Terms of Service

Last updated: June 8, 2026

Plain-English summary first: be a decent person, play fair, don't try to break the app or other people's accounts. The detailed terms follow.

1. Agreement

By creating an account or using Mahj & Friends ("the app", "the service"), you agree to these Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the app.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Mahj & Friends. If you're between 13 and 17, your parent or guardian should review these Terms with you. You must be old enough in your jurisdiction to enter into a binding agreement.

One account per person. Don't use bots, automation, or scripts to interact with the service.

3. Your account

You're responsible for keeping your account secure — your email, password, and any device that's signed in. Don't share your account credentials. Don't impersonate other people or use an offensive handle. We reserve the right to rename or remove handles, display names, or club names that are abusive, hateful, or impersonating someone else without their permission.

4. Async multiplayer — how the service works

Mahj & Friends is an asynchronous game. Your moves, hand state, and game progress sync to our servers (Google Firebase, in the United States) so the other players in your game can see your turns and make theirs. Active games persist on the server until completed, abandoned, or forfeited. Completed games are automatically removed from active storage after 30 days; abandoned active games are cleaned up after 7+ days of inactivity by an automated job.

Forfeiting a game removes it from your active list. Game outcomes (mahj wins, points awarded, tournament standings) are final once committed by the server. We don't undo outcomes for client-side display bugs or after-the-fact disagreements between players.

5. What you can and can't do

You may:

• Use the app to play mahjong with people you invite or who invite you.
• Create clubs and tournaments for your own group.
• Share invite links and codes with anyone you'd actually like to play with.
• Post in the club board within a club you've joined.
• Block or report other users for harassment, cheating, spam, or other abuse.

You may not:

• Cheat, exploit bugs, manipulate the rules engine, or use any tool that automates gameplay.
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, extract source code, or attempt to bypass server-side validation.
• Harass, threaten, dox, abuse, or send unwanted contact to other players inside or outside the app.
• Post or send content that is illegal, hateful, defamatory, sexually explicit, or that infringes someone else's intellectual property.
• Use the service to violate any law.
• Scrape, automate, or use the app for commercial purposes other than playing mahjong with friends.
• Resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the app or any part of it.
• Create multiple accounts to evade a suspension, vote-manipulate tournaments, or stuff leaderboards.

6. Reporting other users + zero-tolerance content

Inside the app, you can block another user (they can no longer interact with you) and report another user (a moderation review is triggered). We take reports seriously and review them against the rules above.

We have zero tolerance for: harassment of any kind, threats of violence, slurs targeting protected groups, sexual content involving minors, sharing of personal information without consent ("doxxing"), or any other objectionable behavior. Accounts that violate this section may be suspended or terminated without warning, with cascade deletion of associated data.

See our internal moderation policy at our repository's MODERATION.md for the decision ladder we apply when reviewing reports.

7. Subscriptions and purchases

Mahj+ Premium (when launched) is an auto-renewing subscription billed monthly or annually through your Apple ID. You can cancel at any time in iOS Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions. Apple manages all payments; we don't see your card information. Subscriptions auto-renew within 24 hours before the period ends unless cancelled. Cancelling stops future renewals; you keep access through the end of the current period.

One-time purchases (such as tile sets and felt themes, when launched) are non-consumable. Once bought, they remain available on any device signed in to your Apple ID via "Restore Purchases" in Settings.

Refunds are handled by Apple per the App Store refund policy at reportaproblem.apple.com. We can't issue refunds directly.

8. NMJL rules and the card

Mahj & Friends implements gameplay following the rules of the National Mah Jongg League ("NMJL"). Hand patterns in the app are based on the official annual NMJL card. Mahj & Friends is independently developed and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NMJL. NMJL® and Mah Jongg® are trademarks of the National Mah Jongg League, Inc.

Players who want the official printed card should buy one from nationalmahjonggleague.org and support the League.

9. Your content

You retain ownership of anything you post in the app (club board posts, profile bio, club names and descriptions you create as an admin). By posting, you grant Mahj & Friends a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display that content within the app as part of normal operation. You're responsible for what you post. We may remove content that violates these Terms.

10. Intellectual property

The Mahj & Friends app, including its code, art, brand, name, logo, and design language, is © 2026 Mahj & Friends. All rights reserved. Nothing in these Terms grants you any rights in our IP except the limited right to use the app as intended.

11. Termination

You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Danger Zone → Delete Account. This triggers a cascade deletion of your data as described in our Privacy Policy and is permanent.

We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, especially for cheating, harassment, fraud, or threats to other users. We'll try to give notice when reasonable, but for serious violations we may act immediately. Termination by us also triggers the cascade deletion described in our Privacy Policy.

12. Disclaimers

Mahj & Friends is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. We do our best to keep the service running, but we don't guarantee uninterrupted service, freedom from bugs, or compatibility with every device or every version of iOS.

13. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Mahj & Friends is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or lost data, arising from your use of the service. Our total liability for any claim related to the service is capped at the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for premium subscriptions in the 12 months before the claim, or (b) twenty US dollars ($20). This cap doesn't apply where prohibited by law (some jurisdictions don't allow liability limits for certain types of damages — in those cases, the cap is the lowest amount permitted by your local law).

14. Governing law and dispute resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws provisions.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, with the arbitration taking place in San Francisco, California. You agree to waive any right to participate in a class action or class-wide arbitration, except where this waiver is prohibited by your local law.

Small-claims court actions in your local jurisdiction remain available for qualifying disputes.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms over time. Material changes will be flagged in the app and the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will change. Continued use of the app after an update means you accept the new version. If you don't accept the updated version, delete your account from Settings → Danger Zone before continuing to use the service.

16. Contact

Questions, feedback, disputes, or DMCA notices? Email support@mahjandfriends.com. We respond within 30 days, usually much faster.