Privacy Policy 

Last updated: 12 October 2026

The original text of this document is in English. The Russian and Ukrainian translations are provided for convenience; if they differ, the English version applies.

This policy explains what data the mobile game Merge: Grid Explorer (the "Game") collects, why it is collected, and what you can do about it. The Game is developed and published by Zestiwe Games ("we", "us").

The rules for using the Game — coins and purchases, nicknames, fair play — are set out in the Terms of Use on this site.

Questions: zestiwegames@gmail.com

In short

We never ask for your name, email address, phone number or precise location, and we never see your payment details. The Game shows ads and collects anonymous statistics about how it is played. Your progress is backed up to the cloud, and if you choose to sign in with Google Play Games, it also comes back after reinstalling or on a new phone. If you like, you can set a nickname, an avatar and a frame — other players may see them. You are asked for permission the first time you launch the Game, and accepting it is required to play. You can withdraw your consent and delete your data at any time in the Game's settings — see “Deleting your data” below.

What is collected

1. Advertising

The Game shows ads through Unity LevelPlay, an ad mediation service by Unity Technologies. For each ad, LevelPlay runs an auction among the connected ad networks — currently ironSource Ads, Unity Ads (both by Unity Technologies) and Google AdMob (Google) — and shows the ad of the network that won. For this, these services receive:

• your device's advertising identifier (Google Advertising ID);

• your IP address, used to determine an approximate country;

• basic device information: model, operating system version, screen size;

• information about the ads shown: which ad was displayed, whether it was watched to the end, and whether it was tapped.

This is used to show ads and count views, and — only with your agreement — to make ads more relevant. If you decline, ads still appear, but they are not personalised.

Europe. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the Game asks for advertising consent in a separate Google window — the Google User Messaging Platform, certified under the IAB TCF standard. There you decide whether you consent to personalisation, for which purposes and to which advertising partners data may be shared; your choice is stored on the device and passed on to the ad networks. You can change it at any time: Settings → Privacy → “Ad settings”.

2. Statistics

The Game sends anonymous gameplay events through Unity Analytics, and only if you have agreed. These are:

• a randomly generated player identifier and a session identifier, not linked to your name, account or email;

• country, platform, and the Game's version;

• technical information: device model, operating system version and performance data;

• gameplay events: the start and end of a game, score, number of moves, duration, the highest tile reached, tutorial progress, ad views, in-game purchases and rewards (coins, skins, second lives, the daily reward), the outcome of a purchase attempt, and the fact that you accepted this policy.

We use this to understand which parts of the Game are too difficult, where players stop, and whether new versions work correctly. We do not use it to identify you.

Separately from statistics, the Unity engine sends crash reports: what happened before the Game crashed or froze, the device model, the operating system version and a technical installation identifier. They are collected regardless of your consent — without them we would not know that the Game crashes for players — and are not used for advertising or to identify you.

3. Purchases

The Game offers two kinds of purchases: removing ads and packs of in-game coins. Both are processed entirely by Google Play. The Game receives only the fact that the purchase was made and which item was bought. Your card number, name and billing address never reach the Game or us.

To protect purchases and handle refunds, after each purchase of coins the Game sends its purchase token and the item to our server, which runs on Unity Cloud Code. The server checks the order with Google Play and stores the purchase token, the order number, the item and the purchase time together with your player identifier (see “Cloud progress” below). If the payment for a coin pack is refunded or reversed, the server deducts the coins of that pack from your balance, even if the balance becomes negative; items already bought with them stay yours. The order records are kept while your player account exists.

4. Google Play features

Updates to the Game are required. When you open the main menu, the Game asks Google Play whether a newer version is available and, if so, shows a “New version available” screen; the previous version can no longer be played. The update itself is downloaded and installed by Google Play on its own screen. The Game may also ask you to rate it using Google Play's in-app review dialog. Google Play's update screen and the review dialog are shown and handled by Google Play under Google's privacy policy. The Game does not receive your rating or review text.

5. Cloud progress

Your progress is backed up to Unity Cloud Save, part of Unity Gaming Services. For this, the Game creates a player account in Unity Authentication: a random player identifier, with no email or password; its name is your nickname or, until you set one, “Player” with four digits (see section 10). The identifier is shown in the Game under Settings → Privacy, so you can quote it when contacting us.

The cloud copy contains: coins, undos and hearts; the skins you own; best scores and best attempts in each mode, with the number of moves and the length of the record games; the highest tile and the tile album; the number of games played; your daily reward streak; whether the tutorial is done; the numbers of refunded orders; and your nickname, chosen avatar and frame, the avatars and frames you own, and the day you last opened the Game. Your unfinished game and the device settings (sound, language, theme) are not uploaded.

Progress is synchronised when you launch the Game, while you play and when you leave it. If you play on two devices under the same account, their progress is combined.

