Aww thank you so much for the kind words. Honestly just totally made my day you would take the time to play and then write such thoughtful feedback!! 😊
I think you're spot on about the problems with the payoff, and gameplay<->theme disconnect. Puts it into words better than I could. I'm still interested in exploring ways to use the output of piccross puzzles to build something bigger, but don't want it to feel forced. Time to take a step back to the drawing board I think and apply these learnings. I may take you up on that offer to test again if I get anywhere with it!!