Hey Fun Base Alpha, I'm glad you got a chance to play our game! I completely agree with your ideas.
Some of our initial concepts included making the prison more maze like or having keywords open 1 gate, and close another. Unfortunately, these ideas did not make it into the final game jam release.
Something we noticed while testing, is that you can trap the guards in the center room with good timing. This prevents the prisoners from being captured and would give you a higher score!
Thank you for the feedback!
-DevPhoenix