6. Signing in with Google Play Games

Signing in is optional. The first time you open the Game, it offers to sign in with Google Play Games; you can also do it later in Settings → Google account, or play without an account. When you sign in, Google Play Games gives Unity Authentication the identifier of your Play Games profile, and your cloud progress is linked to it — that is how it comes back after reinstalling the Game or on a new phone. We do not receive your email address or your Google account password. Without signing in, the cloud copy is linked to this installation of the Game only.

7. Reminders

The Game can remind you that your daily reward is ready or that your streak is about to end. These reminders are scheduled on your device itself; no server is involved and nothing is sent to us. On Android 13 and later the Game asks for permission first, and you can turn reminders off at any time in your device's settings.

8. Data that stays on your device

Your unfinished game, sound, language and theme settings, the list of players you have hidden, and the fact that ads have been removed are stored only on your device. The rest of your progress is stored on your device too and synchronised with the cloud copy described above.

This data may be included in your device's Google backup, so that your progress returns if you reinstall the Game. The backup is stored in your own Google account and we have no access to it. You can turn it off in your device's settings.

9. Bug reports

The Game's settings include a “Found a bug” button. It opens your email app with a ready message addressed to us, into which the Game inserts the Game's version, your device model, operating system version, chosen language and your player identifier — without these a bug is usually impossible to reproduce. Nothing is sent anywhere when you tap the button: you write and send the message yourself, and you may delete any line from it. If you do send it, we see the address it came from and use it only to reply to you.

10. Nickname and profile

In the profile window you can set a nickname — 3 to 12 Latin letters and digits — and choose an avatar and a frame. The nickname is stored on our server, which runs on Unity Cloud Code and Unity Cloud Save, together with your player identifier, and is set as the name of your player account in Unity Authentication. The server makes sure no two players share a nickname. Until you set one, “Player” with four digits derived from your player identifier is shown instead.

Other players may see your nickname, avatar and frame — for example, in the Game's leaderboard. You can change your nickname once every 14 days. If you don't open the Game for 90 days, your nickname is released and replaced with “Player” and digits, and another player may take it.

Nickname rules. A nickname must not contain insults, profanity, threats, harassment, hate speech or sexual content; must not impersonate another person, the Game's developer or its support; and must not contain other people's names, phone numbers, addresses or other personal data. By saving a nickname you accept these rules. We may reset a nickname that breaks them without notice — you can set a new one right away.

Badges. A badge may appear next to a nickname — for example, “Tester” for those who played before the Game’s release. So that other players’ copies of the Game can show the badge, your player ID is added to a shared list of badges on our server (Unity Cloud Save); any player’s copy of the Game can read this list. The list contains nothing but the ID. When you delete your data, your ID is removed from this list.

Reporting and hiding. To report another player's nickname, tap their row in the leaderboard and choose “Report nickname” — or write to zestiwegames@gmail.com and include the nickname. The report is stored on our server together with the nickname and the player IDs — yours and that of the player you report; that player does not see your ID. We will review the report, delete it and reset the nickname if it breaks the rules. The same menu lets you hide a player: instead of their nickname and avatar you will see “Player” with digits and the default avatar.

Leaderboards. Your best results — the high score in each mode on each board size, the fastest time to the winning tile (2048, 4096 or 8192) and your best classic 4×4 game of the current week — are stored in Unity Leaderboards together with your player ID, nickname, avatar, frame and a short summary for your player card (the number of games played, achievements earned and your best tile). Other players can see all of this. Results are written to the leaderboards by our server (Unity Cloud Code): the Game sends it the result together with the number of moves and the length of the game in which it was reached, and the server checks whether such a result could have come from fair play. A result that fails the check is not added. Before sending a result, the Game also asks Google Play (the Play Integrity API) to confirm that the request comes from an unmodified copy of the Game installed from Google Play and running on a genuine Android device. Our server verifies this confirmation with Google and may refuse results without it. We receive only Google's verdict — not your device identifiers or Google account details; Google performs the check under its privacy policy.

Weekly leaderboard. The weekly leaderboard starts over every Monday at 00:00 UTC; results of past weeks are kept in the leaderboard archive. At the end of each week the top three players receive coins, and first place receives the “Champion of the week” badge until the next results; for the badge, your player ID is added to the shared list of badges (see “Badges”). The week's results, the reward given and the number of weeks in a row in the top three are stored on our server (Unity Cloud Save) together with your player ID, so that a reward cannot be claimed twice.

Fair play. If a result was obtained with a modified copy of the Game or a forged request to our server, we may remove it from the leaderboards, exclude the player from the leaderboards and weekly rewards, and reset their nickname. To do so, the player ID is added to a private list on our server that only the server can see.

11. Inviting friends

In the profile window you can invite a friend: the Game shares a link to its Google Play page that contains your invite code — eight Latin letters and digits. The code is stored on our server (Unity Cloud Save) together with your player identifier; the code does not reveal your identifier.

