Thank you, I added some more instructions to the game explanation on itch.
Viewing post in CORE CONTROL - GMTK 2020 jam comments
OH so you click the buttons in the order of the number beside them. I thought you were supposed to click the button x amount of times.
With that cleared up I gave your game another go and I have to say it was the best game I've played so far this game jam (I've cleared my queue fwiw)
The theme of out of control was expressed as an emotional component of the game as opposed to something purely mechanical, and that brought out many different kinds of feelings whereas other games I've played so far have been just frustrating yet intriguing.
With everything going to **** around the player it brings out a strong sense of distress and urgency to complete the rather simple task but as fast as possible. Having to scramble to figure out the code and to decipher which code I had to actually put in, whipping the manual out and closed to press the buttons hiding underneath it was a beautifully annoying component of the gameplay.
The environment is claustrophobic and oppressive, and playing it in fullscreen really brought me into your scenario. I even felt a bit touched seeing the last message after the game ended after I saved about 3:29 minutes before it exploded?
Wish the whole thing was like the Simpsons episode and all I had to do was play eenie-meanie to save all of Springfield.
It's so exciting to hear such positive feedback! Especially that the main idea of giving the player a sense of things spiraling out of their control was conveyed so well! In hindsight there are definitely better ways that we could have communicated how the mechanics work, and you aren't the first to be confused in that way. But I guess that is how jams go. Thanks for playing. :)