Last updated 20 September 2026.
The short version: the game saves your progress in your own browser and never sends it anywhere. The reading pages around the game use Google Analytics, and ask you first. Nothing on this site asks you to make an account.
Who is responsible
Alderhoard is run by Scott Covert, trading as 5 Keys Lab, in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. There is one person here. You can reach him at [email protected].
The game itself collects nothing
When you play Alderhoard, your progress is written to your own browser using
localStorage. That includes your best scores, which walls you have solved, your
favourites, your certificates and your background choices. It is stored under keys such
as alderhoard_best, alderhoard_certs and
alderhoard_leaderboard.
That data stays on your machine. It is not sent to a server, it is not readable by anyone else, and there is no account it could be attached to. Clearing your browser storage for this site erases your progress permanently, and there is no way for anyone, including the person who made the game, to get it back for you.
The game page runs a first-party visit counter hosted at scovert.com, which records that a page was viewed. It does not run Google Analytics. That is a deliberate choice about the game screen.
The public leaderboard is off until you turn it on
Some walls can issue a certificate at the end of a run. You are asked once, and only once, whether you want your results to appear on a public board.
- Until you say yes, nothing leaves your browser. Not your name, not your score, not the fact that you played.
- If you say yes, a run that earns a certificate sends the in-game name you chose, your score, the course count, the miss count, the date and the wall to alderhoard.com, together with a picture of the certificate.
- The in-game name is whatever you typed. It defaults to ADVENTURER. Do not put your real name, your email or anything else identifying in it if you would rather it were not public, because a public board is public.
- Saying yes once covers every board there will ever be, so you are never asked again about a wall you do not care about. Saying no means you are never asked again either.
The feedback box
Every cabinet in the game has the same feedback form. It sends only what is on the form when you press send:
- Your message, and a rating if you gave one.
- Your name and email only if you filled them in. Leaving them blank genuinely means anonymous.
- A technical line naming the game, the level, the version, your browser and your screen size. It is shown to you before you send, and it has its own checkbox.
- A picture of the game screen as it was when you opened the box. Also shown to you, also its own checkbox.
The server does not write your IP address into the record. A short-lived hash is used to rate-limit the form and is then discarded.
The reading pages use Google Analytics, and ask first
The pages around the game, this one included, load Google Analytics 4
(G-CZT1T2DW66), Google Ads (AW-18034350349) and Google Tag
Manager (GTM-WJCV4CNB). These tell me which articles people read and whether
an advertisement led anywhere, and they set cookies to do it.
Consent is handled before any of it loads:
- If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, analytics and advertising storage are denied by default and nothing is set until you answer the bar at the bottom of the page.
- Everywhere else, measurement starts in the granted state and stops the moment you decline.
- Your answer is kept in your own browser under
ah_cookie_ok. Choosing no also clears the Google cookies already set.
To change your mind later, clear this site's cookies and storage in your browser and the bar will ask again. You can also opt out of Google Analytics everywhere with the Google Analytics opt-out add-on, and control advertising personalisation at Google My Ad Center.
Leaving the site
There is a Ko-fi link for anyone who wants to support the work. Following it takes you to Ko-fi, who have their own privacy policy and handle any payment. No payment is ever taken on alderhoard.com, and no card details reach this site.
Children
Alderhoard is suitable for children and a fair number of them play it. Nothing on the site asks a player for a name, an age, an email address or an account, and the game sends nothing at all without a deliberate act. The only two ways to transmit anything are the feedback form and the opt-in leaderboard, both of which take a conscious choice. If you believe a child has sent something identifying through either, write to me and I will delete it.
Your rights
Under Canadian privacy law (PIPEDA), and under the GDPR if you are in the EEA or the UK, you can ask what is held about you, ask for it to be corrected, or ask for it to be deleted. In practice there is very little to ask about, because most of what this site knows about you never leaves your own computer. Write to [email protected] and say what you want done. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that matters, the date at the top changes with it.