【2016 Archives】

Your app doesn't need to look R-rated to get thrown out of the App Store. 

That's the lesson learned by the creators of La Petite Mort016 Archives an app that describes itself as an "abstract erotic musical simulation game," whose pixelated images and racy sound effects were too much for Apple. 

Created by Copenhagen-based Lovable Hat Cult, La Petite Mort is a game that aims to simulate the female orgasm. Yes, really. 

Calling it a game may be a bit of a misnomer. The app consists of four "abstract audio-visual landscapes" each of which represents a (heavily pixelated) vulva. "Gameplay" consist of dragging your finger slowly around the screen and using the corresponding musical effects to guide your movements. There are no points or levels but players are unable to unlock various "experiences" based on their movements. 

"It is quite an erotic experience," Patrick Jarnfelt, one of the game's creators, tells Mashable in an email. You can see the app in action in the video below (warning: it's NSFW).

Though the game doesn't actually depict nudity or sexual acts, it was still deemed controversial enough for Apple to remove it from its App Store. Jarnfelt says that although the app was initially approved for the Czech Republic and Congo, it was later removed before it could be released in other countries. (The app is, however, currently available in Google's Play Store for $2.50.)

Jarnfelt says he's not surprised that Apple objected to the app, but he says La Petite Mort is just as much about creating an artistic experience as a sexual one.

"Our game should not be regarded as an educational game about pleasuring vulvas," Patrick Jarnfelt writes in an email to Mashable. "It is meant to be a sensuous, erotic and artistic experience in itself. One could hope though, that the way you have to play it and the discussions it hopefully spurs, could lead to people being more relaxed about female sexuality, and make the world more accepting and aware on these subjects, and make them less taboo."

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