1. Who we are and what these terms cover
Blue Duel is developed and published by Diffuse Thinking LLC (“we”, “our”, “us”). These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) form a binding agreement between you and Diffuse Thinking LLC governing your installation and use of the Blue Duel mobile application (the “App”) and this website at blueduel.app (together, the “Service”).
If you downloaded the App from the Apple App Store, the App is also subject to Apple’s standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement. Where Apple’s standard EULA imposes stricter terms, those stricter terms apply to that App Store installation. Everything else in these Terms continues to apply alongside.
By installing, opening, or using the App, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you don’t agree, please don’t install or use the App.
2. License to use the App
Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a personal, limited, non‑exclusive, non‑transferable, non‑sublicensable, revocable license to install and run a single copy of the App on mobile devices that you personally own or control, solely for your own personal, non‑commercial entertainment.
We reserve every right not expressly granted to you in these Terms. The App is licensed to you, not sold; no ownership transfers.
3. Things you agree not to do
You agree that you will not, and will not allow anyone else to:
- copy, modify, translate, or create derivative works of the App, except as expressly permitted by applicable law that cannot be waived by contract;
- reverse‑engineer, decompile, or disassemble the App, or attempt to derive its source code, except to the limited extent applicable law expressly permits;
- rent, lease, lend, sell, sublicense, redistribute, or otherwise commercially exploit the App or any portion of it (including by bundling it with another product or service);
- remove, alter, or obscure any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notice in the App;
- use the App or its Bluetooth networking layer to send malicious, harassing, illegal, deceptive, or infringing content to other players, or to interfere with another player’s device or with the App itself;
- use any automated means — scripts, bots, modified clients — to interact with the App, the in‑app store, the rewarded‑ads flow, or the ticket system, or to gain entitlements (such as the Lifetime Pass) without paying for them;
- attempt to circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with security‑related features of the App or features that prevent or restrict use of any content; or
- use the App in any way that violates applicable law or the rules of the app store you downloaded it from.
4. Intellectual property
The App, the Service, and all of their original code, designs, illustrations, sounds, animations, marks (including the “Blue Duel” name and logo), and other content are owned by Diffuse Thinking LLC or its licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual‑property laws. These Terms grant you no rights in any of those marks or content beyond the limited license in §2.
Third‑party assets we redistribute under attribution licenses. The chess pieces shown in the App are the “cburnett” set by Colin M.L. Burnett, redistributed under CC‑BY‑SA 3.0. The original SVGs are converted to PNG for use in the App. Nothing in these Terms restricts your independent rights to those assets under that license.
5. Third‑party services and data
To keep the App free, to understand how it’s used, and to find bugs, the App embeds three Google SDKs: AdMob (rewarded ads), Firebase Analytics (aggregated usage reporting), and Firebase Crashlytics (crash and error reports). Each is gated behind the Google User Messaging Platform (UMP) consent prompt that appears on first launch. The data flows, your controls, and the relevant Google policies are laid out in detail in our Privacy Policy.
The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) networking layer that connects the two phones during a duel is operated by your device’s operating system, not by us, and never transits a server we run. Your gameplay moves, in‑match chat and emotes, and chosen display name travel directly between the two paired phones over BLE.
6. In‑app purchases
The App offers a single optional in‑app purchase — the Lifetime Pass — sold through Google Play (on Android) or the Apple App Store (on iOS). The Lifetime Pass is a non‑consumable entitlement that removes the rewarded‑ads upsell and grants unlimited tickets for the App on the platform you purchased it on.
- Pricing is shown by the App at the moment of purchase, in your local currency where available, and is set by us through the respective app store. We may change pricing for future purchases at any time; entitlements you have already purchased are not affected.
- Refunds are handled exclusively by the app store you purchased through, under that store’s own refund policy: Google Play order history / refund flow or Apple Report a Problem. We are not in a position to issue store‑side refunds directly.
