Thank you for playing, and thank you for this very thoughtful feedback -- I really appreciate it! The youtube gameplay video shows a full walkthrough, if you're curious, and it also shows the other checkpoint houses (representing the four countries of this jam). It's always tough to know how to calibrate the difficulty -- I didn't want it to be too easy (not fun) or too hard (frustrating). Sounds like I maybe I pushed it toward the latter. Thank you for the tip on the viewport! And yes, I had plans for more narrative, but the deadline got me and I had to focus on gameplay. Thanks again!
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I started to watch the video and it was almost ridiculous to see that the game can be completed in 3 minutes. Then I noticed that I had almost got to the next checkpoint with my best attempt. I just didn't manage to grab the last platform before the checkpoint (1:39 in the video). Now I wondering if I should stop watching and try to still finish the game on my own.
I'm very familiar with the problem of creating games too difficult. It has happened to me in many, many projects and for some reason that is a mistake that I find super difficult to learn. Even when I think that this time I will make it easier, it still ends up being relatively difficult! So I'm starting to think that the game should be almost boring simple for the developer to have the right amount of difficulty to others. When testing ones own game it must be remembered that one always have had a lot more practice that the players will have when starting to play the game. One is also likely to be more motivated to play their own creation compared to average player so they also do not get frustrated as quickly as the player. The best case scenario would be to have a playtester that does not know how to play the game previously, let them try it out and then edit the game afterwards accordingly. Especially if the player dies many times at same point (I pointed some examples on my first message) there is a high risk of getting frustrated and those would be the most important points to fix. I don't mind dying and restarting if I feel I'm making progress with (almost) every attempt but dying on the same spot too many times can get me to quit.
I beat the game!
It still took like 10+ additional attempts for the section that I was stuck in put then I got forward. The last overly difficult challenge (in my opinion) was where one had to jump over a plant and then grab the platform under the plant That also took many attempts to consistently get past. The rest of the game was actually quite good regarding the difficulty level. I died a few times but in most attempts I got further than the last one so I felt progressing.
It was also very satisfying to beat it! I noticed that usually winning a game is more rewarding if it has been really challenging. But finding the balance is really hard because if it's even slightly frustrating the player might quit playing and never got to the end.
Also, I enjoyed the ending scene. The music and animation added a lot to the winning satisfaction. There was something really nice espeacially in the music.