Privacy & support

Who is responsible

The operator of the Vesthetics brand publishes Gold Below and is responsible for the game-related personal information described here.

For support, privacy questions or a data request, email support@vesthetics.io. No account is needed.

What the game stores

• The run in progress: your hero’s name, stats, items, relics, the dungeon map and the message log.
• Your legacy: souls, perks, achievements, unlocked Depth levels, daily-run best scores and statistics.
• Your settings, such as text size, sound and reduced motion.
• Whether you own the “Full game” or the “Supporter pack”, and the day of your last daily run.
• Your answer to the game-stats question, and, only if you said yes, the random stats identifier described below.

These are stored locally on your device, or in your browser’s site storage for the web version. The game does not transmit your save to us. It has no account, advertising, third-party analytics or crash-reporting SDK. It does not request your email, contacts, location, advertising identifier, payment information or real-world identity. The hero name you type stays on your device.

A challenge code, such as GB-4KZ7Q-2DM9X, describes a dungeon and a hero class, never you. It leaves your device only if you copy or share it yourself.

Optional game stats

From version 1.2, after your first finished run, the game asks once whether it may send anonymous game stats. The answer is off unless you choose yes, and you can change it at any time in Settings. If you never say yes, nothing described in this section is sent.

If you say yes, the game creates a random identifier for itself. It is not your device’s identifier, an advertising identifier, or linked to your store account. The game then sends these facts, in batches:

• That stats were turned on.
• When a run starts: the hero class, the kind of run (normal, daily or challenge), the Depth level, and whether you own the full game.
• When a run ends: how it ended (won, died, climbed out or given up), the floor and hero level reached, the score (rounded to 50), the number of turns (rounded to 25), the hero’s skills, and how many recipes and relics you had. On a death, the name of the enemy that ended the run.
• Where an offer for the full game or the Supporter pack was shown, and, in older 1.2 builds, unlock confirmations, which can include restored purchases. Newer builds do not report those callbacks as sales.
• The game version and the kind of device system (for example iOS or Android).

The game never sends your hero’s name, anything you type, your save, your location or your contacts. Our server stores only a one-way hash of the random identifier, never the identifier itself, and does not store your IP address or device details with the stats. Your IP address is used for a moment to limit abuse and is then discarded.

We use the stats only to see where the game is too hard or too easy, which heroes and offers work, and whether players come back, so we can improve the game. We do not sell them, use them for advertising, or combine them with any other profile. They are kept for 13 months and then deleted.

When you turn stats off in Settings, the game asks our server to delete everything sent under its identifier, then forgets the identifier. If you later turn stats on again, the game starts with a new identifier. Deleting the app does not reach the server; to remove stats sent from an app you have already deleted, contact us.

After deleting the events, we keep only the identifier’s hash as an opt-out marker for as long as this stats service operates, so delayed or resent events cannot recreate them. This marker is not used for analytics.

The stats are received on vesthetics.io, hosted by Vercel (Frankfurt, Germany), and stored with our database provider, Supabase (Frankfurt, Germany). Where the GDPR applies, our basis is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time in Settings.

Online leaderboards

From version 1.2 the game can post your results to three online leaderboards: today’s daily run, best score, and the highest Depth won. They use Apple Game Center on iPhone and iPad, and Google Play Games on Android. We run no leaderboard server of our own.

In build 22 and later, Gold Below posts scores only after you choose “Connect and share scores.” Earlier 1.2 test builds could post when you were signed in to the platform. Apple or Google show submitted scores and won Depth levels with your Game Center or Play Games profile name and picture, under their terms and your settings with them. You can turn Gold Below score sharing off in Leaderboards. This does not delete previously posted platform scores.

On Android, the Google Play Games SDK starts with the app and may automatically authenticate an existing platform profile and collect service analytics and diagnostics, independently of Gold Below’s optional gameplay-stats switch. Build 23 and later suppress automatic new-profile creation prompts; you can request a profile through Connect. Manage platform sign-in and data in Game Center or Google Play Games settings. We can see leaderboard entries through Apple’s and Google’s developer tools, including profile names, and use them only to run the leaderboards and remove abuse. See Apple’s Game Center privacy notice and Google’s privacy policy.

