You are certainly not wrong, and I respect your honesty. This is my first published scenario, and I learned a lot in the process, especially when looking at a lot of the other entries. The primary thing being that art and layout aren't make or break, but they certainly count for quite a lot when you've got 2 sides of one page to form an opinion. I'm not an artist, so I went for functional over pretty, and with more time in the oven and maybe a collaborating artist I definitely would have have liked to punch it up a notch and make some deeper thematic connections.
I had some additional ideas for the monofiber's mechanics, as well as navigating the labyrinth, but in the end they were too gimmicky and took up valuable space I needed elsewhere, so I made the decision to cut them.
I appreciate the feedback!
If this is your first shot at it, then you did great. And no wonder you chose to play it safe. No need to run before you've experimented with walking. I think there are a lot more first-timers who go wrong in the other direction, trying to do the coolest thing ever without learning to do the basics well, and end up with chaotic messes. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next time if you give yourself a bit more leash.