IFMachine
Content policy
IFMachine is an Android app for playing interactive-fiction games, published by Guppy Interactive LLC ("we", "us"). In addition to the games we suggest directly in the app, IFMachine lets you search the Interactive Fiction Database (IFDB) and download story files written and published by third parties. This policy explains what content is not allowed, how to report content you find objectionable, and what we do when you report it.
The short version: IFMachine is a reader, not a host. The stories you search for and download are created by other people and stored on IFDB and the archives it links to, not on any server we operate. We do not write, rate, or pre-screen that catalogue. But because the app gives you access to it, we provide a way to report objectionable content, we drop reported and reviewed content from IFMachine's own search results and suggestions, and we keep the catalogue behind an age screen. We can't delete files from IFDB or stop a story you've already downloaded from running — what we control is what IFMachine surfaces to you.
1. Scope
The prohibited-content standards in §2 apply to everything IFMachine surfaces — the stories and catalogue metadata (titles, descriptions, author names, cover art) it retrieves from IFDB and third-party archives when you search or download, and the small set of games IFMachine suggests directly. The in-app reporting and moderation procedures in §§4–5 are aimed at the third-party IFDB and Archive content, since that is the open, community-authored material we do not control and cannot review in advance. This policy does not cover files you load from your own device.
2. Prohibited content
The following are not permitted in IFMachine's own search results and suggestions. We do not host the story files and cannot block a story you have already downloaded or imported from running; what we control is what the app surfaces to you, and we will remove or suppress content that, in our judgement, falls into these categories from search and suggestions when we become aware of it:
- Child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). Any content that sexualises minors. This is prohibited absolutely, with no exceptions, and is handled separately and urgently (see §4).
- Sexual content presented to non-consenting users. Sexually explicit material that a user has not chosen to seek out. (Interactive fiction written for adult audiences exists and is not banned outright — see §3 — but it must not be pushed at users who have not opted in.)
- Hate speech. Content that promotes violence against, or incites hatred of, individuals or groups on the basis of race, ethnicity, caste, religion, disability, age, nationality, immigration status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or any other characteristic associated with systemic discrimination or marginalisation.
- Harassment and bullying. Content whose primary purpose is to threaten, harass, or bully a real, identifiable person.
- Gratuitous or glorified graphic violence. Depictions of extreme violence or gore that exist primarily to shock, or that glorify real-world atrocities or terrorism.
- Self-harm and suicide. Content that promotes, encourages, or provides instructions for suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders.
- Non-consensual and predatory sexual content. Material that presents non-consensual sexual acts as acceptable, or that sexually solicits or preys on others.
- Violent extremism and dangerous organisations. Content that promotes, recruits or raises funds for terrorist or violent-extremist groups, or glorifies their acts.
- Facilitation of serious illegal activity. Content that provides genuine instructions for serious wrongdoing — for example building weapons capable of mass harm — or that facilitates the illegal sale or supply of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, or people.
3. Mature content and the age screen
Interactive fiction is a literary medium, and much of it — including acknowledged classics — deals seriously with violence, death, sexuality, addiction, abuse, and other difficult subjects. The presence of a mature theme does not, by itself, make a story objectionable under this policy. The distinction we draw is between mature subject matter treated as part of a work, and the prohibited content listed in §2.
Because the IFDB catalogue is open and not moderated by us, it can include stories written for adults. To keep that content away from children and from anyone who has not chosen to see it, the IFDB browser — both the search and the suggested-stories list — is kept behind an age screen and hidden by default. The first time you open the browser you enter your year of birth and confirm that you understand the catalogue is unmoderated and may contain mature content; the browser stays locked until you do, and remains unavailable if you are under 18. Your year of birth is stored on your device only and is never transmitted (see the privacy policy §7). Stories already in your library and files you import yourself are not gated.
On top of the age screen, explicit sexual content is hidden by default. IFMachine's IFDB search excludes stories the community has tagged as pornographic, erotic, or otherwise sexually explicit; to include them you have to deliberately turn the filter off under Settings → Content (a switch plus a confirmation — two separate actions). Because IFDB's tags are community-sourced and incomplete, this is best-effort: an untagged explicit story can still slip through, which is exactly why the catalogue also sits behind the age screen and why the reporting and blocklist tools in §§4–5 exist. We do not claim to filter perfectly. We do not permit content that sexualises minors. We cannot screen the unmoderated catalogue before such content is identified; once we do identify it (by report or otherwise) we hide it for the reporter immediately and add it to the non-reversible shipped blocklist as quickly as we can, and once that update is installed it is dropped from search and suggestions and can never be switched back on. The urgent handling in §5 covers the rest.
4. How to report objectionable content
You can report a story two ways:
- From inside the app. Open the menu while reading a story, or long-press the story in your library, and choose Report this story. Pick a reason and add an optional note; the app then prepares an email to our moderation address for you to review and send, and hides the story from your own search results and suggestions on that device.
- By email. Write to moderation@guppyinteractive.com with the story's title and, if you have it, its IFDB identifier, and tell us what the problem is.
If the content involves the sexual abuse or exploitation of children, please say so explicitly so we can prioritise it. You can also report such content directly to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at report.cybertip.org or, outside the United States, to your local authorities.
5. What we do with a report
When you report a story from inside the app:
- It is hidden from you immediately on that device and added to your personal hidden list, so you will not see it again in search results or suggestions. You can reverse this from the snackbar's Undo action or later under Settings → Content.
- The app opens a pre-filled email to our moderation address; the report reaches us once you send that email from your mail app.
When we review a report:
- If the content falls into a prohibited category in §2, we add it to a blocklist that ships with the app, so it is removed from search results and suggestions for everyone in a future update. We label it by content type so the relevant filter applies.
- Because we do not host the content, we may also forward the report to IFDB (which does host it) so the original catalogue can act on it.
- CSAE reports are treated as urgent. Because we do not host the files, we cannot delete them from IFDB or the archives. What we do: hide the story on the reporting device immediately, add it to a non-reversible blocklist shipped with the app as quickly as we can, report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and any other authority required of us as a US-based provider, and refer it to IFDB for removal at the source.
Because interactive fiction legitimately contains mature themes (§3), review of non-CSAE reports involves human judgement; we will not necessarily remove a story simply because it deals with difficult subject matter. We aim to act on reports promptly.
6. Copyright and takedown requests
This policy is about objectionable content. Copyright complaints, DMCA notices, and other takedown requests should instead be sent to legal@guppyinteractive.com. Note that story files are hosted by IFDB and the archives it links to; rights holders may also wish to contact those hosts directly.
7. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top and publish the new version at this URL.
8. Contact
To report content, or with questions about this policy:
moderation@guppyinteractive.com
Guppy Interactive LLC
10938 Vivaracho Way
San Diego, CA 92124
United States