Organizing a jam is not easy. In many ways, a platform like itch.io makes it pretty simple. But there are things that no platform can give you: dexterity in grey areas is one of them.

Unfortunately, our first jam had to deal with one of these grey zones. One of the games sent for Mapemounde dealt with a rather delicate theme and did so without any disclaimer and in what we felt was an insensitive manner.

The rules for Mapemounde do not contain anything that specifically addresses a case like this, simply because we had not foreseen it. Nevertheless, we believe that we must put our principles first: in this respect, our Manifesto is our North Star. The manifesto is explicit: we are commited to always approach games, and the activity of play, with respect and sensitivity. We are also committed not to pursue controversy and confrontation for their own sake.

While we believe the author's intent to be one of social critique, we felt that the game leaned strongly on shock value and on reproducing the most horrific aspects of the issue it chose to deal with. Because of this, we felt the execution of the game fell short of the standards of sensitivity we set for ourselves, and that our jam was not the right place to share it.

We have therefore decided to remove the game from the list of entries. In addition, the rules of the next edition of Mapemounde will contain some specifications on sensitive issues and how to deal with them.

We apologize for not having foreseen such an eventuality and for having had to take a decision in the course of the jam.