Very true! I hadn't even thought of this. That would also explain why some play testers didn't notice the instructions in the first level as they were going by (oops). You're right, the timer might not be necessary; the goal was to make it feel hectic, but we can probably do that in some way other than the timer.
Thank you so much for playing! We appreciate everyone who takes the time to figure it out, and we especially appreciate your thoughtful feedback :)