I'm sure it was working the way it was meant to, I was just experimenting outside of battle to confirm I was using the right button but nothing happened until I actually tried to kill something. I also would face the enemy and hit, but then immediately move away in hopes of avoiding damage, but it would end up with nothing happening. Took me a few enemies to realize I would take damage every time I hit something and there was nothing I could do about it.
Ah! Thanks for the detailed explanation, now I understand.
Being able to swing the sword outside of combat would be a hoot, and reassure the player. That's something I'll keep in mind for the future, it'll be a good excuse to learn more about binding keys to common events. For now, I'll add a note early on about how to interact/attack in a post-Jam update so that's clear.
Being able to dodge to avoid damage would be cool too. It's a simple system, all automatic once you action a baddie, so nothing fancy like that yet :)
Thanks again, good luck in the Jam!