Rules and terms of use

As of 31 August 2026.

This is a translation for convenience. The German version is the authoritative one; where the two differ, the German text applies.

In short, and the rest is only the detail of it: play hard, be decent, and do not use tricks that ruin the game for everyone else.

1. What this is

Sternenreich is a turn-based space strategy game, run by Andreas Amon as a private project (see the imprint). Playing is free. There are no purchases and no entitlement to anything — neither to a saved game nor to any particular availability.

2. Your account

• Signing in goes through your Google account. You are responsible for what happens through it.
• One person, one account per round. The game prevents an account from sitting in the same round twice. Working around that with several accounts gets you resources, visibility and votes in alliances that you are not entitled to — that is the kind of cheating which destroys a round-based game most reliably.
• Your player name is taken from your Google profile when you first sign in. Names that pretend to hold a role („Admin", „Moderator", „Sternenreich") are automatically replaced with a placeholder.
• You can delete your account yourself at any time: delete account.

3. What is allowed in the game — and that is nearly everything

Attacking, besieging, taking colonies, forging alliances and leaving them at the right moment: that is the game, not its abuse. Anyone who complains about being raided has not read the guide. Diplomacy includes breaking your word, and a broken pact is a move, not a rule violation.

4. What does not work

• Several accounts in the same round, including ones „borrowed" from friends or family.
• Insults, threats, agitation — in player names, fleet names, round names or feedback. The game has little text, but every piece of it is read by other people.
• Automation: programs that play for you, poll the server or send commands. A person should play against people.
• Exploiting bugs instead of reporting them. Anyone who finds a calculation error and quietly uses it takes the game away from everyone else. Report it — that is what the feedback button is for, and I am grateful for it.
• Attacks on the server, circumventing limits, building your own client for an advantage.

5. What happens if somebody does not stick to it

There is a report button in the app and on the website. Only I read the reports. Depending on how serious it is, I can remove a player from a round, hand their empire to a computer opponent, or block the account. In clear cases of cheating that happens without warning.

This is not a court case; it is the decision of a single person who runs the game in his spare time. If you think a decision is wrong, write to me — I have changed my mind before.

6. Rounds end, and so do saved games

A round is a self-contained game. At the end it is scored, and afterwards everyone starts from nothing again. There is no promise that a round runs to its end: a serious rule error, a server outage or a move can end a game or reset it to an earlier state. I do my best to keep that from happening — there are nightly backups and a per-round rollback — but I cannot promise it.

7. Availability and liability

The game runs on a single rented machine and is looked after on the side. It can fail, go into maintenance or be discontinued at any time. I am liable for damages only in cases of intent and gross negligence; expressly not for the loss of saved games, for round victories missed, or for the time you have put in.

8. Changes

Game rules, numbers and this page can change — the game is under development. I announce material changes to the terms of use here; the date at the top tells you which version you are reading. Anyone who does not agree can delete their account.

9. Law

Austrian law applies. If you are a consumer, the mandatory protective provisions of your country of residence remain unaffected.