These terms are an agreement between you and Rob Williams ("we", "us"), the individual who runs Erode
Lab at erodelab.com. By using Erode Lab you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use it. DeepInTime's games
at deepintime.com are a separate site with their own terms.
1. What Erode Lab is
Erode Lab is a landscape-evolution simulator that runs in your browser, on your own computer's processor and graphics
card. It loads real terrain, rock, fault and climate data around a place you choose and models how rivers, glaciers,
sediment and tectonics could reshape it over long spans of time. It never shows ads.
It is an illustration, not a prediction. Each run is one plausible outcome under the settings you
chose. Don't rely on it for engineering, construction, hazard, insurance, navigation, legal or safety decisions.
Our rule on what we charge for: we charge for scale, administration, convenience and server
cost. We never charge for the ability to see, check or reproduce a scientific result.
2. Using it
You can use Erode Lab without an account. Some features (showing your pin to other people, cloud saves, rooms, Lab
Tools, Lab Cloud and teacher classes) need one. Running the simulation uses your device's processor, graphics card,
memory and battery; large maps and long runs use more.
3. Accounts
You sign in with your email address; we email you a one-time link and a 6-digit code, and you can add a passkey.
Keep access to that email account secure, because anyone who can read it can sign in as you.
An Erode Lab account is for Erode Lab only. It's separate from any account in DeepInTime's games, even with the
same email.
You must be at least 13 years old, or older where your country requires it to agree to these terms yourself
(for example 16 in some EU countries). Younger students can use Erode Lab through a class link (section 6b).
One account per person. Don't create accounts in someone else's name or by automated means.
You can delete your account at any time from your account settings or by emailing us. Deleting it ends the Lab
Tools purchase on it and cancels Lab Cloud immediately (the current period isn't refunded).
4. Other people on the map and in rooms
When you're signed in and choose to share, other visitors can see your display name, the place you pinned (the
simulated place, not your own location) and roughly what you're doing (for example the simulated year). Don't share a
pin if you don't want others to see it. Anyone with a room's link can join that room and see what's in it.
Display names and room names must not impersonate anyone, include personal information about others, or be abusive,
hateful, sexual or illegal. We may rename, hide or remove accounts and rooms that break this.
5. Acceptable use
Don't:
interfere with the service or other people's use of it, or try to get around rate limits or access controls;
send automated or excessive requests to Erode Lab or to the data services it loads from (listed on the
Credits page); those services are shared public resources;
send us false run results or fits on purpose;
use Erode Lab to harass anyone or to break any law;
sell, rent or re-host Erode Lab or present it as your own.
6. Lab Tools (one-time purchase)
Lab Tools is a one-time purchase that unlocks the tools listed on the
account page (for example 4K stills, longer timelapses, heightmap export, analysis tools
and the 160 km box). The price is shown before you pay and includes or adds tax as shown at checkout.
It applies to your account, on any device where you're signed in, for as long as we operate Erode Lab. It's not a
subscription and doesn't renew. It doesn't include Lab Cloud, which runs on our servers. Early-access items become
free for everyone on a date we publish.
The purchase is sold through Stripe Managed Payments, so Stripe is the merchant of record: it takes the payment,
handles tax and its name may appear on your card statement. We never see or store your card number.
Refunds: if you're not happy, email us within 14 days of buying for a full refund. Where the law
gives you more rights (for example consumer law in the EU or UK), those rights apply. A full refund ends Lab Tools.
If a payment is disputed with your card issuer, Lab Tools is paused while the dispute is open, and comes back if
it's resolved in our favour.
If we ever shut Erode Lab down, we'll give at least 30 days' notice on the site. A shutdown ends Lab Tools along
with the service; it isn't refunded.
6a. Lab Cloud (subscription)
Lab Cloud is a subscription for features that run on our servers: cloud saves (fair use about
5 GB), permanent share links, your own elevation data and hosting bigger rooms when they open. The current list and
limits are on the account page.
It's billed monthly or yearly at the price shown at checkout (including or adding tax), and renews
automatically until you cancel. Stripe Managed Payments is the merchant of record, as above.
Cancel any time from "Manage billing" on the account page. Lab Cloud stays on until the end of the
period you've paid for, then ends. We don't refund part-periods, except that within 14 days of your first payment
you can email us for a full refund, and where the law gives you more rights.
If a renewal payment fails, Lab Cloud stays on for 7 days while Stripe retries and you can update your card. If it
still hasn't been paid, Lab Cloud ends.
Free trial: a first Lab Cloud subscription may start with a free trial (the length is shown before
you start). A trial needs no card. If you don't add one, it ends without any charge. If you do, Lab Cloud continues
on the plan you picked when the trial ends. One trial per person.
When Lab Cloud ends, nothing is deleted straight away. Saves and uploaded terrain beyond the free
allowance become read-only (you can still open and download them) and are kept 12 months, with an email 30 days
before they're deleted. Permanent share links keep working for 12 months, then become ordinary links that expire
after 30 days. Subscribing again restores everything that's still kept.
