The description of the jam is a bit confusing. The blurb talks about making games for new players, but the rules about content and the title art suggest it’s about making games for children.
These are very different goals! Making a game more child-friendly might mean making it less beginner-enticing, and vice versa! Which goal will the jam be judged on?
From what I understand, the Jam goal is to create games for novice players. That's why each game must contain a tutorial - introduction with the game mechanics etc. It must only be suitable for children (no offensive content).
As of banner art-work it's a fun, cartoon-style graphics, I like it very much. It suits very well with the optional Theme (time-travel). It's a style that was used in previous edition and in my opinion it's targetted to wide audience. It just makes sure that the games must be a bit not serious and don't contain very hard puzzles.
The aim is to "Write a text adventure that is suitable for beginners to this genre. The game must include an in-game tutorial."
The games in the first Text Adventure Literacy Jam in 2021 were aimed at children, but that is no longer the case. Rule 12 says, "Any game with adult content must have a content warning at the start of the game." The Content guidelines elaborate on this and suggest that "It is preferred that your game is G-rated (suitable for a general audience) and would appeal to children." This is the only time that children are mentioned.
So, it must be written for beginners to text adventures, but it would be nice if it also appeals to children, as children are often beginners to the genre.
You're reading things that aren't there. The term 'obscene content' is not used anywhere, so I don't know why you put it in quotes. Perhaps you meant 'offensive content', where the guidelines say, "The game must not include any offensive content including hateful, racist, misogynistic or homophobic content, or anything that would make people feel bad about themselves."
There is no 'close focus' on adult content. It is only mentioned in rule 12. Repeating the quote above, "Any game with adult content must have a content warning at the start of the game." That is reasonable, as we don't want little children being exposed to such things.
I don't think we've ever had a game with adult content, but if anyone does choose to include adult content, then when creating the game's project page, make sure to select the Metadata tab and select Has sensitive content under Audience & Content. itch.io will then filter that game out for anyone that has chosen not to view adult content, which I think is the default.
So, to summarise:
