Terms of play

Effective 2026-10-27. PettyPawn is operated by Hamza Hassan, an individual operator based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Contact: hello@pettypawn.com.

Who can play

You must be at least 14 and allowed to use the service where you live. If you are under 18, you confirm that a parent or guardian has agreed to these Terms. Keep your account secure and use a fictional username. These Terms, our Community rules and Privacy policy apply when you use PettyPawn. Do not impersonate others, cheat, exploit bugs, automate abuse or interfere with the service.

The game

PettyPawn is chess with taunts, smacks, stolen turns and abilities. Every player starts with a pet. Pets, coins, The Petty Match, The Board and Most Wanted are game mechanics with no real-world value.

The Lifers

The Lifers are computer-controlled players. The tutorial says so, and each Lifer shows a LIFER badge and a tipped ear. Lifers play matches, including The Petty Match, can hold pets, can appear on The Board and send messages under their usernames. Not every opponent is a person.

Coins and The Petty Match

Coins are earned only by playing and spent only in the game. They cannot be bought with real money, cashed out, redeemed for prizes or transferred, except that a ransom is paid to the player holding the pet. Playing for a pet another player holds (The Petty Match) costs 500 coins. The fee is spent whatever the result, and the other player never receives it. If the player who paid wins, they take that pet; a loss or a draw leaves it where it is. If both players pay the fee, each pays their own and both pets are at stake. A void game refunds reserved fees. Ordinary match coins are separate.

Pawned and the ransom

A player whose own pet is held by someone else is Pawned and cannot take anyone else's pet until theirs is back. They can win it back in a Petty Rematch or, after 5 matches played since it was taken, pay a ransom of 2,000 coins to the player holding it, and it comes home at once. These rules describe the actual game; its framing does not change how stores classify its content.

Your words

You keep your rights in the words you submit and give us permission to store, display and process them as needed to run the game and enforce the rules. Submit only content you are entitled to share. Zero tolerance: objectionable content is removed and abusive players are suspended or banned. Trash talk is part of the game; real-world abuse is not. The operator reviews submitted reports personally. Blocking stops new contact; it does not cancel a committed match, erase a loss or stop a player paying the ransom for their own pet.

Report review

Reports and relevant game or message context are stored securely for review by the operator. We review the evidence to tell trash talk from actual abuse. You can appeal a moderation decision at hello@pettypawn.com.

Closing an account

Request permanent deletion in the app under Account, rules & support, or on our Delete account page. A committed match is forfeited. Coins, abilities and your pet’s look are lost; pets you hold go home to their owners. Other players keep legitimate results and game history with your identity removed. Our Privacy policy explains limited retention and cleanup times.

Availability and changes

This is a developing game. Features, balancing and availability may change. We will present material rule or privacy changes before applying new uses that require your agreement. We do not promise uninterrupted availability. Mandatory consumer rights continue to apply; nothing here excludes rights or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded. Contact us first about a dispute. British Columbia law governs to the extent permitted, without taking away mandatory protections in your home jurisdiction.