Thank you for giving us such thoughtful advice!
We intentionally make the player violate the rules at the start, which may take away their control of the game and make the flow feel a bit unnatural. Perhaps we can refine this in future updates to make it feel more natural and dynamic. For example, the rules could be revealed progressively based on when the player breaks them, and it might even be possible for players to complete the game without breaking any rules at all.
One of the biggest design challenges for us is the conflict between puzzles and rules. Ideally, we want the player's experience to change based on the rules without restricting their gameplay. This means that puzzles shouldn't rely on specific rules, but at the same time, this approach can make the connection between rules and puzzles feel weaker. We're still working on this and trying to find a better solution.
Ideally, each level would have more rules to choose from (similar to selecting traits during character creation), allowing players to experiment and develop their own survival and puzzle-solving strategies. We also plan to make the sanity mechanic more tied to the rules to make it more important.
Thank you again for your feedback!