When a friend installs the Game from the link, on first launch the Game asks Google Play once (Play Install Referrer) which link it was installed from and takes the code from it. The server (Unity Cloud Code) records in your friend's data which code they came with and whether they have been counted, and in your data how many friends have been counted and for how many you have received a reward. You do not see who exactly came with your code — only the number; when your friend receives the gift, they see your nickname — the server provides it, and your identifier is not passed to your friend. To count a friend, the server looks at the best tile in their cloud progress.

When you delete your data, your code stops working, and the invite data is deleted together with your player account.

12. Promo codes

If you enter a promo code, the Game sends it to our server (Unity Cloud Code). The server checks the code and records in your data on our server (Unity Cloud Save) which promo codes you have activated and what reward you received, so that one code cannot be activated twice. The record of the promo code itself stores only the number of activations, without player identifiers: it shows us how many players came through the code. Promo code data is deleted together with your player account when you delete your data.

A promo code can also come in a link to the Game on Google Play. In that case, on first launch the Game asks Google Play once (Play Install Referrer) which link it was installed from and sends the code from the link to our server, just as if you had entered it yourself.

Consent

The first time you launch the Game, we ask whether you agree to personalised advertising and anonymous statistics. Accepting is required to play: the Game does not run without it.

Once you have agreed, ads may be personalised and statistics are collected. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, ad personalisation is decided not by this consent but by your answer in the Google window — see section 1, “Europe”; you can decline there and the Game keeps working.

Cloud progress, purchase checks and crash reports are needed for the Game to work and do not depend on this choice. Signing in with Google Play Games is a separate, optional choice — see section 6.

You are asked again after reinstalling the Game or clearing its data, and whenever this policy changes.

You can withdraw your consent at any time in the Game — see “Deleting your data” below. After that, statistics are no longer collected and ads become non-personalised.

If you declined in an earlier version of the Game, that answer still stands: you are not asked again, no statistics are collected and ads remain non-personalised. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the Google window asks about ads separately; until you give consent there, ads remain non-personalised.

Deleting your data

You can delete your data yourself, right in the Game:

1. Open the settings (the gear icon in the main menu).

2. Tap Privacy.

3. Tap Delete my data and confirm with Delete.

What is deleted. All gameplay statistics collected from your copy of the Game are deleted from Unity's servers within 30 days. From that moment statistics are no longer collected, your consent is withdrawn and ads are no longer personalised. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, your answer in the Google window is reset as well: it will ask again the next time you launch the Game. If your device is offline, the request is sent automatically the next time the Game goes online.

Cloud. Your cloud progress and your Unity player account are deleted right away, together with the data linked to them — your nickname, the order records and the link to Google Play Games. Cloud saving then stays off on this device until you sign in with Google Play Games again.

Leaderboards. Your entries in all leaderboards — records, fastest time and the current week — are deleted at the same time. The one exception is the archive of past weeks of the weekly leaderboard: Unity Leaderboards only allows an archived week to be deleted as a whole, so your score and nickname in the results of past weeks remain in the archive. The Game shows a week's results for no longer than 8 weeks after it ends.

What stays. Your progress, coins, items and purchases on this device are not affected. To remove them, clear the Game's data or uninstall it in your device's settings. A copy in your Google backup can be deleted in your Google account.

Advertising data. Ad networks link data to your device's advertising identifier rather than to the Game. To reset or delete it, open your device's settings → Google → Ads (on some devices: Privacy → Ads).

How long data is kept. Without a deletion request, Unity keeps gameplay statistics for up to 13 months and then deletes them automatically. Crash reports and ad network data are kept according to Unity's privacy policy linked below. Cloud progress and order records are kept while your player account exists and are deleted with it.

If you cannot open the Game, write to zestiwegames@gmail.com. Statistics are linked only to a random identifier inside the Game, so we cannot find them by your email address; the option in the Game is the reliable way. If you give us the player identifier from Settings → Privacy, we will delete your cloud progress and player account for you.

Who else receives this data

• Unity Technologies — advertising (Unity LevelPlay, ironSource Ads, Unity Ads), statistics, crash reports, cloud progress, the player account, the nickname, leaderboards and purchase checks (Unity Gaming Services). Their policy: https://unity.com/legal/game-player-and-app-user-privacy-policy

• Google — advertising (Google AdMob), app distribution, purchases and their verification, sign-in with Google Play Games, the update and review dialogs, and the install source for friend invites, and the integrity check of results sent to the leaderboards (Play Integrity). Their policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

We do not sell your data and do not share it with anyone other than the services listed above.

Your rights

If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you have the right to access your data, to request its deletion, and to withdraw your consent.

To withdraw consent or delete statistics already collected, use Delete my data in the Game's settings — see “Deleting your data” above. For any other request, write to zestiwegames@gmail.com.

Children

The Game's content is suitable for players of any age. However, it is not directed at children under 13 as defined by applicable law, because it shows third-party advertising and uses an advertising identifier. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13.

Third-party software

The Game uses third-party components. Their authors and licenses are listed on the Licenses page of this site.

Changes to this policy

If what the Game collects changes, we will update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Zestiwe Games — zestiwegames@gmail.com