Hi David! thanks, very happy to be here. Just wanted to get involved with the conversation, really.
When I was just getting into D&D my dad told me about Mazes and Monsters, (mis)informing me it was based on a true story (it's very based on a sensationalised tragedy with tenuous connections to RPGs!)... but (weirdly) he was sort of implying this fact made D&D "cool"? Like, "this game is so wild- apparently kids play, think it's real and go crazy and kill themselves and their friends! Enjoy!" He's a strange man.
As for Borges, you might discern I am a fan (my blog is Alone in the Labyrinth, name inspired partly by House of Asterion and also his anthology, Labyrinths). Confess I hadn't connected the jam to his work- but t's an inspirational concept! A game supplement, Atlas of Tlön, perhaps?