Privacy

There's no sign-up, no email address, no password, no advertising and no analytics. A game on your own runs entirely on your device and sends nothing, unless you seat an AI connection you chose, which has to receive the position to play it. A game with other people sends your moves and what you type to the other players, as described below.

Two kinds of game

On your own, or passing one device around: everything happens in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Online: your moves go to our table service, which holds the game and deals the cards. A section below describes what that involves.

Playing against an opponent outside the browser: an AI connection you choose may run on your computer or with a provider. The game sends the position so that opponent can choose a move. Each connection is described below. The game’s own opponents, Robber Baron included, play inside this browser and aren’t AI connections.

An online game also has a chat, may have a voice call, and lets you block or report another player. Each has its own section below, because each one sends or keeps something the rest of the game doesn’t.

No account

You’re never asked for an email address or a password, and there’s nothing to sign up for. Playing on your own asks nothing of you at all.

Playing online creates one thing: a random identifier, kept in your browser, so that a rating and a block list carry over between visits. The identifier isn’t tied to your name, your email or your device; it’s a string of letters the game made up. You choose a display name, which the other players in your game see. It doesn’t have to be your real name.

A picture is as public as a name. If you choose one, it’s drawn in this browser from a short piece of text, and it goes wherever your name goes once you play online: to the other players in your game, and to anyone who opens the leaderboard once you’re on it. A picture you give a bot goes with the bot when you publish it, and anyone who opens the gallery sees it. A picture that is reported can be taken down. Until you play online or publish a bot, a picture you chose stays on this device.

Clearing your browser storage deletes the identifier. Unless you’ve copied your profile to another device first, it can’t be recovered, by us or by you. You can keep playing, with a new identifier and a new rating.

What the game keeps, and where

At most the following, all of it in your own browser, on this device. Some of it is created only if you play online or build a bot:

• The game you’re playing, so you can close the tab and come back to it. Kept in your browser’s local storage under robber-barons-gamelab-save-v1. It holds the board, the moves so far and which seats belong to whom.
• Your sound and display preferences: whether music and effects play and how loud, and the display name and picture you chose. Kept in your browser’s local storage under rbsettings. It also keeps the human table figure you selected, and how much detail the board draws. If you have closed the notice that the board is shown flat on a device that can’t run 3D, that choice is kept under rb-flat-board-notice.
• Which tips you’ve been shown, so the tips that appear during a first game appear once and then stop. Kept in your browser’s local storage under robber-barons-guide-v1. It holds a list of the tips you’ve seen, and whether you asked for no more of them.
• Who you are online, once you’ve played online, under robber-barons-identity-v1: the random identifier described above and the key that proves it’s yours. Playing on your own never creates it.
• Your seat in an online game, while a game with other players is unfinished, under robber-barons-online-seat-v1: the game’s code, your seat, the key the table service gave you for that seat, and the address of the service. It brings you back to your game if the page reloads or the tab closes. It’s removed when you leave the game or the game ends, and it’s ignored after six hours.
• How far you’ve read an online game’s chat, once you’ve opened the chat in an online game, under robber-barons-online-chat-read-v1: for each of your last sixty-four online seats, the table service’s address, the game’s code, your seat and the number of the last message you’ve seen, so a reload doesn’t mark old messages as new. It holds no message and nothing you typed, and it’s ignored after six hours.
• Who you are at Private tables, once you’ve opened or joined one through an invite link, under honestybot.identity.v1: a random player number, the key that proves it’s yours, and a pair of keys for sealed invitations. Our relay’s directory holds the matching record while the relay runs: that number, the display name you chose, a short code other players can find you by, and the public half of the key pair. The record is kept in the relay’s memory, not written to disk, and is gone when the relay restarts.
• Your seats at Private tables, under robber-barons-friends-seats-v1: for each of the last twenty Private tables, the table’s code and a random key that lets this browser take the same seat back after a reload. The key travels only inside the game’s sealed messages, which our relay can’t read, and it’s replaced each time it’s used. Each key also holds the name you sat down under, so two people sharing one browser each get their own seat back.
• The Private table you’re at, while you’re at one, under robber-barons-friends-table-v1: the game’s code, the key from the invite link and the name you sat down under, so opening the game again after the tab closed takes you back to your seat. It’s removed when you leave the game, and it’s ignored after six hours.
• How far you’ve read a Private table’s chat, in that tab only, under robber-barons-friends-chat-read-v1: the game’s code and the number of the last message you’ve seen there, so a reload doesn’t mark old messages as new. It holds no message and nothing you typed, and it’s removed when the tab is closed.
• A saved game that couldn’t be opened, if that has happened, under robber-barons-gamelab-save-v1-unopened: the same saved game as above, kept apart so a new game doesn’t write over it. It’s removed when you restore it or discard it.
• That the game has just reloaded itself, under rb-reloaded-for-update, for the life of the tab: when a new version of the game replaces a part this page still needs, the page reloads once, and this mark stops it reloading again. It holds nothing else and it’s removed when the tab is closed.
• The bots at your last face-off, if you’ve played one, under robber-barons-faceoff-v1: the names, authors, pictures, instructions and search depth of the published bots you played, so the game still shows their names if the page reloads. All of it is already public in the gallery. Starting another face-off replaces it.
• The seats of your last game, once you’ve set one up, under robber-barons-last-table-v1: which seats were you and which were bots, and the game’s house rules, so Play can offer the same game again. Setting up another game replaces it.
• The names of the people sharing this device in a game, once you’ve set one up, under robber-barons-table-names-v1: the name each person gave beside their seat, so the game calls them by it after a reload. Setting up another game replaces it.
• A Private table you’re setting up, while you set it up, under robber-barons-held-lobby-v1, in this tab only: the seats you chose and your place in the game’s lobby, so a reload comes back to the same game and the links you already sent still work. It’s removed when the game starts or the tab is closed.
• The people you blocked at Private tables, if you’ve blocked anyone, under robber-barons-friends-blocks-v1: the game’s code, the seat and the name the person sat down under, so that person’s messages stay hidden after either of you reloads. It never leaves this browser, and the person isn’t told. Unblocking removes the entry; only the last hundred are kept.
• Your record, once you’ve finished a game or met a challenge here, under robber-barons-record-v1: for each game you finished on this device, when it ended, whether it was played online, at a Private table or on this device, the names everyone in the game went by, which bots played, the format, your points at the end, whether you held Longest Road or Largest Army and whether you won; and the date each challenge was first met. Your profile counts your record and stats from it. It’s counted here and shown to nobody else.
• Your challenges, once you’ve tried one, under robber-barons-challenges-v1: for each challenge, the date you first finished it and your best result, which decide the sets that are open to you. It stays in this browser.
• Your AI connections, if you add one, under robber-barons-ai-connections-v1: the provider and model you chose, the API key you entered, or the pairing token for Claude Code or Codex. The key is sent from this browser only to the provider you selected. A subscription connection sends the position to the command-line program on your computer through its local bridge. A local Ollama or LM Studio connection also receives the position on this computer. The position includes the public board and scores, the legal moves, and only the AI seat’s own cards; it doesn’t include other players’ hidden cards or points. You can remove a connection on this page.
• Bots you’ve built, if you’ve built any, under robber-barons-bots-v1: their names and pictures, what you told each bot to value, its search depth, the result of the last time you measured it, and which published bot it was copied from, if any. They’re on this device only unless you publish one (below) or copy your profile to another device. Clearing this site’s storage deletes them, and we have no copy to restore.
• Parts you’ve saved in the workshop, if any, under robber-barons-bot-parts-v1: the name and text of each piece of formula you kept to use again. On this device only, like your bots.
• Pictures of built avatars, once one has been shown to you, each under robber-barons-portrait-v4: followed by the avatar it shows: a small picture of the head of a built avatar, yours or another player’s, drawn once in this browser so that it doesn’t have to be drawn again each time it appears. Only the most recent twenty-four are kept, and none of them leaves this device.
• The game itself, so it opens without a connection. Kept in your browser’s offline store, the same way any installed web app keeps its own files.

