1 Agreement to These Terms
Welcome to MinuteBugtong! These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legally binding agreement between you and MinuteBugtong ("we," "us," or "our") governing your use of the MinuteBugtong mobile application (iOS and Android) and the websites at minutebugtong.app and play.minutebugtong.app (collectively, the "Service").
By downloading, installing, or using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.
If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Service.
2 Description of the Service
MinuteBugtong is a daily Tagalog cryptic word puzzle game. The Service allows you to:
- Solve a new bugtong (cryptic riddle) each day
- Request hints to assist with difficult clues
- Create and submit your own bugtong for review and potential publication
- Track your streak, XP, and ranking on public leaderboards
- Participate in a community puzzle feed
The Service is currently in Beta. See Section 7 for important information about the Beta status.
3 Eligibility & Accounts
Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old to use MinuteBugtong. By using the Service, you represent that you meet this age requirement. If you are under 18, you confirm that your parent or guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf.
Account Registration
You may use MinuteBugtong as a guest without an account. Certain features — including leaderboard participation, community submissions, and push notifications — require you to create an account.
When you register, you agree to:
- Provide accurate and complete information
- Keep your account credentials confidential
- Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access at hello@minutebugtong.app
- Be responsible for all activity that occurs under your account
Display Names
Your display name is visible publicly on leaderboards and community content. You may not use a display name that is offensive, misleading, or infringes on another person's rights. We reserve the right to require you to change your display name at our discretion.
4 User-Generated Content
Your Submissions
When you submit a bugtong (riddle) through the app, you grant MinuteBugtong a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, sublicensable license to use, reproduce, display, distribute, and adapt your submission within the Service and for promotional purposes (e.g., social media posts showcasing community content).
You retain ownership of your original content. The license above does not transfer ownership to us.
Content Standards
All submitted content must:
- Be original or licensed — do not submit content you do not have the right to share
- Be in the Filipino/Tagalog language (or approved Taglish where appropriate)
- Be appropriate for general audiences (no explicit, offensive, or discriminatory content)
- Be accurate — riddles must have a verifiable correct answer
- Not promote illegal activity, violence, hatred, or self-harm
Moderation
All submissions go through an admin review before publication. We reserve the right to reject, edit, or remove any submission at our sole discretion, without notice or liability. Repeated violations may result in account suspension.
Content You See
MinuteBugtong is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of user-submitted riddles. Daily curated puzzles are reviewed by our editorial team, but community feed content is user-generated. Use your own judgment when engaging with community content.
5 Acceptable Use & Prohibited Conduct
You agree to use the Service only for its intended purpose. The following are strictly prohibited:
- Cheating or exploiting: Using bots, scripts, or unauthorized tools to automate puzzle solving, gain XP unfairly, or manipulate leaderboard rankings
- Reverse engineering: Decompiling, disassembling, or attempting to extract source code from the app
- Unauthorized access: Attempting to access other users' accounts, admin systems, or backend infrastructure
- Spam: Submitting low-quality, repetitive, or meaningless riddle submissions in bulk
- Impersonation: Pretending to be another person or MinuteBugtong staff
- Interference: Taking any action that could damage, disable, or impair the Service or its servers
- Commercial use: Using the Service for unauthorized commercial purposes (e.g., scraping content to republish elsewhere)
Violations may result in immediate account termination and, where appropriate, legal action.
6 Intellectual Property
Our Content
All app design, branding, curated puzzles, graphics, interface elements, and code ("MinuteBugtong Content") are owned by or licensed to us and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works of MinuteBugtong Content without our prior written permission.
Cultural Heritage
The bugtong format is part of the Philippine cultural heritage and public domain oral tradition. We do not claim ownership of traditional riddle formats, but our specific implementations, editorial selections, curated daily puzzles, and platform design are proprietary.
Feedback
If you send us feedback, suggestions, or ideas, you grant us the right to use them without restriction or compensation.
