Terms of Use

Last updated September 22, 2026

These terms are a legal agreement between you and Jurre de Ruiter governing your use of the Gotcha app and website (together, the “Service”). By using the Service, you agree to them. If you do not agree, please don’t use the Service.

Who can use Gotcha

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age of digital consent in your country). If you use an account, you’re responsible for activity under it and for keeping your sign-in method secure.

What Gotcha does

Gotcha lets you photograph real-world animals, identifies them using AI, and lets you collect them in a personal index. The animals you catch can move into a park you build, a game inside the app. Gotcha also has social features, such as a public profile, friends, leaderboards, and visiting other players’ parks. Identification is automated and provided for fun and general interest.

Important: identification can be wrong. Do not rely on Gotcha to decide whether an animal, plant, or object is safe, dangerous, venomous, edible, or healthy, or for any medical, safety, scientific, or commercial decision. Always use independent, qualified judgment around wildlife.

Accounts

Gotcha asks you to sign in when you set it up (with Apple, Google, or a one-time email code). Your account is what backs up your collection and carries your profile and subscription between devices. Provide accurate information, keep your account secure, and don’t impersonate others or use a handle that is offensive, misleading, or infringes someone’s rights. We may reclaim or change handles that violate these terms.

Free use and catch limits

Gotcha is free to use. Free accounts can make a limited number of catches each day (shown in the app as energy), which refills over time. We may adjust these limits to keep the Service sustainable.

Gotcha+ subscription

• What it is. Gotcha+ is an optional subscription that unlocks premium features, such as unlimited catching (subject to the fair-use limit below) and extras in your collection and park. The current list of features is shown in the app before you purchase. Gotcha+ also helps support ongoing development and conservation.
• Plans. Gotcha+ may be offered as an auto-renewing subscription (for example weekly or yearly) or as a one-time lifetime purchase. From time to time we may offer free trials, discounts, or limited-time offers, including through the in-app chat assistant. An offer only applies as shown on the store’s purchase screen.
• Fair use. “Unlimited” catches are for normal personal use. To keep the Service reliable and protect against automated or abusive activity, a very high daily cap applies to each account and device. Ordinary use will never come close to it; if you reach it, catching resumes the next day.
• Billing. Gotcha+ is sold and billed through your Apple App Store or Google Play account, whichever you installed from. Price and available plans are shown in the app before you purchase.
• Lifetime plan. If a lifetime (one-time) plan is offered, “lifetime” means the lifetime of the Gotcha service, not your own lifetime. It grants access for as long as we continue to operate Gotcha. If the Service is wound down or discontinued, lifetime access ends with it, and no refund is owed for a one-time purchase beyond any rights required by the store you purchased from or by applicable law.
• Auto-renewal. Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each period unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. Your store account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends.
• Free trial. If a free trial is offered, any unused portion is forfeited when you purchase a subscription, where applicable.
• Managing and cancelling. You manage or cancel anytime in your store account settings: on iOS in Settings, your name, Subscriptions, and on Android in Google Play, Payments and subscriptions. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.
• Refunds. Purchases are handled by the store you bought from and are subject to its terms. Refund requests are processed by Apple or Google, not by us.
• Changes. We may change features or pricing for future periods. Material changes are communicated as required and apply on renewal.

Park items and virtual currency

• What they are. The park uses in-game items and currencies, such as coins, food, gems, crates, and decorations. You can earn them by playing, and some can be bought with real money in the app.
• A licence, not property. In-game items and currencies are a limited, personal, revocable licence to use them inside Gotcha. They have no real-world value, cannot be exchanged for money, and cannot be sold, traded, or transferred to anyone else.
• Purchases are final. Park purchases are consumable and are credited to your park as soon as the store confirms payment. Refunds are handled by the store you bought from, under its terms and applicable law. If a purchase is refunded, we may remove the matching items.
• Game balance. We may change prices, rewards, items, and how the park works, to keep the game fair and fun. Items may be lost if you delete your account, if your access is ended for breaking these terms, or if the Service is discontinued.
• Ads. The park may offer optional rewarded ads, which you can choose to watch in exchange for an in-game reward. Watching an ad is never required.

Social features

Your handle, display name, avatar, progress, badges, and park are visible to other players, and you may appear on leaderboards. Be kind: don’t harass other players, and don’t use names, avatars, or park content that are offensive, misleading, or infringe someone’s rights. We may remove content, reset progress gained by cheating, remove you from leaderboards, or restrict social features to protect other players and the integrity of the game.

AI features

Identification and the in-app chat assistant use third-party AI models. Their answers are generated automatically, can be wrong, and are not professional advice. The catalog and the species a catch counts as are our decision; we may correct an identification or change the catalog over time.

Conservation pledge

Gotcha currently donates 1% of its total subscription revenue to environmental conservation. These donations are made annually to a nonprofit approved by 1% for the Planet. We may change the recipient to another environmental organization at our discretion; if we do, we’ll notify subscribers. We may also change the donation percentage, or modify or discontinue this pledge, at any time. Any such change will be communicated to subscribers and applies going forward only, not retroactively.

Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Break the law or infringe others’ rights when using the Service.
• Attempt to cheat identification (for example, photographing screens or printouts), or abuse, reverse-engineer, overload, or disrupt the Service.
• Use bots, scripts, modified apps, or exploits to gain catches, currency, items, progress, or leaderboard positions, or to get paid features without paying.
• Harass, threaten, or impersonate other players.
• Upload content (such as an avatar) that is illegal, hateful, sexual, or infringing.
• Use the Service to build a competing dataset or product, or resell access.

Your content

You keep ownership of the photos you take and the content you provide (such as your handle, avatar, and messages). You grant us a limited licence to process, store, and display that content as needed to operate the Service (for example, sending a photo for identification, backing up your collection, or showing your avatar, profile, and park stickers to other players). You’re responsible for the content you provide and confirm you have the right to use it. How we handle your data is described in our Privacy Policy.

Intellectual property

The Service, including its design, code, artwork, and the Gotcha name and logo, is owned by us and protected by law. These terms don’t grant you any rights to our branding. Gotcha is an original work and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, any other game or franchise.

App stores and third parties

If you downloaded Gotcha from the Apple App Store, you also agree to Apple’s Standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement, and if from Google Play, to the Google Play Terms of Service. These terms are between you and us, not Apple or Google, and we, not they, are responsible for the Service and its support. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them. Parts of the Service rely on third-party providers (for example sign-in, payments, maps, and AI models), whose own terms may also apply.

Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and accuracy. We do not guarantee that identification is correct, that the Service will be uninterrupted, or that it will be error-free.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for lost data or profits, arising from your use of the Service. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us for the Service in the 12 months before the claim, or USD 50. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including your statutory consumer rights.

Termination

You can stop using the Service at any time and delete your account in the app (Profile, then Settings, then “Delete account”). Deleting your account permanently removes your collection backup, park, items, and progress, and does not cancel a subscription. We may suspend or end your access if you breach these terms or to protect the Service or other users.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. Material changes will be reflected here with a new “last updated” date and, where appropriate, announced in the app. Continued use after changes means you accept them.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Netherlands, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and subject to any mandatory consumer protections of your country of residence.

Contact

Questions about these terms: gotcha-support@catchy.fan.