Free does not mean free of cost.

Nothing on Gameburrow costs money. It can still cost you an evening, and attention is not a renewable resource either. This page sets out what we expect of visitors and what we suggest for keeping the site in its proper place: somewhere pleasant you drop into, not somewhere you end up.

Ten honest reminders

• The Acorn Vault is a game of chance. Nothing you do between spins changes what the next one produces.
• A long run without a win is ordinary, not a sign that a win is due. Reels have no memory.
• Coin totals on this site are a score. They mean nothing outside the tab they are displayed in.
• Doing well here predicts nothing about any real-money gambling activity. The two are not related.
• If you catch yourself refilling the pouch on reflex rather than on purpose, that is worth noticing.
• Decide roughly how long you want to sit before you start, and let the clock rather than the reels end the session.
• Playing to escape a bad mood tends to deepen it. A walk works better and we say so without irony.
• Late-night spinning is the easiest kind to lose track of. Give yourself a bedtime the site cannot argue with.
• If you are already limiting or avoiding gambling, a social slot can still tug at the same habit. Treat this site with the same caution.
• Closing the tab resets everything. There is nothing to lose by stopping mid-session.

Practical ways to keep it light

Set a timer before your first spin rather than promising yourself you will stop soon. Keep the site off your phone's home screen so that opening it takes a deliberate action. Play in a room with other things happening in it, so the machine is not the only thing in your field of view. And if a session ever leaves you flat rather than entertained, take that feeling seriously — it is the most reliable signal you will get.

Protecting younger household members

Because the site is adults-only, we encourage the use of device-level parental controls, supervised browser profiles and content-filtering software on any shared computer or phone. Keep browsers signed out and locked when children have access to the same device.

If it stops feeling like a game

Gameburrow serves visitors around the world, so we do not point to any one country's regulator or helpline — a number that fits one reader would be useless to the next. What we will say is this: if gaming of any kind, paid or free, has started affecting your sleep, your mood, your work or the people around you, that is worth discussing with your doctor or a qualified counsellor in your own country. Many regions run free, confidential support services for gambling-related harm, and a local search or a call to your general health service will find the one nearest you.

Taking a break from this site

We hold no account for you, so there is nothing to suspend — which also means a break is entirely in your hands. Close the tab, remove the bookmark, and if you want a firmer barrier, add the domain to a site blocker on your browser or router. Should you want a hand thinking that through, the support page is open and no one will try to talk you back in.