Help for parents
Exactly how the game saves progress, how to take it to another device, what happens to data, how to install the game as an app – and what every setting does. No technical knowledge needed.
💾 How the game saves
You don’t have to do anything: the game saves automatically on the device – at every checkpoint, at the end of every level, when buying in the shop, when opening the world map and when the app goes into the background. So your child can stop at any time.
Progress is stored in the browser’s (or app’s) storage on exactly this device. There is no account and no sign-in. That also means: if browser data is cleared (e.g. “Clear history and website data”), the progress is gone – unless you have one of the two backups below.
There are two ways to back up progress or take it to another device:
| Comparison | 📋 Save code | ☁️ Family code |
|---|---|---|
| How does it work? | You copy a long piece of text and paste it on the other device. Once, by hand. | A short code (e.g. ABCD-EFGH) links several devices. After that they keep themselves in sync. |
| Internet needed? | No | Yes, for syncing |
| Where is the data? | Only with you (wherever you keep the code) | Also on the game server (game data only, see Privacy) |
| Good for … | moving to a new device once, a safety copy | children who switch between tablet, phone and PC |
📋 Save code: copy and paste
The save code is the complete progress of the current profile as a long piece of text. It always starts with TOBI1. and can be several thousand characters long. It only contains game data (finished levels, stars, weapons, achievements, self-built levels) – no name, no device data.
1. On the old device: copy the code
- Open ⚙️ Options in the game (on the title screen, on the world map or in the pause menu).
- Scroll down to “Transfer your save”.
- Tap 📋 Copy code. The code is now on the clipboard (“✔ Copied to the clipboard!”).
- Paste it somewhere you’ll find it again: e.g. a note, an email or a message to yourself.
2. On the new device: paste the code
- Open the game and – if siblings play – choose the right profile first.
- ⚙️ Options → “Transfer your save” → 📥 Paste code.
- Paste the whole code into the box (long-press the box → “Paste”).
- Tap ✔ Load save. You’ll see e.g. “✔ Save loaded! Level 4, 9 levels finished.”
The game also puts a safety copy on the clipboard when you quit with ⏏ Quit game and before every update.
☁️ Family code: keep several devices in sync
With a family code your child continues on the iPad where they stopped on the PC. The code has 8 characters (letters and digits, e.g. ABCD-EFGH) and is generated randomly. Easily confused characters like O and 0 or I and 1 are never used.
1. On the first device: create a code
- ⚙️ Options → section “☁️ Cloud save”.
- Tap ☁️ Create code.
- The code is shown in large letters. Write it down or copy it with 📋 Copy code.
2. On every other device: enter the code
- Choose the same profile the code should belong to.
- ⚙️ Options → “☁️ Cloud save” → 📥 Enter code.
- Type the code (upper/lower case and the dash don’t matter) and tap ✔ Connect.
- The device fetches the progress from the cloud right away (“Newer save loaded from the cloud”).
How syncing works
- Upload: a few seconds after every automatic save.
- Download: when the game starts, when connecting and when you tap 🔄 Sync now.
- Newest progress wins: the game compares when each device last saved. Nothing is merged – only achievements are combined.
- Each profile has its own family code. If two children play on several devices, each child (each profile) gets their own code.
- Disconnect: The Disconnect button only unlinks this device from the code. The progress on the device stays, and so does the copy in the cloud.
- Delete completely: email me the code at info@tobias-game.com and I’ll delete the cloud copy.
🔒 Privacy – in plain words
What is never collected
No names, no email addresses, no account, no ads, no cookies, no tracking, no analytics, no chat. The game asks nothing about your child.
Without a family code
Progress stays only on your device. It never leaves the device – the save code only does if you copy it and pass it on yourself.
With a family code
Only the game data (levels, stars, weapons, achievements, settings such as difficulty, self-built levels) is stored on the game server under the code. The profile name and icon are not transferred.
- The code is like a key: anyone who knows it can load or overwrite the progress. So don’t post the code publicly. It contains no personal data – as long as nobody types any into level names.
- Self-built levels: if children give a level a name in the Level Builder, that name is saved too. Please don’t let them type real names or addresses.
- Where is the data? With the hosting provider Vercel in private storage, only reachable with the code. More in the privacy policy.
- Deleting: email the code to info@tobias-game.com – I’ll delete the cloud copy. On the device you delete everything under ⚙️ Options → 🗑️ Delete save.
📲 Install as an app
The game is a so-called web app (technical term: “Progressive Web App”). That means you can put it on the home screen straight from the browser – no app store, no account, free. After that it starts like a normal app with its own icon, full screen without the address bar and even without internet. Progress is kept, and on iPhone and iPad it’s protected from Safari’s 7-day deletion.
The game has instructions for this: ⚙️ Options → 📲 Install as app. On phones and tablets they also appear by themselves on the first start.
iPhone / iPad (Safari)
- Open the game in Safari: tobias-game.com/game/
- Tap the Share icon (square with an arrow pointing up; at the bottom on iPhone, at the top on iPad).
- Choose “Add to Home Screen” (scroll down a little).
- Tap “Add” in the top right.
- From now on, always start the game from the new icon.
Android (Chrome)
- Open the game in Chrome.
- Tap the ⋮ menu in the top right.
- Choose “Install app” or “Add to Home screen”.
- Confirm with “Install”.
