Privacy policy

Last updated October 18, 2026

The short version

You can play How to Play as a guest without giving us anything. Your progress then stays on your device.
If you make an account, we keep your email address, your name from Google or GitHub, and your progress, so it can follow you to other devices.
We email you a daily practice reminder if you have an account. It's on by default; you can turn it off in Settings or with the link in any reminder.
The free website shows ads from Google in the side margins on wide screens. They're non-personalized: they aren't chosen from your interests or browsing history. The desktop and Steam versions have no ads.
We don't sell your information or share it for marketing. We only use the services listed below to run the game.
You can ask us to see or delete your data at any time: [email protected].

Who we are

How to Play ("we", "us") is a game that teaches people where the buttons on a game controller are. It runs in the browser at howtoplay.fun and as a desktop app. This policy explains what information the game uses, why, and the choices you have. For any privacy question or request, email [email protected].

What we collect

When you play as a guest

Your settings and progress are saved only in your browser or the desktop app on your device (in local storage). We don't receive them. Clearing your browser's site data deletes them.

When you make an account

Information	Where it comes from	Why we use it
Email address	You, or Google or GitHub when you sign in with them	To sign you in, and to send sign-in codes and daily practice reminders
Name, and your account ID with Google or GitHub	Google or GitHub, if you sign in with them	To show who's signed in, and to greet you in reminder emails
Training progress and stats: which inputs you've practised, your speed and accuracy, your history of practice sessions, stage reached, minutes practised per day	The game, as you play	To keep your progress and show it on every device you sign in on
Run minigame records: best score and distance, totals, the runner look you chose	The game, as you play	To keep your records and unlocks with your account
Reminder settings: on or off, reminder time, time zone, language	The game (your device's time zone and the language you use)	To send the reminder at your local time, in your language, only on days you haven't practised
Sign-in and security records: when you signed in, IP address, browser or device type	Our sign-in provider (Supabase), automatically	To keep accounts secure and to fix problems

We don't ask for your age, address, phone number or payment details, and we don't use your Google or GitHub account for anything except signing you in.

Your controller

The game reads your controller's buttons and sticks while you play, to check your inputs. This happens on your device. The raw input isn't sent to us; only the practice results listed above are saved. On PlayStation controllers connected directly, the game also sends rumble and trigger effects to the controller.

What we don't do

No personalized advertising, and no analytics of our own.
We don't sell your information or share it for advertising or marketing.
We don't use your information to make automated decisions about you.

Services that help run the game

These companies process information for us, only to provide their service:

Supabase stores accounts and progress and handles sign-in.
Resend sends sign-in and reminder emails.
Google and GitHub, if you choose to sign in with them. Their own privacy policies apply to your accounts with them.
Our website host serves the game's files and keeps standard web server logs (such as IP addresses) for security.
Steam, if you play the Steam version, under Valve's privacy policy.
Google AdSense shows the ads on the website (see below).

These services may store information in countries other than yours, including the United States. Where the law requires it, they protect it with standard contractual safeguards.

Ads and cookies

The website is free because it shows ads. They're served by Google AdSense, in the margins beside the game on wide screens, and never in the desktop or Steam versions.

We ask Google for non-personalized ads only. These are chosen from things like the page and your general location (country or city), not from a profile of your interests or other websites you visit.
Google and its partners still use cookies or similar technology for non-personalized ads: to limit how often you see an ad, to measure ads in aggregate and to prevent fraud. Google explains this in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and How Google uses cookies in advertising.
In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, a consent message from Google asks for your choice before these cookies are used, and you can change it at any time from the link it adds to the page.
You can also manage Google's ads at adssettings.google.com, or block ads with your browser.

The game itself doesn't use cookies. It saves your settings and progress in your browser's local storage, which is needed for the game to work and isn't used for tracking.

Google user data

If you sign in with Google, we receive only your name, email address and Google account ID (the basic "openid", "email" and "profile" permissions). We use them only to sign you in, show who's signed in and send the emails described above. We don't use Google user data for advertising, don't sell it, don't transfer it to anyone except the service providers above to run the game, and don't let people read it except for security, to comply with the law, or with your permission. Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.

Emails

We send sign-in codes when you ask for them. If you have an account, we also send one daily practice reminder at the time you choose (7 pm local time by default), only on days you haven't practised. Reminders are on by default. Turn them off or change the time in Settings → Language and reminders, or use the unsubscribe link in any reminder.

How long we keep it

We keep your account information and progress until you delete your account. When you ask us to delete it, we delete your account, progress and reminder settings within 30 days. Backups held by our providers are overwritten on their normal schedule. Sign-in and server logs are kept for a limited time for security.

Your choices and rights

You can play without an account, sign out at any time and turn reminders off. You can also ask us to:

give you a copy of the information we hold about you,
correct it,
delete your account and everything stored with it,
stop or restrict how we use it.

Email [email protected] from the address on your account. We'll reply within 30 days. Depending on where you live (for example in Canada, the EU or UK, or California), you may have further rights under your local law, including the right to complain to your data protection authority.

Children

How to Play is a learning tool for everyone, and anyone can play as a guest without giving us any information. An account only needs an email address, and the ads on the website are never personalized. If you're a parent or guardian and your child has made an account, you can ask us to see or delete their information at any time: email [email protected].

Security

Information is sent over encrypted connections. Each player's progress can only be read and changed by that player's signed-in account. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will tell you if a breach affects you, as the law requires.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change matters for how we use your information, we'll tell you in the game or by email before it takes effect.