Terms & creator agreement

Accounts and eligibility

You must be at least 18, provide accurate information, and keep your account secure. Do not impersonate another person, evade a suspension, misuse the service, or upload malicious files.

Original games and permitted uploads

Publish only original games you created and have the rights to distribute. Unauthorized commercial ROMs, decompilations, ROM hacks, copied artwork, music, characters, or other infringing content are prohibited. Properly licensed development tools and third-party assets are permitted only when their licenses allow the intended distribution. Disclose required credits in your game description.

Your electronic declaration

Each published upload requires the declaration below, a typed legal name, and an explicit agreement. We retain the declaration and terms text and versions, signer’s account and email, timestamp, and file fingerprint as a record of the submission. This is an ownership claim by the creator, not an independent rights verification by Cart Otter.

I certify that this game is my original work and that I own or hold all rights needed to publish and distribute every part of this upload, including its code, artwork, music, title, and other assets. It contains no unauthorized commercial ROM, decompilation, ROM hack, copied game, or infringing material. Any third-party tools or assets are used under licenses that permit this distribution, including free downloads and browser play through Cart Otter. I retain ownership and grant Cart Otter a non-exclusive license to host, display, distribute, and make this game available for browser play, including continued downloads for players who have added it to their libraries. I have read and accept Cart Otter’s Terms & creator agreement, version 2026-10-04.4, including the non-endorsement statement, warranty disclaimers, limitation of liability, and creator indemnification clause. I understand that the indemnification clause can require me to defend covered third-party claims and reimburse reasonable legal costs and other covered losses, subject to that clause’s limits and exceptions. I understand that infringing content may be removed and repeat infringers may lose their accounts. By typing my legal name and submitting, I intend to electronically sign this declaration.

Ownership and hosting permission

You keep ownership of your game. You grant Cart Otter a non-exclusive license to store your submitted files, display your listing and images, and make your game available for free downloads and browser play. You may unlist a game to stop new library additions and public previews. Players who already added it to their libraries may retain access unless the game must be removed for a rights, safety, or legal reason. Contact us for account deletion or other removal requests.

Free downloads and permitted use

Uploading, downloading, and playing games on Cart Otter is free. You receive a personal, non-exclusive right to download and play a game, subject to any compatible license disclosed in its listing. This does not transfer copyright or permit redistribution unless the creator’s license expressly allows it. No physical cartridge is included.

Problems with a game

If a download is defective, unavailable, or materially different from its description, contact us with the game link and a description of the problem. Nothing in these terms limits mandatory consumer rights.

Copyright complaints and moderation

Use the reporting form at https://cartotter.com/report or email dhwahle@gmail.com to identify content you believe infringes your rights. A copyright notice should identify the work and infringing material, include the location of the material, your contact information, your signature, and the required good-faith and accuracy statements.

We review reports and may remove content, restrict uploads, previews, or downloads, or suspend accounts. Repeat infringers may have their accounts terminated. If you believe your work was removed in error, contact us with the listing link and evidence of your rights; we will review the appeal. Do not submit knowingly false claims.

No endorsement of uploaded games

Cart Otter does not endorse uploaded games or the claims, opinions, or conduct of their creators. Hosting a game, displaying its artwork, including it in search results or collections, or making it available to preview or download does not constitute our approval, certification, or independent verification of its ownership, legality, accuracy, quality, safety, or suitability.

Games and their descriptions are supplied by independent creators. File-header checks identify format; they do not establish intellectual-property rights or prove that a game is safe or compatible. A creator-reported hardware test is not a certification by Cart Otter. This statement does not reduce our own legal obligations, including our obligations when handling reports.

Compatibility, availability, and warranty disclaimer

Subject to the Non-waivable rights section below, and only to the extent permitted by applicable law, the site, browser player, and creator-supplied files are provided as is and as available. Cart Otter disclaims express and implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We do not promise uninterrupted or error-free service, that every file is free from harmful code, that a creator’s claims are correct, or that a game will work on every device or emulator. Keep backups of downloads and saved games. Browser preview progress is temporary and may be lost when you leave or restart.

Limitation of liability

For this section and Creator indemnification, the Cart Otter parties are Dean Wahle, doing business as Cart Otter, and staff or contractors acting on Cart Otter’s behalf in providing the service.

Subject to the Non-waivable rights section below, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Cart Otter parties will not be liable to you for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising out of the service or these terms. This includes lost profits, revenue, goodwill, business opportunities, data, or game progress to the extent they constitute those types of damages. This exclusion applies to claims involving creator content, downloads, browser previews, service interruptions, and inability to use the service, even if we were advised that such damages were possible.

Subject to the same exceptions, the Cart Otter parties’ total aggregate liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the service or these terms will not exceed US$100. The cap and damages exclusions apply regardless of whether a claim is based on contract, tort (including ordinary negligence), statute, or another legal theory, but only where applicable law permits them. This cap limits claims against the Cart Otter parties; it does not cap a creator’s separate obligations under Creator indemnification.

Creator indemnification

If you upload a game, you agree, to the extent permitted by applicable law, to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Cart Otter parties against covered third-party claims and the resulting judgments, approved settlements, damages, and reasonable legal fees and defense costs. Covered claims are claims arising from your uploaded game, artwork, music, description, or other submitted content that allege infringement or violation of another person’s intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights; your false ownership or licensing declarations; or your breach of your creator obligations under these terms or unlawful use of the service. This obligation applies only to the extent the claim is attributable to your content, representations, or conduct.

We will give you reasonably prompt written notice of a covered claim and request a defense. A delay in notice relieves your obligations only to the extent it materially prejudices your defense. You may control the defense using qualified counsel reasonably acceptable to us, and we will reasonably cooperate at your expense. We may participate through separate counsel at our own expense. If you do not undertake a reasonably diligent defense after our written request, we may defend the covered claim and seek reimbursement of reasonable covered costs.

You may not settle a claim in a way that admits fault by a Cart Otter party, imposes a non-monetary obligation on one, or fails to fully release one without our prior written consent. We may not agree to a settlement that creates an obligation for you without your prior written consent. Neither side will unreasonably withhold, condition, or delay required settlement consent.

This clause does not require you to defend or indemnify a Cart Otter party to the extent a claim or loss is caused by that party’s own negligence, misconduct, or breach of these terms. It does not override the Non-waivable rights section. It continues after unlisting a game or closing an account only for covered content, representations, or conduct subject to the version of the agreement you accepted.

Non-waivable rights

The warranty disclaimers, liability exclusions and cap, and creator indemnification do not exclude or limit the Cart Otter parties’ responsibility for their own fraud, willful injury, intentional misconduct, or gross negligence. They do not exclude, limit, or transfer responsibility for violations of law or other liability where applicable law prohibits doing so. Nothing in these terms waives consumer protections, statutory remedies, or other rights that cannot lawfully be waived or restricted. If a particular exclusion or limitation is not permitted for your claim, it does not apply to that claim; any lawful remainder continues to apply.

Independent community

Cart Otter is not affiliated with or endorsed by ModRetro or Nintendo. Product and company names identify compatibility and remain the property of their respective owners.

Changes and contact

Material updates are dated and versioned here. New game submissions must explicitly accept the declaration and terms then in effect. We do not rewrite past signatures or treat them as acceptance of newly added obligations. Any required consent to a material change must be obtained before applying it to an existing agreement. Questions, claims, and requests may be sent to Dean Wahle at dhwahle@gmail.com.