yeh, the first puzzle was quite awkward to come up as 1+1=11 somehow had to be a hint. I don't really remember having any easter eggs in the game but whatever it was, I'm glad you liked that part of the game
ah yeh, I don't remember if it was ever really planned but it was basically one of the first things I added. so instead of figuring out the entire puzzle of how to "beat" the tower or something, I started with the player will go left and shaped the overarching puzzle around that a bit.