Shorthand Terms of Use

Effective August 25, 2026 · Last updated August 25, 2026

1. This Agreement

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and Indy Interactive Inc. ("Indy Interactive," "we," "us," "our") governing your use of the Shorthand game and the joinshorthand.party website, whether you use the installed application or play in a web browser (together, the "App" or "Service"). They also serve as the end user licence agreement for the installed application.

By downloading, installing, opening, or playing the App, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the App.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle information and is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age of digital consent in your jurisdiction, whichever is higher) to use the App. By using the App you represent that you meet this requirement and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. If you are old enough to use the App but are still a minor where you live, a parent or legal guardian must review and agree to these Terms with you, and is responsible for your use of the App.

3. The Service

Shorthand is a party drawing-and-guessing game for people in the same room. One player opens a room from the installed app and becomes the host; others join that room by entering its code in a web browser. Play happens in rounds, live, among the people who are in the room.

There are no accounts. You do not register, you do not sign in, and the display name you type is not reserved, verified, or connected to you between sessions. Nothing you do in one room carries into another.

The Service is live only. A room exists while people are in it and ceases to exist when the last player leaves. We do not host, store, publish, index or distribute a library of past games, and there is no feed, no profile page and no public gallery.

4. Purchases

The installed application is a paid download from the Apple App Store or Google Play. Joining a room in a web browser is free. There are no in-app purchases, no subscriptions, no virtual currency and no advertising.

All purchases are made through, and processed by, Apple or Google under their terms, not by us. Refunds are handled by the store you bought from, according to that store's policy; we cannot issue a refund for a purchase we did not process. If you have a problem with a purchase, contact Apple or Google. If you have a problem with the App, contact us and we will help.

5. Licence

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable licence to install and use one copy of the App on a device you own or control, for your own non-commercial entertainment.

You may not, and may not permit anyone else to:

• copy, modify, translate, or create derivative works of the App;
• reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the App, or attempt to derive its source code, except to the extent that applicable law expressly permits it despite this restriction;
• rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute, or sublicense the App;
• remove or obscure any copyright, trade mark, or other proprietary notice.

We reserve every right not expressly granted here.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• use the Service to harass, threaten, defame, impersonate, or abuse anyone;
• submit content that violates § 8;
• attempt to gain access to a room you were not given the code for, or to any account, system or data you are not authorised to reach;
• interfere with or overload the relay, including by connecting anything other than the App to it, by opening rooms automatically or in bulk, by scanning for room codes, or by sending messages the App does not produce;
• use the Service to violate any applicable law, or to infringe anyone's rights;
• circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, any limit, filter, rate limit, or version requirement in the Service.

We may limit, suspend, or refuse access to the Service to protect it or the people using it.

7. Your Content

"Your Content" means the drawings, guesses, votes and display names you submit while playing.

You keep ownership of Your Content. We do not claim it and we do not acquire it.

You grant us a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to transmit, display and process Your Content solely in order to operate the round you are playing, which means delivering it to the other people in your room. This licence exists only for as long as the delivery takes and covers nothing else: we do not publish, promote, sell, license onward, or train anything on Your Content. Because the Service retains nothing (see § 3 and the Privacy Policy), this licence expires with the room.

You are responsible for Your Content, and you represent that you have the right to submit it and that it does not infringe anyone's rights or break any law.

Anything you draw or type is shown to the other people in your room. Treat it the way you would treat saying something out loud in that room. If somebody in the room takes a screenshot or saves a drawing to their own photos, which the App lets them do, that copy is theirs and is outside our control.

8. Content Standards, Reporting, and Removal

There is no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users on this Service. By using the App you agree not to submit, and not to encourage anyone else to submit, content that:

• is sexually explicit, or sexualises a minor in any way;
• harasses, bullies, threatens, or targets a person or group, including on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age;
• promotes hatred, violence, self-harm, or terrorism;
• depicts graphic violence or gore;
• is illegal, promotes illegal activity, or infringes someone else's intellectual property or privacy;
• impersonates another person, including in a display name;
• is spam, or is designed to disrupt other people's play rather than to take part in it.

