As others have stated, the controls are complex; this can be avoided with simple UI prompts, which are already partially implemented in some capacity. The mixture of ways you are getting the controls across may be the issue and partially the prologue into the large instructions text. I had to reboot a few times because I sometimes quickly glossed over things.
Great job having a functioning gameplay mechanic, loop, and submitted game!
Be proud of this step, and you can do great things!