It's actually not inconsistent from my experience at all.

You spawn, don't move and plan your way while making sure the little bar next to the color isn't empty. If you leave your spawn you can't move anymore. To go through the dark lines you can always just paint 2 blocks that are next to each other horizontally or vertically. Also you can always take back the previous colors that you've put down.

It's a fun little game and I had no issues.