Apple rejected iOS game Hot Mess because it’s about a robot dousing the flames of love

Apple has a history of rejecting apps from the App Store — sometimes for valid reasons, sometimes for silly reasons. This time around, Apple rejected iOS game Hot Mess from the App Store because it featured unclothed pixelated people kissing.
The premise of the game is absolutely hilarious, and definitely not offensive in any way. You play as a firefighting robot who mistakes the flames of passion for actual flames, and has to navigate his way to kissing couples to douse them with water and put out what it feels is a dangerous fire.
Yes, it’s probably the best game ever made thanks to that premise, but Apple didn’t want iOS gamers to be able to confirm that, as Apple rejected the app because the kissing couples are clad in nothing but their underwear.
To be fair, the game originally didn’t contain underwear of any sort, displaying the pixelated couples in all of their 8-bit glory. However, after the game was originally rejected, the developer — Secret Library — painted white space over the offending bits, visually similar to unassuming, function-over-form undergarments. Unfortunately, the game was rejected again, because this time around the characters were “barely clothed.”

Rejected again! “Specifically, we noticed your app displays a barely dressed couple kissing.” Well, HOT MESS might be more like WARM MESS.
— Secret Library (@Secret_Library) November 5, 2013

If you think the idea of a firefighting robot that can’t tell the difference between burning buildings and burning loins is hilarious, not only are you 100% correct, but Apple finally relented and accepted the game.
Secret Library designer Nick Ralabate said had Apple not had a change of heart, the team would not have given up trying to get the game into the App Store. They would have started slowly and awkwardly clothing their barely clothed characters bit by bit until Apple finally allowed us all to put the game on our portable device and have it close to our hearts wherever we are.
Thankfully, Apple realized that underwear on 8-bit pixelated characters is clothed enough.