🎯 Our Commitment to Transparency
At Stack or Snap, we believe in being completely open about how our game works. This document explains our scoring system, leaderboards, and how we calculate your MQI (Mathematical Quotient Intelligence) in detail. We're not hiding anything – we want you to understand and trust our system!
1. Acceptance of Terms
By playing Stack or Snap, you agree to these terms. We've written them to be clear and honest about how everything works. If something doesn't make sense, please reach out to us!
2. How Stack or Snap Works
Stack or Snap is a cognitive puzzle game with 45 progressively challenging levels. Each level tests different mental skills like pattern recognition, memory, processing speed, and logical reasoning.
What Makes It Special?
- Progressive Difficulty: Levels get harder as you advance, testing more complex cognitive skills
- Performance Tracking: We measure how you perform on each level using multiple factors
- MQI Score: Your overall performance is summarized in a single score (70-145 scale, similar to IQ)
- Leaderboards: Compete with other players globally
- Regular Updates: We're constantly adding new levels and features
3. Understanding MQI (Mathematical Quotient Intelligence)
🧠 What is MQI?
MQI is your game performance rating ranging from 70-227.5. It's designed to feel similar to an IQ score, but it's specifically for Stack or Snap gameplay – not a measure of real-world intelligence.
Important: The MQI scale will grow when we add more levels! With 45 levels, the max is 227.5. With 100 levels, it could reach 420+. More levels = more opportunities to increase your MQI!
Why We Created MQI
We wanted a scoring system that:
- Rewards skill improvement: Not just grinding the same levels
- Encourages progression: Completing all levels is better than perfecting just a few
- Feels meaningful: A continuous score that reflects your cognitive performance in the game
- Scales with the game: As we add more levels, MQI grows to reflect new challenges
- Is fair: Prevents exploitation and rewards genuine skill
Current MQI Scale (45 Levels)
With the current 45 levels, your MQI ranges from 70 to 227.5:
- 200-227.5: Elite performance (top 2-5% of players)
- 170-200: Excellent performance
- 140-170: Above average performance
- 110-140: Average performance
- 70-110: Building skills
Note: When we add more levels (e.g., reaching 100 total levels), the MQI scale will expand proportionally, giving everyone new opportunities to improve their score!
4. How We Calculate Your MQI (V3 System)
🔍 Complete Transparency
We believe you should know exactly how your score is calculated. Here's our complete MQI V3 formula – no secrets!
Step 1: Each Attempt Gets an Attempt MQI
Every time you play a level (whether you succeed or fail), we calculate an Attempt MQI based on two factors:
Attempt MQI Calculation:
SUCCESS (Completed Level):
• Accuracy Score = 70% weight (always 100% on success)
• Speed Score = 30% weight (based on completion time)
FAILURE (Incomplete):
• Accuracy Score = 70% weight (partial credit: correctCards / totalCards × 100)
• Speed Score = 0% weight (no reward for failing fast)
Performance Score = (Accuracy × 0.70) + (Speed × 0.30)
Max Level MQI = level_difficulty × 0.35 (ranges 0.3 to 3.5)
Attempt MQI = (Performance Score / 100) × Max Level MQI
Final: Rounded to 3 decimal places
Accuracy Performance (70%)
The primary factor in your score:
- Successful completion: 100% accuracy (0.70 contribution)
- Failed attempt: Partial credit based on progress (e.g., 15/30 cards = 50% = 0.35 contribution)
Example: Complete level perfectly = 100% × 0.70 = 0.70. Complete 20/30 cards before failing = 67% × 0.70 = 0.47.
Speed Performance (30% - Success Only!)
Speed only counts if you successfully complete the level:
Speed Score Calculation:
timeRatio = actualTime / targetTime
• timeRatio ≤ 0.5: 100% (blazing fast!)
• timeRatio ≤ 0.75: 90% (very fast)
• timeRatio ≤ 1.0: 80% (fast)
• timeRatio ≤ 1.25: 70% (acceptable)
• timeRatio ≤ 1.5: 60% (slow)
• timeRatio > 1.5: 30-60% (penalty for very slow)
- Success: Speed contributes 0-30% based on time
- Failure: Speed contributes 0% (no benefit from failing quickly)
Example: Complete in 30s when target is 60s = timeRatio 0.5 = 100% speed = 0.30 contribution.
