I would normally recommend this game, however the way the devs handle bans is absolutely absurd. After having not played for around a month, I got a permaban notification (26 March 2020). I appealed the ban through the process outlined on their Twitter page, having absolutely no idea what I've done wrong. I have never traded let alone traded hackers/exploiters, I have never bred a Temtem, I wouldn't even begin to know about any exploits, I don't know how to bot, and I don't use macros. I don't even use mods in Minecraft because it feels like cheating, let alone *actual cheating*.

I had a friend log in to check my player ID from their friend list and my last date of play just to verify no one else had logged in with my account. The support person essentially said that there were multiple breaches of terms of service, and told me, quote, "With that in mind, you should have a clear idea of which were the actions that led you to this suspension." They then told me that no further correspondence would occur and that the ticket was closed.

This process is incredibly unfair. Not only can I not play a game I paid for for no discernible reason, it also adds a game ban flag on your Steam profile page as well. The fact that they believe so firmly in the infallibility of their ban system is pure hubris and does a HUGE disservice to their customers.

I'm sorry, but unless this changes, there is no way I could recommend playing a game by this company.

UPDATE: I created a Reddit account and messaged the community manager, who was incredibly kind (this is NOT the described appeal process and I do not want anyone to flood them with appeal messages). When I logged into Steam today (27 April 2020) I got a message stating, "Your In-Game Ban in Temtem has been removed. We've removed the incorrectly applied In-Game Ban on behalf of the Temtem team." I haven't heard anything from the support team so I can only assume that they've found it was a false flag after all. The removal of my ban, while providing me relief (this whole thing has made me sick to my stomach), unfortunately does not change my review. I would be hard pressed to recommend someone buy this after spending just over a month (26 March to 27 April) banned incorrectly. As things change I may update this, but for now it remains.

UPDATE 2: As of 2 September 2021 the ban system and practice is functionally the same, more than a year later. It doesn't look like this will ever be changed at this point, and with that in mind I absolutely 100% cannot recommend this purchase.

TL;DR The ban system is unfair and hits people who haven't abused the system in any way with an unfair appeals process. I have since been unbanned, however as far as I can see the system is the same.

EDIT FOR CLARIFICATION: I am not a streamer, the comments and helpful votes are not from my "army of followers" as some commenters have stated. This review is about the ban and appeals process and policy, not whether you believe I'm innocent or not.