Hangman (Very Illegal)
Choking has been banned in the UK. Please do not tell the authorities about this very naughty game of hangman.
(Stay safe and categorically DO NOT DO ANYTHING you see in the game this is very not safe. If you’re going to engage in any kind of risky play research thoroughly beforehand!)
WHY?
The UK government just banned possession of pornography showing strangulation or suffocation, labelling it a “priority offense” – the same category as CP or terrorism materials.
The intention of this game is not to dispute that there are risks associated with choking – the act is inherently dangerous, and should only be practiced by consenting adults properly informed of the risks – but rather to call into question the UK government’s profoundly lazy, ineffectual and often outright harmful attempts to address societal issues through censorship.
As a country, the UK has a long history with censoring any acts that could be viewed as problematic, such as the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014, which banned a wide range of acts including spanking, face sitting, urolagnia and strangulation. Whilst this was repealed in 2019, it’s clear from this latest ban that lessons were not learned and that whichever party is in power, they’ll be happy to restrict bodily autonomy if it’ll go down well with a certain type of voter.
Outright banning anything that may offend or cause harm is no substitute for open and honest discussion, with censorship just serving to abdicate responsibility for actually educating people on consent and safe practices.
So far as safety goes: I don’t know what the right solution is to ensure people involved in sex work stay safe – I am not involved in sex work. I think the government should talk to those who are and actually listen to what they have to say.
If you’re into choking, great, and if not, that’s great too! Provided you and your partners stay safe and practice proper informed consent it should not be the place of government to decide what kinks are acceptable. Happy playing everyone!
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
On a similar note, earlier this year the government enacted the Online Safety Act, requiring all websites serving “harmful content” verify users age. These measures don’t keep anyone safe. Tech-savvy users can easily circumvent them using VPNs or by just visiting less well-known (and frequently much sketchier) sites, many of which have taken no action to comply.
There’s also very reasonable concerns about data breaches affecting people who comply and provide ID – we already have examples.
It’s also led to many websites just banning people accessing any content flagged as adult to reduce risks – as an example, I wouldn’t be able to view this page on itch.io if I weren’t the owner as it’s flagged as adult.
ABOUT
Made in Godot
Art made in GIMP
Music made in Renoise
SFX from Freesound
Fonts Used: Not Jam Mono Clean 8, Not Jam Giant UI 22 - both freely available under CC0 :)
Development log
- Version 1.2.0 - Art UpdateDec 25, 2025
- Version 1.1.0 (Nudity)Nov 11, 2025
Comments
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i mean its all about making sure your mates okay its the main reason your meant to stare your mate in their face to make sure their not dying for females you can lay on your mates chest to listen for breathing and heart beats
but males its abit harder but listening and feeling for breathing is smart
while choking isint really a monsterous thing to do it is dangerous and without the brain cells to pull it off your more likely to kill or harm your mates
please be very carefull if you explore anything sexually
It's definitely dangerous yeah - always good advice to remain careful, properly research anything you want to try and communicate clearly with any partner beforehand so you both understand what to expect and when to stop :)
It's very funny you don't show the answer if you mess up the solution.
Great work.
*hur dur but we gotta protect the kids!* Fuck that. Make the PARENTS be responsible for what their crotch goblins are up to instead of just using devices as an electronic babysitter, don't just blanket the entire internet with censorship to make it even easier for the shitty parents to be shitty while making things harder for everyone else.
What makes it even more confusing to me is that it doesn't even work - I remember when I was a kid that as soon as one person at school figured out how to bypass safety controls we'd all know, and this is trivial with a VPN or just a well-worded web search.
Censorship just isn't a solution, we need open discussion around sensitive topics and resources for how to approach them safely (and, of course, warnings when it's not possible to be completely safe so people can make up their own minds on what risks they're comfortable with).
100% agree, also prohibiting things may sometime make them more appealing to people (like weed for example, the illegality of it in some states make the kids want to try it more just to be punk and cool) People need to be informed like you said, not forced to not do things because someone said "This = BAD".
I`m not british but stand with you on this one
Thanks for the support!
Fuck censorship. I'm sick and tired of governments using the "protect the children" argument as an excuse to push their agendas and privacy-invasive mass surveillance practices, while doing nothing meaningful to protect and educate minors.
Absolutely 100% agree - thank you!
sadest part is its not the kids faults its their parents faults kids might be smart sometimes but most are cavemen just like 75% of all adults now days
sadly the goverment is brain dead
75% of the whole world is brain dead
and all want something from the smart ones truely sad
Damn Not Jam! Incredible yet simple game (and the whole Itch.io page really looks cool). I 100% agree with the whole text and particularly this point : "[...]by just visiting less well-known (and frequently much sketchier) sites".
This is one of the most frightening thing about it and the argument I bring when talking about this subject. Good luck on your gamedev journey and I hope you will not get in trouble for this strong message.
Thank you! Glad you picked up on that point, for me it's one of the main reasons prohibition/censorship of any kind never works - I find it absurd that the government's still trying it honestly
yeah fair point
Edit: My initial reaction feels a bit glib. I think this is a really interesting take on games as protest art. I was aware of the subject matter before but I think the game raises it in a very unique and clever way.
Thank you! Honestly the game's a little glib too, all good - really appreciate the kind words :)