Hi, thanks for playing my game! It sounds like you have the right idea, there probably is just a mechanic I didn't teach well. The two you need for that level are friend-direction-changing and that every friend = +1 pushing power. Hope that helps!
Ahhhh – FWIW the thing that had stumped me was the direction-changing approach. I got a little locked in to a first move where I blocked the elephant's gaze with a barrel (marching band drum? column? elephant balancing platform from a circus?) and so never really investigated the direction thing.
I think part of the issue is that the level title makes it sound as if it's about how you use the red friends together — which it is! — but you can reach that point in the game not really having discovered the other mechanic, and that shapes the solution space you think you're looking at. Obviously that's the fault of players like me being crap in unforeseeable ways, but I wonder if a variation on the 'Other People Help Push' level could potentially teach the direction mechanic? I image-edited this one together, which should be solveable in the same layout but won't allow you to use the barrel to block the elephant's vision, forcing you to work out how to get the red friend past the elephant.
Thank you for taking the time to make the image for me! So, the "Other People Help Push" level was supposed to teach the direction mechanic, but unfortunately I'm an idiot and had such tunnel vision for the intended solution that I somehow didn't realise you could just use the pillar to block the friend's vision. :| Your puzzle is much better, thank you. I did like the idea of having to push the column back to solve it though, and I think that's still doable without the level being broken.
Hmm, I'm feeling quite tempted to make a fixed version of the game now!