Totally get the sentiments of finding the game you develop easier to understand than your audience... I once made a platformer where a player couldn't even get past the first tutorial level. 😅
Giving the player an better feel of what he/she can and can't grab onto, while using some sort of UI to show that delay in the stickiness after using it, is probably a good area to tackle. That, and differentiating what's obviously grabbable from what isn't in the foreground. Personally, though, I really enjoyed how well thought out your map's design was!