Step 2: Level MQI - Weighted Average of ALL Your Attempts
For each level, we calculate a Level MQI by taking a weighted average of ALL your attempts on that level:
Level MQI Calculation (Weighted Average):
For each attempt, assign exponential weight based on recency:
• weight(i) = 1.5^i (where i = 0 for oldest, n-1 for newest)
Example with 5 attempts:
• Attempt 1 (oldest): weight = 1.5^0 = 1.0 (6.1%)
• Attempt 2: weight = 1.5^1 = 1.5 (9.2%)
• Attempt 3: weight = 1.5^2 = 2.25 (13.8%)
• Attempt 4: weight = 1.5^3 = 3.375 (20.7%)
• Attempt 5 (newest): weight = 1.5^4 = 5.063 (50.2%) ⭐
Level MQI = (sum of attemptMQI × weight) / (sum of weights)
Final: Rounded to 3 decimal places
Key Points:
- All attempts count: Every time you play contributes to your level MQI
- Recent performance matters most: Your latest attempt has ~35-50% weight
- Can improve OR decline: If you perform worse, your level MQI can decrease
- Fair assessment: Reflects your overall skill trend, not just best attempt
Step 3: Total MQI - Simple Sum Across All Levels
Your overall MQI is straightforward:
Total MQI Calculation:
Total MQI = 70 (base) + sum of all Level MQIs
Example:
• Level 1 MQI: 0.8
• Level 2 MQI: 1.2
• Level 5 MQI: 1.5
• (other levels: 0.0 if not played)
Total MQI = 70 + 0.8 + 1.2 + 1.5 = 73.5
Range: 70.0 minimum, 227.5 maximum (with all 45 levels perfected)
Fair Play Mechanisms
To keep the game fair and prevent exploitation:
🔄 1. Weighted Average System (Anti-Grinding)
All attempts count, but recent performance matters most! The exponential weighting system means:
- You can't boost your MQI by "grinding" with declining performance
- Improvement is rewarded (better attempts pull average up)
- Poor performance hurts (worse attempts pull average down)
- Recent skill level is prioritized over old attempts
Example: If your last 3 attempts are worse than your first 2, your level MQI will decrease!
🎯 2. Partial Credit for Failures
Failed attempts aren't wasted! You earn partial MQI based on how far you got:
- Complete 20/30 cards: ~67% accuracy contribution
- Complete 15/30 cards: ~50% accuracy contribution
- Complete 0 cards: 0% (opening and quitting earns nothing)
This encourages learning and practice without penalizing failures.
⚡ 3. No Speed Reward for Failures
Speed only counts on successful completion! This prevents:
- Rushing through levels to fail quickly
- Getting credit for incomplete attempts
- Exploiting the speed system
Failed attempts get 0% speed score, regardless of time taken.
5. Leaderboards & Rankings
We Have Two Types of Leaderboards
🏆 1. MQI Leaderboard (Global Cognitive Performance)
Ranks all players by their Total MQI score – your overall cognitive performance across all completed levels.
- Based on your weighted average MQI across all levels
- Includes breadth bonus for completing more levels
- Currently ranges from 70-145 (based on 45 levels)
- Will scale higher when we add more levels! (e.g., 100 levels could mean MQI up to 200+)
⚡ 2. Level-Based Speed Rankings (Per Level)
Each of the 45 levels has its own speed leaderboard showing who completed it the fastest.
- Separate ranking for each individual level (Level 1, Level 2, ... Level 45)
- Based purely on completion time
- Your fastest time is used for ranking
- Shows top speedrunners for each specific challenge
How Rankings Work
- Rankings update in real-time as players complete levels
- MQI Leaderboard: Your percentile rank shows how you compare to all players (e.g., "73rd percentile" = better than 73% of players)
- Speed Leaderboards: Shows exact ranking by fastest completion time (1st place, 2nd place, etc.)
- We use your best performance on each level for both rankings
- Fair play measures detect unusual patterns and may adjust scores accordingly
Can Rankings Change?
Yes, and here's why:
- Other players improve their scores or times
- We add new levels – MQI scale expands, giving everyone new opportunities to climb!
- We detect and remove cheating or exploitation
- We improve our algorithms to be more fair
We'll never change rankings arbitrarily – any changes are to make the system more fair and accurate.
6. Future Features (Coming Soon!)
🎮 More Levels
We're actively developing additional levels beyond the current 45. New levels will:
- Test new types of cognitive skills
- Offer fresh challenges for experienced players
- Give everyone opportunities to improve their MQI
- Be added regularly through updates
🏆 Regular Challenges
Planned features include:
- Daily Challenges: Special levels that change every day
- Weekly Competitions: Compete for top scores during specific time periods
- Seasonal Events: Themed challenges with unique rewards
- Achievement System: Unlock badges and milestones
👥 Friend Challenges
Coming soon – challenge your friends directly:
- Send challenges to specific friends
- Compare scores on the same levels
- Private friend leaderboards
- Head-to-head competitions
📣 Your Feedback Matters!
We're building these features based on what players want. Have ideas? Let us know through the app's feedback section!
7. Fair Play & Anti-Cheating
What We Do to Keep It Fair
- Pattern Detection: We identify unusual gameplay patterns that might indicate cheating or exploitation
- Anti-Grinding Measures: Diminishing returns prevent endlessly replaying the same level
- Score Validation: Impossible or suspicious scores are reviewed
- Account Monitoring: We watch for multiple accounts from the same person
What Happens If We Detect Issues?
- We'll investigate the activity
- If it's a mistake, no action taken
- If it's intentional cheating, we may:
- Reset specific level scores
- Adjust your MQI to reflect fair play
- Temporarily suspend the account
- Permanently ban repeat offenders
Our Approach
We assume good faith! Our anti-cheating measures are designed to catch clear violations, not punish players who are genuinely trying to improve. If you think there's been a mistake, contact us.