8.1 How content is filtered

Display names and typed guesses are checked against a blocklist on the device before they are sent, and rejected entries never reach the room. Filtering text is an imperfect defence and drawings cannot be filtered this way at all, which is why the remaining measures below matter more.

8.2 How to remove someone, immediately

The host of a room can remove any player from it at any time, from within the game, without contacting us and without waiting for us. Removal takes effect at once: the removed player's connection is closed and they cannot rejoin that room. This is the primary remedy, it is in the hands of the people actually in the room, and it is instantaneous.

If the person behaving badly is the host, any player can leave the room, and the game ends for everyone when the host leaves. Rooms are private and code-gated, so a person removed from a room has no route back to the people in it.

8.3 How to report something to us

The App has a report control on the screen where a drawing is shown. Using it opens an email to support@joinshorthand.party, addressed and with the subject filled in, which you send yourself. You may also write to that address directly at any time.

We aim to respond to reports within three business days.

Please understand what a report can and cannot achieve here, because the architecture of this Service makes it different from a social network. Content in Shorthand is live and never stored: there is no copy of a drawing on our servers, during the round or after it, so there is nothing for us to take down when a report reaches us. The removal remedy is the immediate one in § 8.2, which does not involve us and does not wait for us.

What a report to us does achieve is the rest of it: we investigate patterns of abuse, we act on reports about the App itself, we can restrict access to the Service, and we will co-operate with law enforcement where the law requires it. If you are reporting something urgent, such as a threat or content involving a minor, say so in the subject line and we will treat it as such.

8.4 Enforcement

We may investigate suspected violations and may restrict, suspend, or terminate access to the Service for anyone who breaks these standards, with or without notice. Because there are no accounts, our enforcement tools operate at the level of the Service rather than of a person, and the host's power to remove a player from a room is deliberately the stronger and faster of the two.

9. Copyright Complaints

If you believe something in the Service infringes your copyright, write to support@joinshorthand.party with: your contact details; identification of the work you say is infringed; identification of the material you say infringes it and where it appeared; a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorised to act for the owner; and your signature, physical or electronic.

Note that, as § 8.3 explains, we do not host user content, so in most cases there will be nothing for us to remove.

10. Our Intellectual Property

The App, the Shorthand name, its artwork, its interface, its sounds and its code are owned by Indy Interactive Inc. and protected by intellectual property law. These Terms grant you a licence to play, not any ownership.

The App includes third-party components used under their own licences, and reproduces those licences in full on its credits screen.

11. Feedback

If you send us ideas or suggestions, you grant us an unrestricted, irrevocable, royalty-free right to use them for any purpose without compensation or obligation to you. Please do not send us anything you consider confidential.

12. Third-Party Services

The App relies on Cloudflare, Inc. for the network, servers and relay that carry a game, and on the Apple App Store and Google Play for distribution and payment. Their terms apply to their parts, and we are not responsible for their services.

The App contains no advertising network and no other third-party component that receives what you draw or type. The joinshorthand.party website counts page views using Cloudflare Web Analytics, which sets no cookies and does not identify anybody; it runs in a web browser only and never in the installed app. The Privacy Policy describes it in full.

13. Changes to the Service

We may change, update, or discontinue the Service or any part of it at any time. We may also require a minimum app version in order to connect to the relay, so that a build with a serious defect can be kept off it; if your copy is below that version you will be told to update.

The Service depends on a relay we operate and pay for. We do not guarantee it will remain available indefinitely. If we discontinue it, we will give reasonable notice where we can.

14. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY DEFECT WILL BE CORRECTED.

We do not control what other players draw or type. Content in a room comes from the people in that room, and we do not review it before or after it appears. You use the Service among other people at your own risk.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above may not apply to you.

15. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, INDY INTERACTIVE AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY.

OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US FOR THE APP IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM AROSE, OR (B) TWENTY-FIVE UNITED STATES DOLLARS.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded. Some jurisdictions do not allow some of these limitations, so they may not apply to you.

16. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Indy Interactive Inc. and its officers, directors, employees and agents from any claim, demand, loss, liability or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your use of the Service, Your Content, your breach of these Terms, or your violation of any law or of anyone's rights.

