, the maker of the game engine NovaJump is built with. A report contains technical details: your device model and operating system version, the app version, the build (mobile or Steam), the technical record of where in the code the problem happened (a stack trace), the last few lines of the app's technical log, and the same random install number described under App usage counts, so we can tell whether one install crashes repeatedly. We do not add your player number, display name, friend code or game content to reports. We use crash reports only to find and fix problems. Unity keeps them for the period its service sets, then deletes them.

Reports and safety

If you report a player, or someone reports you, we store who reported whom, the reason (name or behaviour) and when. Display names are checked against a list of offensive words. We may change an offensive name or ban an account.

Purchases

Purchases are made through Google Play or the App Store, who handle payment. We never see your card or bank details. The app sends us the store's proof of purchase, which we check with Google or Apple, and we keep a record of what you bought (product, store order number and date) so we can unlock it and stop the same purchase being used twice.

Why we use it

  • To run the game you asked to play: accounts, matchmaking, friends, stats and purchases (performance of our contract with you).
  • To keep the game fair and safe: blocking offensive names, handling reports, preventing cheating and abuse (our legitimate interests).
  • To fix problems and keep the service secure (our legitimate interests).
  • To understand how the game is used and improve it, through the app usage counts above (our legitimate interests). You can object by emailing us.
  • To find and fix crashes, through the crash reports above (our legitimate interests).

Who we share it with

We do not sell your information or give it to advertisers. Other players see your display name, flag and friend code, and your stats if they are your friend or a recent opponent. Beyond that, information only goes to the services that run the game:

  • Railway (Railway Corporation, a US company) hosts our game server, on servers in the European Union. Where a provider may access data from outside the UK or EU, it is protected by the safeguards UK data protection law requires, such as standard contractual clauses.
  • Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., a US company) stores encrypted backup copies of our server data. The copies are encrypted on our server before they are uploaded, so Cloudflare cannot read them. They may be stored outside the UK and EU, including in the United States; this is protected by the safeguards UK data protection law requires, such as standard contractual clauses.
  • Unity (Unity Technologies, a US company) receives crash reports from the app (see Crash reports) and processes them for us. They may be stored outside the UK and EU, including in the United States; this is protected by the safeguards UK data protection law requires, such as standard contractual clauses.
  • Google and Apple handle downloads and payments under their own privacy policies; we ask them to confirm purchases.
  • Steam (Steam version only) confirms your Steam sign-in and purchases.
  • Google Play Games (Android) and Game Center (iPhone): our server asks Google to confirm a Play Games sign-in, and downloads Apple's public key to check a Game Center sign-in. Google learns that NovaJump checked your sign-in; Apple receives nothing from us.

We may also share information if the law requires it.

How long we keep it

  • Your account, friends, stats, rating and wallet, and the Play Games or Game Center identifier linked to it: until you delete your account.
  • Invite records: until you delete your account. If only one of the two accounts is deleted, the other player's record stays without the deleted account's player number, so that an invite is never rewarded twice.
  • Reports: up to 180 days, or until either account is deleted.
  • Technical logs: a short period, then deleted automatically.
  • Crash reports: for the period set by Unity's crash reporting service, then deleted by Unity.
  • Recent activity: up to 120 days (at most 200 entries), or until you delete your account.
  • App usage counts: 120 days from install; daily totals with nothing about you, up to 400 days.
  • Purchase records: when you delete your account, the record of each purchase (product, store order number and date) stays, no longer linked to you, so a purchase cannot be redeemed twice.
  • Backups: encrypted copies of our server data, kept for up to 12 months and then deleted.

Deleting your account

In the app, open Settings and tap Delete account. It is immediate and permanent, and removes your profile, friends, stats, rating, wallet, reports, recent activity and the app usage counts linked to your account. Deleted accounts are removed from our live systems at once; encrypted backup copies are kept for up to 12 months and then deleted. If you can't use the app, see how to delete your account or email us.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law (and EU law if you live in the EU) you can ask to see, correct, delete or receive a copy of your information, and object to how we use it. Email us and we will reply within one month. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Children

NovaJump is not directed at children. The app does not ask your age. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you think a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.

Security

Everything between the app and our server is encrypted in transit (HTTPS and secure WebSockets). Backups are encrypted before they leave our server.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update the date above, and for significant changes we will tell you in the app.