Correct I can't figure out how to open the second door. When I hit tab it just opens up a blank overlay. I talked to the NPC by the first door before and after opening the first door but it seems I didn't get the recipe. The one next to the door just says "Maybe not everything is lost after all...". After that I don't see any more NPCs, but I might be missing them.
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That did work,
With the instructions I was able to make it to the end! Here’s a few suggestions on how to improve the game.
I think the different parts of your game work against each other. The main parts of your game are A: a platformer, B: an automation game, and C: a puzzle game. A, platformers tend to work best when presenting new challenges to the player. It’s important that players know where to go and don’t get lost. Often repeating the same challenge becomes frustrating quickly with platformers. B, automation games work best when it’s easy to build and fix mistakes, see factorio. It’s important that players who know the solution can fix it easily otherwise they feel like they’re wasting time after they’ve already figured it out. C, puzzle games are very hard for game jams, no two people like the same difficulty of puzzle and everyone figures things out it different ways. They tend to work best when there are more hints than needed available, but not given to players who don’t ask for them. Your combination of the three causes some issues in my opinion. It’s also important that the puzzles are either intuitive or spelled out for you. I think your game does this rather well, but the puzzles are quite simple, leading it to be a smaller part of the game. I was initially confused as to what the recipe screen meant, I had to get my brother to help me understand. The platforming while trying to assemble the machine hurts both as once I’ve done a platforming section once, repeating it isn’t fun, but I need to repeat it to assemble the machine. Then once I’ve figured out the machine, I just want to build it rather than run around finding all the parts and finding places to put my machines.
One option would be to simply have a platforming section, then a machine building section. This would prevent the two mechanics tripping over each other. Or you focus on one or the other.
The visuals were very thematic but made platforming difficult as I couldn’t always see where I was going. They were also problematic when trying to figure out where to go. I often got lost forgetting where certain reagents were. This was only escalated with the machine adding the filter over the screen. It would be very cool as part of a cutscene but was frustrating when trying to finish the final level. The controls were a bit difficult to get my head around. I also felt that I needed all the UI elements visible to do the puzzles which also made the platforming harder. Possibly add them as smaller permanent UI elements.
All in all it was a good game, but I think it was frustrating for people to play.