Playing as the timer is so great! It makes a nice puzzle mechanic. It took a bit for me to understand how it works, but after that I had much fun trying different placements and how they affect the character's actions.
I'd liked to have an option to start the game without having placed all bars before to then iteratively see where I have to slow down or speed up. Now it was more like I mess up everything first and then have an even harder time to figure out how it's done right.
I think this idea is worth to be explored further. I can imagine this being build upon with many more levels and mechanics, maybe collectables which can be collected if you place your stuff especially smart or multiple characters to be controlled.