Happy to hear you’re enjoying, especially coming from you!
I appreciate the suggestions. Probably not going to have randomization because it’s more “study the map and figure out the solution” than “adapt on the fly”.
“more than two options” hinges on where I land for how long / difficult a single Level should be, since every option that isn’t part of the final solution or a sub-solution (gathering artifacts) is just a red herring to throw players off. For instance, rolling the berry to crush skeletons seems like a way to save HP, but picking it robs you of the upper paths which are required to actually make it to the end.
And yes! Fully intend to have a lot of character cameos to sprinkle some life into the place.