17. Termination

These Terms apply while you use the Service. You may end them at any time by deleting the App and ceasing to use the Service. We may suspend or terminate your access at any time if you breach these Terms or if we discontinue the Service.

Sections 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 22 survive termination.

18. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles.

18.1 Talk to us first

Before starting an arbitration or a lawsuit, you agree to try to resolve the dispute informally by emailing support@joinshorthand.party with a description of the dispute and the relief you want. If we cannot resolve it within 60 days, either of us may proceed. This step is a condition of bringing a claim, and it pauses any applicable limitation period.

18.2 Binding individual arbitration

Except as stated in § 18.4 and § 18.5, you and Indy Interactive agree to resolve all disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the App by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court. Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, before one arbitrator. It may be conducted by documents, telephone, or video, or in person in the county where you live or another mutually agreed location. The award may be entered as a judgment in any court with jurisdiction. We will pay the arbitration fees the AAA rules require us to pay, and we will not seek our legal fees from you unless the arbitrator finds your claim frivolous.

You and we are giving up the right to sue in court and to have a trial before a judge or jury, except as stated below.

18.3 Class action waiver

Claims may be brought only in your or our individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims. If this paragraph is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim must proceed in court and is severed from any arbitration.

18.4 Small claims and injunctive relief

Either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies. Either of us may also seek injunctive relief in court to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property.

18.5 Where this does not apply

If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction whose law does not permit pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class action waivers with consumers, §§ 18.2 and 18.3 do not apply to you. You may bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence, and you keep the protection of the mandatory consumer law there.

19. Consumer Rights (EEA, UK, and Other Jurisdictions)

If you are a consumer, you have statutory rights that these Terms cannot take away, and nothing here limits them. Where the App is faulty, you keep whatever remedies your local law gives you, in addition to anything the store you bought from offers. EU and UK consumers may also use the European Commission's online dispute resolution platform, though we would rather you wrote to us first.

20. Export Control and Sanctions

You represent that you are not located in, and are not a national or resident of, a country subject to a comprehensive United States embargo, and that you are not on any United States government list of prohibited or restricted parties. You agree not to use or export the App in violation of United States export law.

21. Apple-Specific Terms

If you obtained the App from the Apple App Store, you acknowledge and agree:

• Acknowledgment. These Terms are between you and Indy Interactive only, not Apple, and Indy Interactive, not Apple, is solely responsible for the App and its content.
• Scope of licence. The licence granted in § 5 is non-transferable and limited to using the App on Apple-branded products you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, except that the App may be accessed and used by other accounts associated with you via Family Sharing or volume purchasing.
• Maintenance and support. Indy Interactive is solely responsible for providing maintenance and support for the App, as specified in these Terms or as required by law. Apple has no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance or support services.
• Warranty. Indy Interactive is solely responsible for any product warranties, express or implied by law, to the extent not effectively disclaimed. If the App fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) to you; to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to a failure to conform to any warranty are Indy Interactive's sole responsibility.
• Product claims. Indy Interactive, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims by you or a third party relating to the App or your use of it, including product liability claims, any claim that the App fails to conform to a legal or regulatory requirement, and claims arising under consumer protection, privacy, or similar legislation.
• Intellectual property claims. If a third party claims the App infringes its intellectual property, Indy Interactive, not Apple, is solely responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement, and discharge of that claim.
• Legal compliance. You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a United States government embargo or designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any United States government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Third-party beneficiary. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and on your acceptance Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

22. Google Play-Specific Terms

If you obtained the App from Google Play, these Terms are between you and Indy Interactive only, not Google. Google is not responsible for the App or its content, and has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for it. Your use is also subject to the Google Play Terms of Service, and refunds are handled under Google's refund policy.

23. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top and post the new version here. Material changes will be announced in the App before they take effect. Continuing to use the Service after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

24. Miscellaneous

Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us about the Service, and replace anything said before.

Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it is modified to the minimum extent necessary or severed, and the rest remains in force.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.

Assignment. You may not assign these Terms. We may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

Force majeure. Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control.

25. Contact Us

Indy Interactive Inc.
2093 Philadelphia Pike #9979
Claymont, DE 19703, USA
support@joinshorthand.party

We aim to reply within three business days.