Legal

Terms of Use

Last updated 30 October 2026

By downloading or using Nakaya, you agree to these terms. They are meant to be short and fair.

The app

Nakaya: Growing Snowflakes is a game for iPhone about how snow crystals form. It is provided for your personal, non-commercial learning and enjoyment.

Licence

You may use Nakaya on Apple devices that you own or control, as permitted by the App Store's terms. You may not copy, modify, reverse engineer, redistribute or sell the app or its content, except as the law allows.

Purchases

The first two letters are free. One optional in-app purchase opens the rest of the correspondence and the ending. It is processed by Apple under the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, and refunds are handled by Apple, not by us.

The science

The crystals are grown by the Gravner–Griffeath model, a published simulation of snow crystal growth, and the map from the chamber's dials to that model is our own. What you see is a model: it reproduces how the forms of snow follow the air, not the exact crystal any particular cloud would make. The field notes name their sources. Nakaya is for general education and is not a forecasting or safety tool.

A tribute

Nakaya is named in tribute to the physicist Ukichiro Nakaya (1900–1962). It is an independent work by Aster Studio and is not affiliated with or endorsed by his family, Hokkaido University or the Nakaya Ukichiro Museum of Snow and Ice. The letters and their correspondents are fiction.

Intellectual property

The Nakaya app, its design, artwork, writing and software belong to Aster Studio. The physics of snow belongs to no one.

No warranty

Nakaya is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose. We do not promise that it will be uninterrupted or free of errors.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Aster Studio is not liable for any indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising from your use of the app. If you are unhappy with Nakaya, your remedy is to stop using it.

Changes

We may update these terms. The current version is always on this page with its date above. Continuing to use the app after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms go to asterstudio9@gmail.com.