Thanks for playing! Glad you liked the sounds and art :)
Originally the bear was intended to become a ladder once it got to the wall below the button, but I ran into a bunch of weird problems making that work so opted for a simple push puzzle instead and moved on.
Interesting take on the battle system - you're right it's almost more like a puzzle than anything else.
Hah, I was sure I'd catch flack right away about the PV Games boss sprite I used, but to my surprise you're the first person to mention it. It's definitely not a perfect match, but yeah for a jam it was the giant scary monster sprite I needed, and PV Games gives you so many poses for each sprite it helped speed up crafting the attack animations.
Right now the laser does the same damage as the elite orange aliens, but maybe it could do a little more. Pre-armor, the one that can fire through the lasergate peels 50% of your HP away if it lands, but post-armor they do 20%.
For sure, thanks again for the helpful shooting mechanic notes, and for playing and your feedback!