No cookies are set. Nothing above leaves your device except where this page says so, and what stays in your browser can’t be read by us.

Using your profile on another device

A code made under Other devices on your profile copies your profile to another phone or computer: your name, picture and figure, the title and frame you wear, your board style, your identifier, your record, your challenge progress, the bots you built and which tips you’ve seen. Your browser seals all of it with a key that is part of the code, and the table service keeps the sealed copy for ten minutes, or until the code is used once, and then deletes it. The key never reaches us, so we can’t read the copy we keep. AI connections, a game in progress, and sound and graphics settings stay on the device they’re on.

Deleting it

Clearing this site’s storage in your browser removes all of it from this device, and a game that is cleared can’t be recovered, by us or by you.

One thing isn’t in your browser. If you’ve played online, the record described in the next section is on our table service, and clearing your browser doesn’t remove it. Write to the address at the bottom of this page and we’ll delete it.

What an online game involves

Your moves go to our table service, which holds the game and deals the cards, so it sees every move in order to apply the rules. It keeps, for as long as the game lasts: the board, the moves, who sits where, and the display name you chose.

Alongside it we keep a record for your identifier: the display name you chose, your picture if you chose one, your rating, and how many rated games you’ve played. That record outlives the game. Nothing deletes it automatically, and clearing your browser doesn’t reach it; it stays until you ask us to delete it.

Your profile, as other players see it, is that record: your name, picture and table figure, your rating and rank, and how many rated games you’ve played and won. Anyone who plays an online game with you, or finds you on the leaderboard, can open it. Your games at Private tables and on this device aren’t part of it; they stay in this browser.

Other players are shown only what the rules allow. Your hand isn’t sent to them, and the order of the deck isn’t sent to anyone. The table service enforces this, not the page you’re looking at, so a modified copy of the game gains nothing.

Games at Private tables run between the players’ own browsers. Our relay passes sealed messages between them that it can’t read. A Private table with your own AI in a seat is the exception: the table service holds that game, as it holds an online game.

