Terms of use

1. Who we are

We are Red Threads, a team that writes and builds online investigations (“we”). You can reach us at hello@redthreads.games.

2. What Red Threads is

Red Threads is an online detective game. A “case” is digital content: a story, a city map, characters, materials and report questions, played in the browser.

All characters, events and organisations in the cases are fictional. Any resemblance to real people is coincidental. Real cities and streets are used as settings.

Our cases include ones for adults, for families and for children. Each case page shows its age recommendation.

Red Threads has no general age limit: people of any age can play, create a profile and buy cases, including as gifts. If you are under 13, your profile is created with the consent of a parent or guardian.

Cases marked “18+” are for adults only. By buying such a case you confirm that you are 18 or over.

3. Profile and sign-in

A profile is created with an email address. To sign in we send a one-time link; no password is needed. Don’t forward these emails: the link signs into your profile.

You are responsible for the accuracy of your email and for actions taken through your profile.

4. Purchases and prices

Prices are shown in euros on the case page and are final. If your bank charges you in another currency, the rate and fees are set by your bank.

Before paying you tick a box confirming that you have read these terms and the refund policy. Cases marked “18+” have a second box confirming that you are 18 or over. Payment won’t start without them.

Payment takes place on Stripe’s secure page. We never receive or store your card details.

The contract is concluded once payment is confirmed. The case then appears in your profile and you receive an email with a link.

A purchase lets one team play the case: you can invite up to five people by link. You can replay the case as often as you like while the service operates.

5. Right of withdrawal

Consumers in the EU can usually withdraw from a distance contract within 14 days. For digital content this right is lost once performance has begun with your express consent and your acknowledgement that you lose the right (Latvian Cabinet Regulation No. 255 on distance contracts).

By ticking the box before payment you ask for immediate access to the case and acknowledge that you then lose the 14-day right of withdrawal. See “Refunds” for details.

6. Gifts and promo codes

A gift code opens the case chosen when the gift was bought or, if the choice was left to the recipient, any one case. It is valid for 12 months from purchase, can be used once and cannot be exchanged for money.

Promo codes and personal discounts are valid for the stated period, once, and cannot be combined unless stated otherwise. A personal discount works only with its owner’s email.

7. Ranking and fair play

The ranking is based on finished cases. We may remove results obtained through automation, hacking or interference with the service.

Do not try to access other profiles, case answers or the server other than through the game interface, and do not resell access to cases.

8. Intellectual property

Texts, images, music, design and code of Red Threads belong to us or are used under licence. A purchase gives a personal right to play, not to copy or distribute case materials.

9. Videos, streams and spoilers

Every case is a mystery, and it only works while the answer is unknown. So you may not record and publish a full playthrough, or share report answers, solutions, codes, reveals or the chain of reasoning that leads to them — in videos, streams, articles, social media or chats.

You are welcome to talk about Red Threads, share impressions, write spoiler-free reviews, and show a case’s introduction, the map, the interface and individual characters — as long as nobody could reconstruct the investigation or its answer from what you publish.

If you want to make a review or a stream and aren’t sure where the line is, write to us and we’ll agree on it.

If a publication breaks these rules, we may ask you to remove it, ask the platform to take it down as an infringement of our copyright, remove your results from the ranking and close access to your profile without a refund. If the breach causes us loss, we may claim compensation.

10. Availability and liability

We aim to keep the service running without interruption but cannot guarantee it at all times: maintenance and outages may happen. If a case is unavailable because of a fault on our side, we will fix it or refund you (see “Refunds”).

We are not responsible for problems with your internet connection, device or browser. Our liability is limited to the amount paid for the relevant case, except where the law does not allow such a limit.

11. Changes

We may update these terms. A new version applies from publication on the site and does not worsen the conditions of purchases already paid for.

12. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of Latvia. If you are a consumer in another EU country, you keep the protection of its mandatory rules.

If something goes wrong, write to us at hello@redthreads.games. We reply within 14 days and always try to settle things quickly and amicably.