The “Full game” purchase

The iPhone and Android apps offer optional in-app purchases: the “Full game” and, from version 1.2, the “Supporter pack” (color themes, portraits and a title; it never changes a run). Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) processes them under your store account and their terms. We never receive your card or payment details.

The store tells the game on your device whether the purchase is owned, and the game remembers this locally. We can see sales reports from Apple and Google, which include the country, date, price and product, but not your name or email address. We use them for accounting and tax purposes.

Refunds and purchase history are handled by the store. See Apple’s privacy policy and Google’s privacy policy.

Newer Android builds send the store product identifier and purchase token over HTTPS to our purchase-verification service. We use them to ask Google Play whether the purchase is valid before enabling paid content. This is necessary for the purchase, separate from optional game stats. We do not retain the token or join it to gameplay statistics. The hosting provider processes the connection; verification requests are rate limited using a temporary network-address counter. Apple purchases are checked using StoreKit's verified transactions on the device.

Deleting your data

Abandoning or finishing a run removes that run. To remove everything, including your legacy, delete the app, or clear the app’s data in Android settings. On iPhone, choose Delete App, not Offload App. For the web version, clear this site’s data in your browser.

Operating-system backups or another device may retain separate copies; manage those through your device or backup provider. We cannot access or remotely delete these local saves or backups.

If you contact support

We receive your email address, message and any attachments you choose to send, so we can answer your request. A useful bug report includes the game version, device model, and what happened. Please do not send passwords or sensitive personal information.

Support is optional and never uploads your save. Support email is delivered and stored through our dedicated Zoho Mail account in its Europe data center. See Zoho’s privacy policy.

If you test through TestFlight

Apple automatically collects beta usage information and crash logs and shares them with the developer, together with any feedback you submit through TestFlight. Depending on how you were invited, these records may include your tester name or email, app and operating-system versions, device details, sessions, crashes, comments and screenshots.

This platform collection is separate from the game’s local save and cannot be disabled while using TestFlight. We use it to investigate issues and improve the game. Apple prohibits us from sharing this TestFlight information with third parties. See Apple’s TestFlight privacy notice.

If you install through Google Play

Google Play adds an installation check to confirm that the app came from Play. The Play Store may occasionally need an internet connection for this check. See Google’s installation-protection explanation.

If you have opted in to Android usage and diagnostics sharing, Google may provide app stability information to the developer through Android vitals, such as app and operating-system versions, device model and crashes. We use it to fix problems, not for marketing. See Google’s privacy policy.

When you read this page

This page needs no sign-in, contains no analytics scripts or advertising, and does not set cookies. Our hosting provider, Vercel, processes technical request information, such as IP address, browser information, requested URL and timestamps, to deliver and secure the page. See Vercel’s privacy notice.

How we use and retain received information

We use support and beta information only to answer requests, investigate problems and improve the game. We do not sell it, use it for marketing, or combine it with any other profile. Our retained copies are deleted within 90 days after the related issue is resolved, or within 90 days of receipt when not linked to an issue, unless a legal obligation requires longer. Optional game stats are kept for 13 months, as described above.

Where the GDPR applies, our basis for support, debugging and website security is our legitimate interest in supporting players and keeping the game and this page reliable and secure. You may object to that processing.

Your choices and rights

You can play without contacting us, joining a beta, sending game stats or using leaderboards. Game stats can be turned off at any time in Settings, which also deletes what was sent. Where applicable law provides, you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability of personal information we hold, object to processing, and complain to your local data-protection authority. Email support@vesthetics.io and identify the relevant request. We cannot identify your local save from an email address.

Parents or guardians can contact us about information a child has sent. The game does not ask anyone, including children, to submit personal information.