FATHOMFALL Cookie & Local Storage Policy
Effective date: 2026-10-30
Version: 1.5
FATHOMFALL (the "Game") is operated by Venture Returns LLC, a Missouri limited liability company ("Venture Returns," "we," "us," or "our"). This Cookie & Local Storage Policy explains how we use cookies and similar browser storage technologies, including localStorage and sessionStorage, in the FATHOMFALL game (the "Game"). It supplements our Privacy Policy.
The short version: FATHOMFALL uses only first-party browser storage, all of it functional or preference-related. We use no third-party cookies, no advertising or tracking pixels, no third-party analytics, and no external content delivery networks. Everything is served from a single self-hosted origin.
Contact: privacy@fathomfallgame.com.
1. What these technologies are
- Cookies are small text files a site can store in your browser and send back on later visits.
- localStorage is browser storage that persists on your device until cleared. The Game uses it to remember your identity-on-device and your preferences.
- sessionStorage is browser storage that lasts only for the current browser tab/session and is cleared when you close it. The Game may use it for transient, in-session state.
We refer to all of these together as "browser storage."
2. We do not use third-party tracking
FATHOMFALL integrates no third-party services. Specifically:
- No third-party or cross-site cookies.
- No advertising or marketing pixels.
- No third-party analytics (e.g., no Google Analytics or similar).
- No social-media trackers or embeds.
- No external CDNs: all assets are self-hosted on one origin.
Because we use no cross-site tracking, there is nothing about you being tracked across other websites.
3. The browser storage FATHOMFALL uses
All of the following are first-party and serve functional/preference purposes. None are used for advertising or cross-site tracking.
| Key | Type | Purpose | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
ff_token | localStorage | A random, server-issued session token (a server-minted identifier plus a signature) that associates your gameplay profile and progress with your device and proves the session is yours, enabling guest play without an account. | Essential / functional |
ff_guest | Cookie (HttpOnly, set by our server, path /api/guest); on iPhone, the Keychain instead | A random guest key (128 bits) that links this device to its guest profile when the session token is gone, for example after the browser clears page storage. Page scripts cannot read it, and our server keeps only a hash of it. It stops working when you save your progress or delete your data, and an unsaved guest is deleted after 30 days without a visit. | Essential / functional |
ff_consent | localStorage | Records your choice on non-essential preference storage (so we can honor it and not ask again). | Essential / functional |
ff_age | localStorage | Records that you passed the first-run age gate. | Essential / functional |
ff_age_refused | localStorage | Records that the age gate was answered with an age below our minimum, so the gate does not offer a second try on this device. It holds no date. | Essential / functional |
ff_pid | localStorage | Legacy device identifier from before the server-issued session token. No longer written; retained only so "Manage my data" can export and erase it on devices that still hold one. | Essential / functional (legacy) |
ff_name | localStorage | Your chosen display name (shown publicly on the leaderboard). | Functional |
ff_sleuth | localStorage | Your chosen Sleuth character. | Preference |
ff_mode | localStorage | Your chosen game mode. | Preference |
ff_ranked | localStorage | Whether ranked play is enabled. | Preference |
ff_muted | localStorage | Your audio mute setting (audio is off by default). | Preference |
ff_reduce | localStorage | Your reduced-motion setting. Stored as essential: an accessibility setting is what makes the Game usable for you, not a preference about it, so it is kept even if you decline non-essential storage. | Essential / accessibility |
ff_cb | localStorage | Your colorblind / color-accessibility setting. Stored as essential for the same reason as ff_reduce, and more so: these cues have no other fallback signal, so declining would switch them off on every visit. | Essential / accessibility |
ff_sens | localStorage | Your input sensitivity setting. | Preference |
ff_consent_gpc | localStorage | Records that your browser sent a Global Privacy Control signal at the time of your choice, so we can honor it and show that we did. Recording your own privacy choice is itself essential. | Essential / functional |
