Wow, thanks so much for such an in-depth look into our game!
We agree that there is an inherent tension between making a puzzle that is too trivial and can be brute forced, and one that is too complex and requires to think far too many moves ahead. The cracks, ice, other obstacles, and time limit was our way to try and make levels into more of a puzzle with a puzzle solution.
The problem of complexity was much more difficult to deal with. We added the poker chips as a sort of hint system to see if you were on the right track, each chip can only be picked up on a certain face. If we had more time we would have loved to add a more nuanced score system where you only got full marks if you solved it quick enough with all the coins, but we ran out of time before that could be implemented. Admittedly even with that it still leaves the game relying on quite a bit of trial and error, which while functional is not ideal. If we had more time that would certainly be something we would have liked to look at longer.
It was awesome to watch someone actually play our game, and we really appreciate your detailed feedback! If we decide to update things after the jam, we will be looking into ways to make the puzzles much more satisfying based on feedback like yours.