If a Lab Cloud payment is disputed, Lab Cloud is paused while the dispute is open. If the dispute is lost, the
subscription is cancelled.
If we change the price, we'll email you at least 30 days before it applies to your next renewal, and you can
cancel before then.
Fair-use limits exist so a few people can't run up costs for everyone. If an account goes far over them, we'll
contact you before doing anything.
6b. Schools, universities and labs
Teacher classes, researcher seats and site licences are sold for a term of one year, at the price on
the pricing page or in a written quote. They don't renew on their own: we send a reminder before
the term ends, and a new term starts when it's paid.
Paying by card. A teacher class can be bought by card through Stripe Checkout, under the same
Stripe terms as Lab Tools and Lab Cloud. Within 14 days of paying you can email us for a full refund; a refund ends the
class and its links. If you own Lab Tools, your first teacher class is free for its first year (once per account); it
then renews at the normal price only if you buy it.
Paying by invoice. We send invoices through Stripe, payable within 30 days (net 30).
We accept purchase orders and put the PO number on the invoice. We can supply a W-9. We don't accept cheques. Access
starts when the invoice is paid; if you need it earlier, ask and we may start it on the invoice date. Invoices are
sold by us directly, not through Stripe Managed Payments: Stripe processes the payment, and sales tax is added where
it applies, based on the billing address. If your organisation is tax-exempt, send us its exemption certificate before
we invoice. A full refund ends the classes or seats it paid for.
A seat is for one named person. Don't share a seat's sign-in.
Class links. A teacher class lets you make class links that students open without an account. By
making one you confirm that your school has authorised you to use Erode Lab with that class, and you agree not to put
student names or other personal details in a class name. Students using a class link are bound by your school's rules,
not by an account with us; see what a class link collects (nothing about students)
and the summary for schools.
Our rule (section 1) applies to every plan: nothing needed to see, check or reproduce a result is sold.
Professional (by quote) is for screening and communication. It is not qualified for
regulatory safety-case use, and no plan is.
7. Data, credits and what you make
The terrain, geology, fault, climate and paleo data come from third parties under their own licences, listed with
their credits on the Credits page. Those licences continue to apply.
You may share screenshots, recordings and exports of your runs. When you do, keep the credits for the data they
show.
Terrain you upload (Lab Cloud). You keep your rights in it. You promise you may use it this way
and, if you make a share link, share it (for example, it isn't licensed data you aren't allowed to pass on). A share
link publishes that terrain to anyone who has the link. We may remove uploads that break these Terms. Uploads are
private to your account otherwise, count toward your cloud storage, and follow the cloud-save rules if Lab Cloud
ends.
Active-fault share-alike. The GEM Global Active Faults Database is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Terrain,
images or data from a run that used GEM faults are adaptations of it. If you share them, credit GEM (Styron &
Pagani 2020) and share them under CC BY-SA 4.0 or a compatible licence.
Climate data contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information; keep that credit too.
8. Our rights
Erode Lab's software, design and name belong to us. Subject to these terms, we give you a personal, non-exclusive,
revocable permission to use it. Nothing in these terms limits the rights third-party data licences give you over that
data.
9. Changes and availability
We may change, add or remove features, and may suspend or end the service. We'll try to give notice of major
changes. We may update these terms; if a change is significant we'll say so on the site or by email before it takes
effect. Continuing to use Erode Lab after that means you accept the new terms.
10. Ending your use
You can stop using Erode Lab and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or close accounts that break these
terms. If we close an account for a reason other than a breach of these terms, we'll refund the Lab Tools purchase on it
and the unused part of any Lab Cloud period.
11. Disclaimers
The service is provided "as is" and "as available". The data it loads can be incomplete or wrong, and the
model simplifies nature. To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, including fitness for a
particular purpose and accuracy.
12. Limitation of liability
To the extent the law allows, we're not liable for indirect or consequential losses, and our total
liability to you for any claim is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before
the claim and US$50. Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law,
including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
13. Law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, and disputes go to the courts
of San Bernardino County, California, except where your local consumer law gives you the right to bring a claim
where you live.
Changes to these terms
October 26, 2026: the science lab moved to its own site, Erode Lab at erodelab.com, and
these are now its own terms, separate from DeepInTime's games. Supporter is now Lab Tools and World is now Lab Cloud,
with the lab's features only (sections 6 and 6a); accounts are separate from the games' (section 3); rooms are
described (section 4). No price changed.
October 21, 2026: invoices (section 6b) are sold by us through Stripe, with sales tax added where it applies
and tax-exempt organisations asked for their certificate.
October 21, 2026: added class links (section 6b): the teacher confirms their school's authorisation and keeps student
names out of class names; Supporter owners get their first teacher class free for a year.
October 21, 2026: added our rule on what we charge for (section 1), and section 6b on schools, universities and labs:
one-year terms, card or net-30 invoices, purchase orders, and Professional for screening and communication only.
October 12, 2026: the previous version.
14. Contact
Rob Williams, 7426 Cherry Ave, Ste 210 PMB 1076, Fontana, CA 92336-4263, United States.
Email hello@erodelab.com.