I really liked how you thought about the mechanic but it's really hard to grasp at the beginning without good instructions or a easy way to learn on the first level.
There are some things that contributed for the confusion, like: the CRT filter you applied made the reading instructions a bit hard to read and the audio instructions with the robotic effect (which was great) was a bit hard to understand also.
I loved the feel and I spend a good amount of time playing after I really learned how to. Good job, mate!