For parents

Emberlink is a puzzle game: you chain matching orbs to fight back the ink that has turned the world grey. Here is what your child will meet in it, what can cost money, and the settings that help.

What the game is like

• Cartoon kung-fu drawn in pencil and ink. No blood or gore, and no bad language.
• Enemies are students and masters taken over by ink. Winning a fight sets them free and brings the colour back; nobody dies.
• Fights are short puzzle rounds (10 seconds each). Reading, timing and planning chains matter more than fast tapping.
• The game sends no notifications. Energy for story fights refills slowly (1 every 6 minutes), and practice with the training dummy is always free.

Other players

• There is no chat, no private messages and no friend requests.
• Other players see a dojo card: player name, dojo name and look, level and trophies. Names go through a word filter, and rude names are refused. Please help your child pick a name that isn't their real one.
• Players can challenge each other's dojos. The game plays the defending side by itself, and a win takes a share of in-game gold from the loser's vault, never gear or anything bought. After two losses in a row a dojo gets a shield, and the same player can only challenge it once a day.

Spending money

• Emberlink is free to download and play to the end of the story without paying.
• Real money buys gems, a few packs and passes, through the App Store or Google Play only. Nothing costs more than $5 (US price; stores set local prices). Passes are paid once and never renew on their own.
• Money never buys wins, raid shields or protection.
• Gems can buy chests with random gear. Every chance is listed in the game and on our drop rates page, and a top item is guaranteed within a set number of pulls.
• The first time someone tries to buy or watch an ad, the game asks for their birth year. Players under 13 are told a grown-up needs to approve purchases.

Ads

• An ad only plays when the player taps a button offering one for a reward (more energy, for example). There are daily limits on each kind.
• Ads are always non-personalised for everyone. For players under 13 the game tells the ad service (Google AdMob) the player is a child, so only ads suitable for children are shown.

Privacy

• The birth year itself isn't kept: only "under 13" or "13 and over" is stored on the phone.
• The game never asks for a real name, location, contacts or photos. Signing in (Google, Apple or an email and password) is optional and only used to keep the save safe across phones; until then nothing leaves the phone. Playing other players' dojos, the boards and buying need a sign-in.
• You can delete the account and all its data at any time: see Delete your account. The full details are in the privacy policy.

Settings that help

• iPhone and iPad: turn on Ask to Buy in Family Sharing, or limit in-app purchases under Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions.
• Android: in the Google Play app, open your profile → Settings → Family, and set purchase approvals or Require authentication for purchases; Google Family Link can approve purchases for a child's account.
• In the game: Options has Gentle effects (fewer flashes and screen shakes) and Vibration on or off.

Questions

Email cnepstudio@gmail.com. A person reads every message.