Thanks for this in-depth review!
I agree on the art and music. If Cannoli and Karpo didn't join in, this game wouldn't have turned out nearly as good.
I intentionally had the player press a separate button to collect because there are some times where you don't want to actually collect anything because you'll get heat stroke if you do. So if you're, say, dancing with the right temperature and you accidentally touch a coat, you'd be toast. Minor inconvenience but ultimately I did it for the benefit of the player.
The Snowmen enemies aren't meant to be jumped over. You're meant to trick them by going near them, waiting for the animation to start, then going back. I probably should've offered an explanation to the player, which I didn't do because I wanted the player to figure it out on their own. That's definitely my bad.
The bridges being raised was just a result of how I used the tilemap system, both to place the bridges themselves and the bigger platforms. I didn't think of it as too big of an issue during development, but sorry if that was even slightly hindering.
The timer was made harsh because I didn't want to give the player too much free time. That would make some levels way easier and it would also be awkward when you get the right temperature and just wait it out. Although, I could definitely solve the latter by ending the level automatically when you get the right temperature.
I always love getting feedback or criticism on what I'm doing both because it reveals that people took issue to some things I didn't think about and so that I know not to make similar mistakes in future!