Happy to hear abt ur interview!! :))
Last time I played the game I played it on mobile, which reminded me that pico-8 has that in-built pause menu from which you can reboot the cart... and since the map is so much larger and feels so much more RNG dependent, that time and this time I ended up rebooting the cart till I got a map that I was actually able to read or that didn't instantly send me to the top left corner with no other option, or that just didn't seem horrible overall...
Maybe it's time to ditch the randomness? Maybe it's also time to not make it a game about rushing..? I constantly die in ways that feel unfair because I'm rushing ahaha. Both because of the timer and because of the candle running out. A premade map could have more specific challenges that make the playthrough a bit more... idk what. More spooky less gamey?