Key Activation Guide
Key Activation Guide
So you've purchased a key for one (or more!) of our games and aren't quite sure how to activate it? No sweat, you've come to the right place.
Key Type
The first step is to find out what kind of key you have, we currently distribute two types of key:
Steam Key
You can identify a Steam key as 3 groups of 5 characters separated by dashes, like this:
FAKE1-KEY23-NOT4U
It will probably also say "Steam" near it somewhere. If your key looks like this, jump ahead to Activating A Steam Key.
Itch Key
You can identify an Itch key as starting with "itch.io/get-" followed by about 12 more characters, like this:
itch.io/get-R1fa4ke2ke5y36
If your key looks like this you can jump ahead to Activating An Itch Key.
Your purchase may have also come with one of each, in which case you can choose to activate either one, or both.
If your purchase came with an Itch key but not a Steam key, there may also be a Steam key attached to the Itch one. See Getting Steam Key From Itch below.
Activating A Steam Key
- Download and install Steam (http://store.steampowered.com/about/)
- Create a Steam account (Or log in if you already have one)
- In the Steam application, click "Games" in the top menu, then select "Activate a product on Steam..."
- Follow the prompts, then enter your Steam key on the Product Code screen.
- Download and play your new game!
Activating An Itch Key
- Type the key as a URL into your browser and navigate to it (for example: itch.io/get-R1fa4ke2ke5y36 - although the key shown here is fake and won't work!)
- You can download your new game immediately by clicking the "Download Game" button, however:
- We recommend linking it to an account so you can retrieve the game again even if you lose the key.
- Click "Link my account" or "Log in to link" above Download to link the key to your Itch account, or to create and link it to a new account if you don't have one.
Getting Steam Key From Itch
If your purchase came with an Itch key but not a Steam key, there may be a Steam key hidden inside your Itch one.
If so, there will be a "Get Steam key" button on your Itch key page.
Simply click this button to get your 15 character Steam key, then following the Activating A Steam Key instructions above!
Help I'm Stuck!
If you're still confused after reading this guide or there's a problem with your key, no worries, just email us at contact 'at' cardboardkeep.com or click the mail icon at the top right of this page to use our contact form. Try to include the receipt or a photo of the physical key you purchased so we can help you ASAP.