ah! i found out pressing P or ENTER brings up an option menu to reset progress. i didn't see that anywhere in the instructions above, so might be a good thing to add up there. second run-through took 20 minutes and 12 deaths. :D
no. that is a built-in feature of the pico-8
either way, it's a good thing to mention for those who might not be familiar with pico-8 options.
i suppose, but then wouldnt that go for every pico-8 game?
yep.