It was super fun, very cool idea. It takes some time but I learned how it works just by playing. There are too many steps to make, doing the busy work like clearing the way. How on earth did you put a story into a puzzle game, I like how it ties with the gameplay too.
Viewing post in Dungeon Keysmith's Apprentice jam comments
"Many of my apprentices have complained about having to do too many chores and not enough key forging. They are skeletons now They are probably right."
Don't worry- I'm still optimizing my puzzles, and I plan to scrap as much of the tidying up as I can without harming the story. Rest assured that Days 2, 3, 4, and 5 (?) will have a lot less crate pushing than day 1 (the assumption is that after 16 hours of back-breaking work the workshop is a lot cleaner moving forward, leaving the apprentice free to tinker with keys, locks, and the other mechanics I have planned.)
I'm glad my tutorial levels are in better shape now. Thanks for your feedback and I'm glad you liked my game!
The only advice I can really give for storybuilding is to read a lot of fiction. I read almost nonstop as a kid and so I have a strong intuitive sense for stories and writing. Once I came up with the concept (making keys from metal fragments) and made the connection to games like Enter the Gungeon and Hollow Knight which have identical single-use keys, the rest flowed easily from there.