Yeah babeyyyyyy this is the theme engagement I'm here for - it's not an outright "if you kill things you will be punished" thing, it's that progression requires you to USE your interaction with them differently to play the game YES.
Mechanically it felt a bit rough to only be able to 'attack' at intervals and at a specific relative angle. It still works and isn't UNfun, but being able to attack faster might feel better and having the option to control the direction just a LITTLE bit more could create for more engagement.
The art style is also good but the visual style is a bit 2000's Flash, if that makes sense? There's something special that separates the sprite-flipping animation in Don't Starve from that in old flash games but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the walking animations or polished camera, idk.
Overall while the game looked and felt a little dated to play, the main mechanic more than made up for it as an experience. Enjoyed playing this as part of the jam, good work!