Duuuuuuuuuude! You just made my day! Thank you so much for playing the game and for your kind words.
I'm really happy you liked the mechanic. I've been iterating on grid-based puzzle games for a while now. This is my fourth game jam using grid-based puzzle mechanics, and I'm pretty happy to see that I'm getting better.
As for the story, I actually understand that most people wouldn't want to read that much, but I felt that having a story would definitely give a stronger sense of purpose, urgency, empathy, and so on, so I couldn't just ignore it.
I'm also really happy that you liked my art style. Honestly, I'm still learning pixel art, and I'm extremely weak when it comes to animation. That's why I rely heavily on VFX and code-based animations (tweening) to help mask some of my limitations.
Again, thank you for your feedback, and I'm really excited to check out your submission!