FAQ

Here are the questions players ask most. For anything not covered here, write to the address on the Contact page.

Getting started

Do I need an account or an install?

No. Open the address in your browser and you can start right away. We don't ask for your name, email address or phone number, and the analyst name you choose in the game stays on your device and is never sent to our servers. If you like, you can add the game to your home screen and open it like an app.

Does it cost anything?

The web version is free. There are currently no ads and no payments. Chips, stakes, vaults and scores in the game are not money or goods and cannot be bought, sold or exchanged.

How long does it take to play?

A case takes about 10 minutes. Each case has several decisions, and each decision has a briefing with its own reading time and a hand with a time limit (45 seconds by default). A season is 55 cases, five in the prologue and 50 in the main story, so it is made to be played over many sittings rather than in one. Wherever you stop, you pick up from there.

What devices can I play on?

Any phone, tablet or computer with an up-to-date web browser. The table has its own layouts for a phone held upright, a phone turned sideways, and laptop and desktop screens; on a wide screen, what you read and your hand of cards sit in two columns. On a computer you can play with the keyboard alone: number keys play a card, Space pushes and Enter commits. If you raise the default text size of your browser or device, the game's text grows with it.

It's too hard.

Turn on Story Mode in “Comfort settings”: the Wall moves away, the rules that break the next hand switch off and the table's clock slows down. It applies when a case opens, so it takes effect from the next case. A season with a case opened in Story Mode does not go on the public season ranking. If you need more time to read, turn on “Turn off the reading clock”, or tap the briefing's clock to pause it.

Are the companies and events in the game real?

No. Its people, companies, banks, institutions and events are all fiction and have nothing to do with real ones, and its financial judgments are not investment or financial advice.

Saves and devices

Where is my progress saved?

All progress is saved automatically in this device's browser storage (localStorage). If you press “Save and exit” (Shift+P on a keyboard) in the middle of a hand, or send the app to the background, the card you played, the Heat you pushed and the time that passed are all kept. A hand that has already hit the Wall is not kept, so stopping and coming back cannot undo a BUST. Apart from the regular save, the game also keeps your five most recent recovery points. Clearing this site's data in your browser removes the progress on this device as well.

Can I continue on another device? What is a continue code?

Turn on “Use online save” in the “Continue on another device” panel on the start screen. It is off by default. Once it is on, a continue code shaped like XXXX-XXXX-XXXX is created, and from then on your saves are also uploaded to the server under that code. Enter the same code on another device to pick up where you left off; after that, both devices save to the same code. The uploaded copy leaves out your analyst name and your feedback comments, and the server stores only a one-way hash of the code, never the code itself. The server copy is deleted automatically 180 days after your last save, and you can delete it yourself from the panel before then. Anyone who knows your code can load that progress, so don't share it.

Can I play without an internet connection?

Yes. A device that has opened the game once while online can open it without a connection and continue from where you saved. After your first hand opens, the game fetches the remaining cases and screens while the device is idle; it does not do this in your browser's data saver mode. If the connection drops before everything has arrived, a screen not yet fetched asks you to try again. The ranking, the player board and online save need a connection.

How do I add the game to my home screen?

In a browser that supports installing, such as Chrome, Edge or Samsung Internet, press “Add to home screen” in the “Comfort settings” drawer on the start screen, and the browser's install window opens. On iPhone and iPad you can add it from the browser's share button, and the same drawer shows how. A copy added to the home screen also opens without a connection.

Ranking and language

What does the ranking count?

Completed cases are ranked by Burst Score (0 to 100). Ties are broken by rank, then Redesign, then Pressure Recovery, then Shifting View. A run (one season played from the start) puts up only its best record, and a record that finished the season always comes ahead of one partway through. The public ranking shows no names, only “Anonymous Analyst” and the last 8 characters of a run ID. It is built from the records of devices with playtest data sharing on; a device that turned it off keeps its records only on its local ranking. The public ranking is a playtest ranking, so it may be cleared when the rules of the table change.

How do I change the language?

Choose from “한국어 · English · 日本語” at the top of the start screen. Your choice is saved on this device, and the game opens again in that language. On a device that has never chosen a language, you can also add ?lang=en (English) or ?lang=ja (Japanese) to the end of the address to open the game in that language. In English and Japanese too, every scene and every line on screen, from the prologue to the last case, is in that language. The rules of the table, scores and rankings are the same in every language.

Data and privacy

What data is sent to the server?

When “Playtest data sharing” in “Data storage” on the start screen is on, case results, choices and response times, the screen language, feedback you send and error reports are stored for research with a random ID created on this device, and deleted after 180 days. The box is ticked when you first launch the game, and once you untick it nothing more is sent. The game uses no cookies and no advertising or analytics trackers. The details are in the Privacy Policy.

How do I delete my data?

“Reset” in the game clears the progress on this device: your saved progress, rankings, recovery points and error log are erased, while your display and sound settings, Tool Index and NEW GAME+ record are kept, so to remove everything, delete this site's data in your browser settings. Unticking the consent box also clears any records still waiting to be sent from this device. For records already sent to the server, send the 8-character session code shown in “Data storage” and on the result screen to from.logic.to.magic@gmail.com; we will find and delete them and reply within 10 days. You can delete the online save copy right away from the “Continue on another device” panel. Records on the server are deleted automatically after 180 days even if you don't ask.