8. What MQI Is (and Isn't)
✅ What MQI IS:
- A measure of your performance in Stack or Snap
- Based on our own algorithm designed specifically for this game
- A way to track your improvement over time
- A fun competitive metric for leaderboards
- Transparent – we've explained exactly how it's calculated
❌ What MQI is NOT:
- A scientifically validated intelligence test
- Based on peer-reviewed research or population studies
- A substitute for professional IQ testing
- Suitable for academic, employment, or medical decisions
- A measure of your real-world cognitive ability
Important Disclaimer
MQI is our proprietary game scoring system, developed in-house by the Stack or Snap team. While we've designed it to be meaningful and fair for gameplay, it is NOT based on scientific research, psychological studies, or validated testing methodology.
Think of it like this: Just as a high score in a chess game shows you're good at chess (not that you're a genius), a high MQI shows you're skilled at Stack or Snap's cognitive puzzles.
9. Your Rights & Our Responsibilities
Your Rights
- Play the game and earn MQI scores fairly
- View your complete performance history
- Understand how your score is calculated (we've explained it all here!)
- Contact us with questions or concerns
- Delete your account and data at any time
Our Responsibilities
- Maintain fair and consistent scoring algorithms
- Protect your data and privacy
- Be transparent about how the game works
- Address cheating and unfair play
- Notify users of major changes to scoring systems
What We Ask From You
- Play fairly and don't try to cheat the system
- Understand that MQI is a game score, not a real intelligence measure
- Don't use MQI scores for purposes outside of gameplay
- Be respectful to other players
- Report bugs or issues you discover
Limitation of Liability
Since MQI is a game scoring system, we cannot be held liable for:
- Decisions made based on MQI scores
- Emotional responses to your ranking or performance
- Changes to scoring algorithms as we improve the system
- Score fluctuations due to fair play enforcement
Remember: Stack or Snap is a game designed for fun and cognitive exercise. While we've put a lot of thought into making MQI meaningful, it's still just a game score!
10. Updates & Changes
How We Handle Changes
We're constantly improving Stack or Snap. Here's our commitment to you:
- Algorithm Updates: We may adjust MQI calculations to make them more fair. When we do, we'll explain why.
- New Features: New levels, challenges, and features will be announced in-app
- Terms Changes: Any updates to these terms will be posted here with a new effective date
- Your Score: If we make changes that significantly affect MQI, we'll give you notice
We Promise To:
- Never change your scores arbitrarily
- Always act in good faith to improve the game
- Be transparent about major changes
- Listen to player feedback
11. Privacy Policy
🔒 Your Privacy Matters
We take your privacy seriously. This section explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.
What Data We Collect
- Account Information: Email address, display name (if you sign in with Google or Apple)
- Game Performance: Your scores, completion times, level progress, and MQI calculations
- Device Information: Device type, operating system (for analytics and bug fixing)
- Analytics Data: Gameplay patterns, feature usage (to improve the game)
What We DON'T Collect
- We don't sell your data to third parties
- We don't track you outside the app
- We don't share your personal information with advertisers
- We don't use your data for purposes unrelated to improving the game
How We Use Your Data
- Game Functionality: Store your progress, calculate MQI, maintain leaderboards
- Improvement: Analyze gameplay patterns to improve level design and difficulty
- Support: Help you with technical issues and account problems
- Fair Play: Detect cheating and maintain fair leaderboards
- Communication: Send important updates about the game (if you opt in)
Third-Party Services
We use trusted third-party services to operate the game:
- Firebase (Google): Authentication, database, and analytics
- Google Play Services: For Android sign-in and gameplay
- Apple Sign In: For iOS authentication
These services have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review.
Data Security
- We use industry-standard encryption for data transmission
- Your data is stored on secure Firebase servers
- Access to user data is restricted to essential personnel only
- We regularly review our security practices
Your Rights
- Access: View all your data through the app
- Deletion: Delete your account and all associated data at any time
- Correction: Update your profile information
- Export: Request a copy of your data (contact us)
- Opt-Out: Disable analytics and notifications in settings
Data Retention
- Active accounts: Data retained as long as your account is active
- Deleted accounts: Data permanently deleted within 30 days
- Anonymous analytics: May be retained for statistical purposes (no personal identifiers)
- Leaderboard data: Removed when you delete your account
Children's Privacy
Stack or Snap is suitable for ages 12 and up. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete it immediately.
International Users
Your data may be transferred to and stored on servers in different countries. By using Stack or Snap, you consent to this transfer. We ensure that all data transfers comply with applicable privacy laws.
Changes to Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We'll notify you of significant changes through the app. Your continued use of Stack or Snap after changes indicates acceptance of the updated policy.
12. Contact Us
💬 We're Here to Help!
Have questions about MQI, your scores, or how the game works? We're happy to explain!
- In-app support (preferred method)
- Feedback section in the app
- Report issues or bugs through the app
We read every message and respond as quickly as possible. Your feedback helps us make Stack or Snap better for everyone!