Thanks for playing!! There actually is a bit of a reward/punishment system as you describe it, though it's only in one place, so you have a point. There's a spot at which if you've been too slow to reply for at least half of the preceding answers, you get a game over screen (you can check the story guide if you want the exact location). Bump up the the typing speed in the options if you think the game's too easy for this to be a threat :P
Viewing post in Assurance jam comments
I thought it was a scripted game, and I thought the guy would give up and leave before you could write, but I guess I missed that point, as writing before the timer runs out is the whole point of the game. Since no one else was leaving except for that guy, I thought it was okay. I think it might be better to point out when the player is doing something wrong.
Huh, interesting feedback. 3/4s of the characters do something when you don't finish typing in time, whether that's telling you to be faster or not letting you finish, but I guess you didn't notice this for 2 of them? I'll have to check with playtesters on this topic specifically when I update the game post-jam, it's not at all a problem I expected players to have. Thanks for sharing :)