Thank you so much for even considering to play our game. Your comments are gold dust to us, and it's one reason we were so excited for this year's jam. Your feedback is the real prize for us.
We're glad you enjoyed the exploration parts about our level design. We wanted a game that was more than just combat focused, although we're very aware our combat mechanics need work too.
We wrestled a lot with the flare and oxygen mechanics during the jam, going backwards and forwards on the length of time a flare should last, how long an oxygen tank should last, or whether we should even have them at all. We took the jam as an opportunity to test this out, and get some feedback, and boy did we get feedback on it! We're leaning towards removing the flares altogether and swapping them out for a lantern which never goes out. We're also thinking that the oxygen tank (or a similar device) is something that doesn't run out, but is something that you have to equip in order to go under water for longer than you can hold your breath for.
We would love to hear any more feedback you have, and please rant away at us, we are listening. This is only our second game jam, and our third game ever (we've not yet commercially released anything), and we're still developing our game design skills. We're entirely open to any and all advice and critique.
The game is winnable, and the boulder can be avoided, but only if you knew about the hidden wall mechanic, which we never introduced the player to at any point. We realize is another game design flaw. With it being a Dungeon Crawler Jam, we were expecting our audience to know about hidden walls, but we shouldn't have assumed that. Just before the pit you can side step to the left through a hidden wall into a corridor which brings you out the other side of the pit (click on the image to see the full map on Sketchfab):
Arlorean (Adam) and Carodan (Dan) from Rebello Games.