Terms of service

Fair play — and what counts as cheating

FoodGuess only works if the leaderboard measures real knowledge. The following are therefore PROHIBITED during play, and result in suspension or permanent exclusion of the account:

Reverse image search (Google Images, TinEye, Yandex or any comparable service) used to identify the photograph in a round. Asking any AI assistant or chatbot (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity and the like) about the dish or its origin, whether by text or by uploading the image. Any automated script, bot, browser extension or use of developer tools to extract the answer or to submit guesses.

Also prohibited: operating multiple accounts as the same person to gain leaderboard advantage, sharing answers outside the room while a room game is in progress, and any attempt to reverse-engineer or manipulate the server’s responses.

Where these rules are broken we remove the score, take the player off the leaderboard and suspend the account. In repeated or serious cases the exclusion is permanent and no subscription refund is given. We do not provide a justification for, or enter into a dispute about, detected use of automated tools.

Reporting violations

If you see someone cheating, using an offensive nickname or harassing others in a room, tell us at [email protected]. Include the nickname in question, the room code and roughly when it happened — those are what let us find the incident.

We look at every report, but we do not commit to a deadline and cannot always tell you the outcome of an investigation. Reports made in bad faith, in bulk, or to harass someone are themselves a violation.

Accounts

You are responsible for your account, including the security of your password. Your nickname must not be offensive or misleading, and must not suggest that you work for FoodGuess. We may change nicknames that break this rule or suspend the account.

Solo play works without an account. An account is needed for multiplayer rooms, the leaderboard and subscriptions.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are handled by Stripe and can be cancelled from your account at any time before the next billing period begins. Cancelling leaves your access in place until the end of the period already started.

A subscription provides convenience features such as unlimited multiplayer access; the core game remains free. Exclusion for breaking these rules does not create a right to a refund.

Content and copyright

Dish photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under their own licence terms; authors, licences and sources are listed on the Credits page. These images are not ours, and what you may do with them is governed by their licence.

The game interface and the compilation and curation of the dish bank are ours. Bulk copying, automated scraping or redistribution of the bank without permission is not permitted.

Liability and changes

FoodGuess is a game, made for entertainment. Information about dishes — including ingredients and place of origin — comes from public sources and may contain errors. It is not a sound basis for dietary, medical or allergy-related decisions.

We do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may amend these terms; where a change is substantive we update the effective date on this page.