7 Beta Status & Service Changes
🚧 MinuteBugtong is currently in Beta. By using the Service, you acknowledge and accept the following:
- The Service may contain bugs, errors, or incomplete features
- Features may be added, changed, or removed without prior notice
- Puzzle content, game mechanics, and scoring systems may be revised at any time
- Your streak, XP, and leaderboard data may be reset during major updates (we will do our best to avoid this)
- The Service may experience downtime or interruptions
- We may discontinue the Beta and launch a new version with different terms
We will communicate significant changes via in-app notifications (for registered users) and by updating the "Last Updated" date on these Terms. Your continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of changes.
8 Advertising
MinuteBugtong may display advertisements served by third-party networks including Google AdMob (native app) and Google AdSense (web). Ads are not yet active during the current Beta period.
When ads are introduced:
- We will update our Privacy Policy to disclose any additional data collection by ad networks
- On iOS 14.5+, you will be shown Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt before any personalized ads are served
- Rewarded ads (e.g., "Watch an ad to get a hint") will always be optional — core gameplay is free without watching ads
- You may opt out of personalized ads at any time through your device settings or via adssettings.google.com
We do not control the content of third-party advertisements. We are not responsible for any claims arising from ad content.
9 In-App Purchases & Payments
MinuteBugtong is currently free to use. We may introduce optional in-app purchases in the future (e.g., an "ad-free" subscription or premium themes). If and when paid features are introduced:
- All prices will be clearly displayed before purchase
- Payments are processed by Apple (App Store) or Google (Play Store) — we do not directly handle payment card data
- Purchases are subject to the refund policies of the respective app store
- Subscription cancellations take effect at the end of the current billing period
- Virtual currency or XP are non-refundable and have no real-world monetary value
These terms will be updated before any paid features are launched. We will notify registered users in advance.
10 Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability
Service Provided "As Is"
The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of viruses.
Content Accuracy
While we strive to ensure our daily puzzles are accurate, we do not guarantee the correctness, completeness, or cultural accuracy of all bugtong clues, answers, or hints. Puzzle content is for entertainment purposes only.
Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, MinuteBugtong and its developers shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages — including loss of data, loss of streak, or interruption of service — even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Our total liability to you for any claim arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed PHP 500 (five hundred Philippine pesos) or the amount you paid us in the preceding 12 months, whichever is greater.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless MinuteBugtong and its developers from any claims, liabilities, damages, and expenses (including legal fees) arising from your use of the Service, your content submissions, or your violation of these Terms.
11 Termination
By You
You may stop using the Service at any time. To delete your account and associated data, contact us at hello@minutebugtong.app. We will process deletion requests within 30 days.
By Us
We may suspend or terminate your account immediately, without prior notice, if we believe you have violated these Terms or engaged in conduct that is harmful to other users, the Service, or us. Upon termination:
- Your access to the Service will cease
- Your account data will be deleted per our Privacy Policy retention schedule
- Published community riddles attributed to you may remain published but will be anonymized
Sections 4 (UGC license grant), 6 (IP), 10 (Disclaimers), 12 (Governing Law), and 14 (Contact) survive termination.
12 Governing Law & Disputes
Governing Law
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, without regard to conflict of law principles.
Dispute Resolution
We encourage you to contact us first at hello@minutebugtong.app to resolve any dispute informally. If we cannot resolve the issue within 30 days, any dispute shall be submitted to the appropriate courts of the Philippines.
Class Action Waiver
To the extent permitted by Philippine law, you agree to resolve disputes with us individually and not as part of a class or collective action.
Nothing in these Terms limits your rights under the Consumer Act of the Philippines (RA 7394) or the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173) — statutory consumer and privacy rights are preserved.
13 Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in the Service, applicable law, or our business practices. We will notify you of material changes by:
- Updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page
- Displaying an in-app notice for significant changes (registered users)
Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Service.
14 Contact Us
If you have questions about these Terms or the Service, please contact us:
We aim to respond to all inquiries within 30 days.