In my mind it was maybe just to give a reason to collect flies? The game began very spontaneously. I had a bit of classic Kirby/etc in my mind as well which typically have lives systems, but I do think in retrospect it wasn't a great call. Being my first (very short) full game I am sure there are a lot of obvious missteps haha.
I'm slowly working out ideas for a more fleshed out sequel and I will not be keeping the lives system, would rather it be a more chill experience.
Regardless, thank you for playing!