The table service and the relay are reached through Cloudflare, which carries the messages between your browser and our servers.

Bots you publish

Publishing a bot is the only way a bot you built leaves this device, apart from copying your profile. Its name, its picture if it has one, what it values, its search depth and the display name you chose are sent to our table service and kept there, and anyone who opens the gallery is shown them, together with what the game server measured the bot doing. Anyone can copy a published bot into their own. A published bot also plays rated games against other published bots on the game server, and anyone can see its rating and those games, with the bot’s name and your display name. Withdrawing a bot takes it out of the gallery and removes what it values and its picture from the service; asking us to delete your record removes the rest, as described under Deleting it.

Reporting a bot’s name works like reporting a player: the report holds your identifier, the bot and the reason. A bot reported by three different players leaves the gallery until it has been reviewed.

Chat, blocking and reports

Chat. What you type in an online game goes to the table service and is shown to the other players in that game. It’s kept with the game, for as long as the game lasts.

Blocking. When you block a player, that player’s identifier is added to a list kept with your record on the table service, so the block holds in every game, not only the one you were in. Unblocking removes it.

Reporting a player. A report holds what you wrote, your identifier and the other player’s, which game it was, and the last 25 lines of that game’s chat, so what was said can be read as it was said. Reports are kept on our table service. Nothing deletes a report automatically, and we’ll delete one you made if you ask.

Report a problem, in the menu, is different: it writes an email in your own mail program. Nothing is sent unless you send it.

Voice

Where a game offers a voice call, the sound travels directly between the players’ browsers. It doesn’t pass through us and it isn’t recorded. The microphone is asked for when you join a call, and not before.

A direct call means two things. To connect, each browser first asks a public address-finding server for its own internet address; the game uses servers run by Google and by Cloudflare, and they see your IP address and nothing about the game. And the other people in the call can learn your IP address, as they can in any direct call.

What playing Robber Baron involves

Nothing beyond the game itself. Robber Baron plays inside the game on your device, in the same rules engine as the board and the other house bots, so seating him sends nothing anywhere. He sees what any player in his seat would see.

What connecting an AI involves

AI Connections lets you choose Claude Code, Codex, an API key for a model provider, Ollama, or LM Studio, or send your AI a link. Nothing connects until you choose one. A key is stored in this browser and sent only to the provider you selected, directly from this page: Anthropic at api.anthropic.com; OpenAI at api.openai.com; Google at generativelanguage.googleapis.com; OpenRouter at openrouter.ai; Mistral at api.mistral.ai; Groq at api.groq.com; xAI at api.x.ai; DeepSeek at api.deepseek.com; Together AI at api.together.xyz; Fireworks AI at api.fireworks.ai; or the address you type for another provider. The provider receives the position when the AI takes a turn and returns a move. Testing an API model sends a separate short prompt without game information and may count toward that provider’s usage.

A link you send your AI is kept by the game server with the name you gave it, when it expires, when the AI last used it and the name the AI’s software gave itself, so you can see it in your list. Removing the link deletes it.

For Claude Code or Codex, the command-line program runs on your computer and receives each position through a local bridge. Ollama and LM Studio receive it on this computer. The position includes the board, public scores, the legal moves and the connected seat’s own cards. It excludes other seats’ private cards and hidden points. If the connection doesn’t answer or returns a move the game can’t play, the game pauses; no other opponent takes its place.

What the website sees

To open the game your browser asks our web server for its files, the way it does for any website. The website is served for us by Cloudflare, a hosting company, so that server is Cloudflare’s. The request reaches it with your IP address and the name of your browser in it, and web servers keep short-lived logs of such requests to keep working and to show when something is broken. We don’t build a profile from them, don’t connect them to anything you do in a game, and don’t pass them to anyone. We couldn’t connect them to a game in any case, because the game tells the web server nothing.

Once the game has loaded, a game without an online service or connected provider can be played with the connection off. A local AI connection needs its program running on this computer; a provider connection needs that provider’s service.

Who else is involved

The game loads every file it uses (its code, its board, its rules engine and its music) from our own address and from nowhere else. There is no advertising network, no analytics service, and no font or script loaded from another company.

Cloudflare serves the website and carries online games, as described above. If you join a voice call, the address-finding servers run by Google and by Cloudflare are asked one question each, as described under Voice. If you connect an AI provider, that provider receives the position and model request described above. Nobody else receives anything from the game.

What the game doesn’t do

• No advertising, and no advertising identifiers.
• No analytics or tracking, first-party or third-party.
• No selling or sharing of anything we receive. A provider you choose to play AI moves sees the position needed to answer them.
• No location, no contacts, no photos, no files.
• No camera. The microphone is used only while you’re in a voice call you chose to join.

Age

You must be at least 13 years old to use the game, as the Terms of Service say. We don’t ask anyone’s age, and nothing the game keeps says who a player is or how old.

Security

Connections to the website are encrypted in transit. What the game keeps is on your device, under your browser’s own protection, and anyone with access to your unlocked device can read a saved game.

Changes

The date at the top of this page shows when it last changed.

Contact

[email protected]