That might be a rough ask, but if the world is interesting then they might feel more inspired to look around more often.
I'll check your game out when I get the chance!
Viewing post in Question about the 20 minute minimum
If I were to be honest, as a judge (disclaimer: I'm not a judge for this contest), if someone requests me not to do something, that just makes me want to do it more.
I think that a judge could do sub-20 minutes with the fast travel, but they'd honestly kind of need to try. You have plenty of cutscenes that will slow things down and some areas are really hard to navigate due to how dark they are.
(Also, I did remember you mentioning the map, I just didn't bother looking for it at first.