Thanks for the critique!
I did want to make the lights stronger by that would have ate some of the performance. The level are randomly generated so i had to make the lights dynamic. The penguins being too hard to kill at the start is understandable. I wanted the player to feel weak and then get stronger as they explore. But yeah, I did unintentionally make the pistol so weak it quickly becomes outclassed and worthless. The objective of the game is to save the president from a penguin invasion. There was an opening cutscene that explained this. But, it was admittedly rushed and poorly thought out. I also didn't realise that educational value would be a factor in the rating until I have finished the game.
Honestly, I care more about just partaking in the game jams than properly competing. I really love making games and it turns these are good idea generators. I do want to expand upon this game and this early criticism can be really helpful in figuring things out and getting as good of a game as possible.