Thank you for playing!
Yeah, I understand your note on steps restriction. But as the level completion is heavily dependent on positions of different obstacles, many dangers can be easily avoided by exploiting back-and-forth movement. I understand that this solution can irritate some players but at the same time it protects the main challenge of the game from obvious exploit that breaks all the fun imo.
The main problem of the restriction is that there is kinda no reward for your efforts to make your way out "in time". Yes, you've completed the game but that's it. I wish I had time to implement some narrative or aesthetics to make the puzzle truly rewarding (some kind of story reveal or beautiful outdoors location after exit). I think that could motivate at least some players to try again in case of lost.
Thank you for feedback and your time! I'll to iterate on the mechanic after the rating period.