Thank you for playing and for your feedback. I am sorry that aspects of the game caused you trouble. Your suggestion for player movement is a good one and I will think about implementing similar ideas in the future. This game was created for a game jam and was a learning experience, and many aspects reflect that such as the player control. In games I am currently working on I have found better player controllers.
The first stage had a different room to make finding the hint a little more difficult and other elements inside were simply decorative. I wasn't aware of a problem with stage 3, but I will look into it. Updates for this game have been on pause as I work on a different game jam, but I will make sure to update the player movement and any other level concerns in the very soon future so that future players will not face the same difficulties.