What a great suggestion!
So, between W&A and I've had Ten Candles on the mind lately, I was thinking, like, I do love that 'timing' or 'you only have so many moves' element. The candles I didn't feel really worked for this game, and same with the block tower (though the block tower could have worked...) What if... ok, so there was this drinking game I remember my cousins playing called ring of fire. I don't remember all the rules, something about the cards being around a beverage, and you didn't want to make a gap in the cards, but also if you discarded (or maybe it was if you completed the task of the card) you put the card under the pop-up tab.
What if something like that was the 'timer'? Like, the team is trying to work together to figure out this lake stuff, with things possibly killing them (or just making it frustrating) and if that pop-up tab pops, the lake over takes them....?
Does that sound silly? I feel like it'd be fun... but also I think I have to test it out with like, what is the average number of cards? Ooooh, or depending on exactly how I use the cards, it's like... if you open the beverage, your character is taken by the lake? Ahhhh this is so fun! Thank you.