That makes a lot of sense.
I’d love to pick the brain of Chris O’Neil and get a greater sense of his goals with Polymorph. Because to me, I feel a pull in a simplifying direction but then an opposite pull in a complexifying direction.
Some of Zombuddies was a reaction to what I saw in the play throughs of Mazes I watched, which (to my mind) were kind of dry and not atmospheric. I was missing a sense of story or flavor. But also what drew me to Polymorph is the idea of getting out of the way of the narrative, because the mechanic was so dead simple.
So to watch Mazes which both wasn’t super story-y, but then had quite a bit more complexity… I really want to understand some design goals in order to evaluate what I think works to achieve those.
I haven't watched any Mazes playthroughs, but I can imagine why you had that reaction.
Like you, what appeals to me about Polymorph is that the core resolution mechanic is so very basic, yet allows for a few surprises.
My own design goal is to create something that scratches my PBTA itch while being even simpler.
One thing I've enjoyed about PBTA is that all of the character creation stuff is on the character sheet itself. While I haven't quite gone that far here--mostly because I'd need to make 12 different templates--I still like the ability to stat up a character in a couple of minutes.
Another plus of PBTA--specifically Dungeon World--is that there are no lengthy explanations of the how, what and why of monsters. They get a few keywords and some stuff they will do when someone blows a roll.
There aren't any rules for how a Medusa's petrification works; a Medusa turns someone to stone because that's what a Medusa does. And there's probably a magic spell that can change them back, but it will take research and perhaps an exotic ingredient or two.