I was about to comment how this clearly isn't your first rodeo, until I read that this was your first jam. All the more impressive.
Strong core gameplay loop, don't think I've played anything similar so far from the jam.
I don't know if its intentional or not, but the fact that the game keeps moving when you pause, and then rewinds to the previous position when you unpause - it might not be by design, but I thought it was a detail that worked surprisingly well with the jam's theme.