Appreciate the feedback! I was worried it may have ended up a bit more cryptic than I would have liked. I plan to add a better overall primer in the itch.io page description to help players get going.
Agreed, an in-game tutorial would be helpful. In original design plans, I wanted to include a way to "call to your mom" as a tip mechanic, but that ended up getting scratched due to lack of time, but that could help as well. Thanks again for the feedback and thoughts!