I liked being dropped into the game not knowing what to do, but slowly piecing together the objective by just messing around. My specific path through the game helped to make this possible. My initial explorations took me from the amoeba pool to the cabin to, finally, the woodlice tree. When I tried using the research bench but was told I needed certain lengths of woodlice and amoebae to complete the next research tier, I made the connection that the missing ingredient must be in the other salient object in the world--the tree.
I like it when games are structured in such a way that they give rise to situations where you make connections of this kind. It's essentially how puzzles function. While the game is ultimately a resource collection and "crafting" game, the early parts of it felt more puzzlish to me as I figured out what I was supposed to be doing, and that ended up being the most interesting part. There isn't much game here, but for that briefest of moments, there was something there.
Congrats on finishing the jam last minute!