Amazing, thank you for the detailed feedback! Much appreciated. <3
We've heard from a bunch of people that the dig is a little unintuitive. We considered a dedicated dig button instead of movement based, perhaps that would help with the jarring feeling of digging/moving horizontal. I think we could tighten up the movement in general, the animations sort of give it a lag that doesn't feel great.
Good to know that the route planning was compelling. I think we envisioned that playing out over the course of the multiple days, and the minimap is there to help remind you of where you've gone and think "oh yeah that long tunnel into that big cave, I saw treasure in the ceiling there" and go back with a power-up the next day. Interesting thought about re-playing a day instead though, could be fun!
The way the tile distance shaders and the lighting in the caves works is, honestly, super busted. We tried a bunch of things and just didn't have time to really test all of our ideas and find the best one. I totally agree that the visibility needs a major overhaul.
The ladder mechanics were finished at the 11th hour and got almost no balancing, it's absolutely the clunkiest part of the game, apart from the distance shaders. Climbing claws or some sort of jump could have accomplished a similar thing, but you know how it is, running out of time in a game jam haha.
Thanks again for playing. :)