PC / Mac (Chrome or Edge)
- Click the install icon on the right of the address bar (screen with an arrow) – or in the ⋮ menu “Install Tobias and the Nightmare”.
- Confirm with “Install”. The game opens in its own window.
Mac (Safari)
- Menu File → “Add to Dock”.
- Confirm with “Add”. The game then starts from the Dock.
Important: progress in the browser and in the installed app can be separate (especially on iPhone/iPad). If your child has already played in the browser: copy the save code first and paste it in the app – or use a family code.
Updates arrive by themselves. When a new version is ready, “✨ New version available” appears with Reload now or Later. Before reloading, the game saves and makes a backup.
👤 Profiles for siblings
Every device has three profiles, each with its own progress, its own difficulty and its own family code.
- Switch: on the title screen tap 🧢 Player 1 · profile and choose the profile.
- Change name and icon: choose the profile, then ✏️ Change name and icon …. A first name or nickname is enough – the name stays on the device.
- Empty a profile: choose the profile → ⚙️ Options → at the very bottom under “Transfer your save” 🗑️ Delete save → ⚠️ Really delete everything?. This deletes all progress of this profile, including achievements.
- Starting over with ✨ New game resets levels, weapons and stars but keeps achievements.
Shared by all profiles: language, text size, volume and the settings below (except difficulty).
⚙️ Every setting explained
You reach the options via ⚙️ Options on the title screen, the ⚙️ on the world map or the pause menu (❚❚, key P/Esc, Start on a controller).
Difficulty
Asked on the first start and can be changed at any time: tapping cycles through the settings. Applies per profile.
| Level | For whom | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 🧸 Relaxed | younger children (from 5) and getting started | 2 extra hearts, slower enemies, at most 1 heart of damage per hit, weaker bosses |
| 🌱 Easy | from age 6 | 2 extra hearts, otherwise like Normal |
| ⚔️ Normal | recommended from age 8 | the real adventure |
| 💀 Nightmare | pros and parents | faster enemies, tougher bosses, shorter invincibility, half hearts at checkpoints, separate medals |
Frustration help: if your child keeps failing at the same spot, an arrow shows the way. After five tries the game offers: keep trying, switch to “Relaxed” or skip the level (without stars, can be replayed later).
The options in order
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| 🎵 Music / 🔊 Effects | Volume of music and sounds (0–100 %). To mute completely use 🔇 Sound off in the pause menu. |
| 🌐 Language | German or English. Also on the title screen at the bottom with 🌐 EN / 🌐 DE. |
| 🎓 Play tutorial | Starts Lumi’s practice meadow: everything explained in about two minutes, with borrowed gear. Afterwards everything is as before. |
| 🎮 Controls | Overview for touch, keyboard, controller and two players. |
| 📲 Install as app | Instructions for the home screen (see above). |
| ✨ Soften flashes | Makes bright flashes weaker and screen shake calmer. Recommended for light-sensitive children. |
| 🐢 Extra slow enemies | All enemies and projectiles even slower – on top of the difficulty. Good for children who need more time to react. |
| 🔠 Text size | Normal or Large, for beginning readers. |
| 📳 Vibration | Short vibration on hits (only on devices that support it – not on iPhone/iPad). |
| ⚡ Performance mode | Fewer effects for older devices. “Automatic” switches on by itself when the game stutters. |
| 👥 Two-player mode | A second child (or you) plays along on the same device with their own hearts. Player 2 uses the arrow keys (↑ jump, ↓ dash), comma (weapon) and period (spell) or a controller. Then you can choose the hero for both. |
| 🎮 Controller assignment | Which controller belongs to which player; tap to swap. On tablets also “👆 Touch buttons with controller”: on-screen buttons stay visible. |
| 🐾 Nachti companion | Appears late in the game: Nachti flies along as a companion. |
| 📈 Frame rate / 🐞 Error log | For the technically curious: shows frames per second or the latest errors. If you report a bug to me, “📋 Copy” in the error log helps. |
| ☁️ Cloud save | The family code. |
| Transfer your save | The save code, the last backup and 🗑️ Delete save. |
🛟 Troubleshooting
The progress is gone!
First check ⚙️ Options for “💾 Last backup” – then 📋 Copy backup and load it again with 📥 Paste code. If you have a family code, go to 📥 Enter code and enter it again. Also check whether a different profile is active.
“That’s not a valid save code”
Usually the code wasn’t copied completely. It must start with TOBI1. and be pasted up to the very last character. Best: tap 📋 Copy code again on the old device and paste it right away.
“Cloud not reachable right now”
The device is offline or the connection is poor. Carrying on playing is no problem – once you’re online again, tap 🔄 Sync now. If the message stays, write to me.
One device overwrote the newer progress
With the family code, the most recently saved progress always wins. Before playing on a device that was in the background for a while, tap 🔄 Sync now. If it already happened: on the device with the right progress copy the save code and paste it on the other one.
No sound
Browsers only play sound after the first touch – tap the screen once. On iPhone check the mute switch on the side. If the pause menu shows 🔊 Sound on, sound is currently off – tap it once. Also check the 🎵 and 🔊 sliders in the options.
The game is too hard or too easy
Change the difficulty in the options, and if needed also “🐢 Extra slow enemies”. Or play together in two-player mode.
More questions? Write to me: info@tobias-game.com. More for parents: For parents & educators.