- Restoring purchases. The App provides a “Restore Purchases” action in Settings that re‑syncs your entitlement from the app store. If you sign into a different store account, or buy on a different platform, the entitlement may not transfer — cross‑platform purchases are not currently supported.
- Promotional pricing. Promotional or launch pricing is offered at our discretion and may end at any time without notice; pricing already paid is never retroactively changed.
7. User content and conduct
The only user‑authored content the App handles is your chosen display name and the short emotes / quick messages you can send to your duel partner during a match. None of this is collected, transmitted to us, or stored on our servers (we don’t have any — see §5). It travels only over the local BLE link to the player you’re paired with.
Even though we never see your display name or in‑match messages, you agree not to choose a display name and not to send messages that are illegal, infringing, harassing, threatening, hateful, sexually explicit, or otherwise harmful to the player on the other end. The other player can mute the chat at any time from their App settings.
8. Updates, changes, and version compatibility
We may release updates to the App from time to time through the app stores — bug fixes, new games, new features, security patches, and so on. Updates are installed by your device’s app‑store mechanisms, and your device’s automatic‑update settings determine whether updates are applied automatically.
Blue Duel is a peer‑to‑peer game; both phones in a duel must be running compatible versions of the App. We try to keep older versions playable against newer ones wherever practical, but we may end support for older versions when they become a security or compatibility burden. If a peer is running a version too old to play a given game, the App will say so before charging tickets.
9. The App is provided “as is”
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE APP AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. We disclaim all warranties, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise — including, without limitation, implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non‑infringement, and any warranties arising out of course of dealing or usage of trade.
We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error‑free, that defects will be corrected, or that any particular gameplay session will connect, complete, or be free of disconnections. Bluetooth performance depends on your hardware, your operating system, your physical environment, and the device on the other side — none of which we control. The App is for entertainment only and is not designed for, and must not be relied on for, any safety‑critical, medical, financial, or emergency use.
10. Limitation of liability
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, in no event will Diffuse Thinking LLC, its officers, members, employees, or contractors be liable to you for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or other intangible losses, arising out of or related to your use of (or inability to use) the App or the Service, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Our total cumulative liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or your use of the App, regardless of the form of action, will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you actually paid us (through your app store) for the App in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the liability, or (b) US$25.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain warranties or damages, so some of the above may not apply to you. In such jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the smallest extent permitted by applicable law.
11. Indemnity
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Diffuse Thinking LLC and its officers, members, employees, and contractors from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to (a) your use of the App in breach of these Terms, (b) your violation of applicable law, or (c) your violation of any third party’s rights through your conduct in or using the App.
12. Termination
You may stop using the App at any time by uninstalling it from your device. We may suspend or terminate your license to use the App at any time, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms or are using the App in a way that harms other players or the App itself.
On termination, the license in §2 ends immediately, but Sections 4 (Intellectual property), 9 (Disclaimer), 10 (Limitation of liability), 11 (Indemnity), 13 (Governing law), and 15 (Miscellaneous) survive.
13. Governing law
These Terms, and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or to your use of the App, are governed by the laws of the United States and of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict‑of‑laws principles. Subject to mandatory consumer‑protection laws of the country in which you reside, the state and federal courts located in Texas will have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute that is not resolved informally.
Nothing in this section deprives you of the protection of any non‑waivable provisions of the law of the country where you reside.
14. Changes to these Terms
We may revise these Terms from time to time. The current version is always available at blueduel.app/terms, and the “Last updated” date at the top of the page reflects the latest revision. Material changes will be highlighted before they take effect. Your continued use of the App after a revised version is posted means you accept the revised Terms.
15. Miscellaneous
Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and (where applicable) Apple’s standard EULA, form the entire agreement between you and us regarding the App. They supersede any prior agreements between you and us regarding the App.
Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that right or provision.
Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any of your rights under them without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms freely, including in connection with a sale, merger, or reorganization of our business.
16. Contact
Questions about these Terms? Email support+blueduel@diffusethinking.com and we will get back to you. For privacy questions specifically, see §11 of the Privacy Policy.