ff_seen_intro | localStorage | A one-time flag that you have seen the first-run introduction. Essential rather than a preference: it is a first-run marker, not a setting, and showing the introduction again on every visit would be a worse experience. | Essential / functional |
ff_watch | localStorage | Your chosen assist preset (your "watch"). | Preference |
ff_cb_helper | localStorage | Whether the Casebook deduction helper is shown. | Preference |
ff_scheme | localStorage | Whether you have chosen on-screen touch controls, keyboard controls, or automatic detection. Stored as essential for the same reason as ff_reduce and ff_cb, and more strongly: a player who turns the on-screen controls on because they cannot use a physical keyboard is stating what it takes for them to play at all. Automatic detection gets a hybrid touchscreen laptop the wrong answer, so the person who most needs this setting is the person automatic detection fails. | Essential / accessibility |
ff_tc_pad | localStorage | Whether you have turned on the on-screen movement buttons (ahead, back, left and right) that sit beside the touch stick. Off unless you turn it on. Stored as essential for the same reason as ff_scheme: the buttons are for a player who cannot hold and drag the stick, so the setting is what lets them move at all. | Essential / accessibility |
ff_season_seen | localStorage | Which season this device has already reported once via the season_started product-analytics event. Its only purpose is to stop that one event being sent again, so it is analytics-related storage and is consent-gated accordingly. | Analytics (consent-gated) |
The Game may also use sessionStorage for short-lived, in-session technical state (such as the current match/session) that is cleared when you close the tab. This is essential to delivering live gameplay.
We use no browser storage for profiling or advertising, and we set no third-party or cross-site storage of any kind. One key relates to analytics: ff_season_seen records which season this device has already reported once, purely so the season_started event is not sent again. It holds no identifier, it is consent-gated, and if you decline non-essential storage it is never written and the event is never sent.
4. Consent, the consent banner, and Global Privacy Control
- Essential storage (such as
ff_tokenand transient session state needed to run the Game and remember who you are on this device) is used because it is strictly necessary to provide the service you requested. Under EU/UK ePrivacy rules, strictly necessary storage does not require consent. - Non-essential preference storage is governed by our consent banner, which we present so you can accept or decline non-essential storage. You can change your choice at any time.
- The same consent also governs our anonymous, first-party product analytics (described in Privacy Policy §3.5): if you decline, we collect none. Events are sent to our own server, and attribution (UTM/referral) is held only in memory for the session and is never written to your device. The one exception is
ff_season_seenin the table above, a de-duplication marker for a single event, which is consent-gated like the rest. - We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal. Where your browser sends GPC, we treat it as an opt-out and do not set non-essential storage, or collect non-essential analytics, that would otherwise depend on your consent.
5. How to control or clear browser storage
- In the Game: use Settings → "Manage my data" to delete your profile and local data.
- In your browser: you can view and clear cookies and site storage for FATHOMFALL through your browser's settings or developer tools, and you can block storage entirely. Note that clearing
ff_tokenor blocking essential storage may cause loss of access to your guest progress and may limit core functionality. - Private/incognito mode typically clears storage when you close the window.
6. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy if the Game's storage practices change. We will revise the version and effective date below and, for material changes, provide more prominent notice in the Game.
7. Contact
Operator / data controller: Venture Returns LLC, 117 S. Lexington St., Ste. 100, Harrisonville, MO 64701, USA
Privacy and cookie questions: privacy@fathomfallgame.com
© 2026 Venture Returns LLC. All rights reserved.
Changelog
- 1.5, 2026-10-30: Added the
ff_guestcookie (the HttpOnly guest key) and its iPhone Keychain form.
- 2026-10-17, editorial: Punctuation only (each dash became a colon or a comma). No change in meaning, so the version is unchanged and no new acceptance is needed.
- 1.1, 2026-06-23: Named Venture Returns LLC (a Missouri limited liability company) as the operator of the Game and the data controller; added the operator's postal address and the copyright notice.
- 1.0, 2026-06-21: Initial publication.