The field guide
Privacy and saved progress
This page describes the standalone website at emoji-trail.pages.dev, updated 10 October 2026. Playing does not require an account. Local game saves and website measurements serve different purposes; both are explained here.
What stays in this browser
The game uses browser storage for its local player profiles, completed stories, stickers, unfinished word selections, shared-play rounds and settings. A local backup helps recover a damaged save. Your appearance preference is stored separately so Light, Dark or Automatic can be remembered.
The game does not upload those saved profiles, your answer text or your word selections. Different browsers and devices have separate saves; clearing site data or using storage-restricted browsing can remove or prevent saving. Cached game files also help the game open after a successful first visit.
Aggregate story-action counters
On the standalone production website, the game can send a small event when a story is started, solved or successfully handed to a sharing tool. The payload contains only an event type and a bounded promotion-source label, such as reddit, youtube, x, bluesky, direct or other. The starter tutorials are not included in these counters.
The server stores totals grouped by UTC day, source and event. It does not store a player identifier, profile name, puzzle ID, answer text or IP address in this counter table. A puzzle ID is used only in browser memory to avoid counting the same action repeatedly during one page session; reloading can count another action. These are action totals, not unique-player counts.
These counters use no analytics cookie or persistent visitor ID. They do not send when the browser reports Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control, and they are disabled in local previews and portal editions. The existing aggregate totals have no automatic deletion schedule. Because they contain no player identifier, they cannot be linked back to one player for an individual history or deletion request.
Cloudflare hosting and Web Analytics
Cloudflare hosts the website and supplies a separate Web Analytics service. Its reports show aggregate visits, page views, loading performance and breakdowns such as referring sites, country, browser and device type. Those reports help identify loading problems and useful sources of visits; the game does not send your answer text or local save to them.
Cloudflare describes its Web Analytics service as privacy-first and says it does not collect or use visitors’ personal data. That does not mean no network data is processed: hosting providers receive the requests needed to deliver the site, and Cloudflare’s own privacy policy governs its services. The Do Not Track/Global Privacy Control behavior described above applies to our story-action counters; it is not a promise about every hosting or analytics request.
Cloudflare Web Analytics documentation Cloudflare privacy policy
Advertisements are currently off
The standalone game currently does not request or display advertisements. Google AdSense ownership verification and an ads.txt publisher record are present, but they are not an active advertising script or evidence of approval.
Display-banner support has been prepared but remains disabled. Before advertising is enabled, the privacy information and applicable consent controls need to reflect the actual integration. No ad is required to open a story or use a hint.
Speech, sharing and external feedback
Optional reading support uses your device or browser speech service. Available voices and whether they require a network connection depend on that service.
Sharing invokes your device’s sharing controls or copies a game link. Completing that handoff does not tell us whether someone opens the link. Following an itch.io or other external link takes you to a separate service with its own privacy practices.
Feedback on the itch.io page is public. Do not put passwords, payment information, addresses or other private details in a comment. The game has no private contact form.
Your choices and clearing data
Settings → “Give [player] a fresh start” resets that local profile’s story progress, stickers and introduction; other profiles and settings remain. To remove all saves, backups, cached files and appearance settings for this site, use your browser’s site-data controls for emoji-trail.pages.dev. That cannot be undone through an online account because there is no cloud save.
You can turn off reading support and adjust appearance in Settings. To opt out of our story-action counters, enable a browser privacy signal that sends Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control. Clearing local storage does not delete already combined aggregate totals.