Community guidelines

Last updated: 21 July 2026

PokeIndie exists to help players find independent games worth their time, and to give developers an honest audience. These Community Guidelines describe how we expect players, developers, and streamers to treat each other across profiles, reviews, comments, messages, and collections. They apply alongside our Acceptable Use Policy and Terms of Service, which remain the controlling legal terms if there is any conflict.

1. Treat people with respect

Disagree about games, not people. Don't harass, threaten, or target other users, including developers whose games you dislike. Don't post or send content meant to intimidate, demean, or drive someone off the Service. Discriminatory jokes, slurs, and hateful stereotypes aren't welcome here, even framed as humor.

2. Keep it honest

  • Review the game, not the developer's identity or unrelated behavior. Reviews should reflect genuine experience with the game.
  • Don't fake engagement. Alt accounts, poke exchanges, review swaps, or paid engagement that isn't clearly disclosed undermine the whole point of PokeIndie's ranking, and will be removed along with any affected metrics.
  • Disclose keys and freebies. If a developer gave you a free key, early access, or compensation in exchange for a review, say so.
  • Don't impersonate other players, developers, or PokeIndie staff, and don't misrepresent your affiliation with a game or studio.

3. Keep it safe

  • Don't share someone else's personal information without their consent (doxxing), even if you believe it's already public elsewhere.
  • Don't post sexual content involving minors under any circumstances; we report this to the relevant authorities and permanently ban the accounts involved.
  • Mark mature content appropriately where the Service provides a way to do so, and follow the age ratings that apply to the platforms you distribute on.
  • Don't post links to malware, phishing pages, or pirated copies of games.

4. For developers

You're part of this community too. Respond to feedback professionally, even critical feedback. Don't use your account, alt accounts, or affiliated accounts to inflate your own listing's engagement or to review-bomb a competitor's. Don't misrepresent your game's price, platform availability, or monetization in your listing or in comments. Repeated violations can affect your listing's ranking eligibility in addition to any account action under our Acceptable Use Policy.

5. Collections, messages, and profiles

Keep shared collections and messages on-topic and spam-free. Don't use direct messages to send unsolicited advertising, phishing links, or repeated unwanted contact after being asked to stop. Choose a profile name and avatar that don't impersonate someone else or contain content that would violate these Guidelines if posted anywhere else on the Service.

6. Reporting and enforcement

If you see content or behavior that breaks these Guidelines, use the report tool on the listing, review, or profile in question, or email [email protected]. Depending on severity and history, we may remove content, discount manipulated metrics, warn, suspend, or permanently ban an account, consistent with our Acceptable Use Policy. If you believe an enforcement action was made in error, you can appeal by replying to the notice we send you or emailing [email protected].

7. Changes

We may update these Guidelines as the community grows. We'll update the date above when we do.

8. Contact

Questions about these Guidelines: [email protected].