i actually watched a stream where the blocking spikes totally threw someone and they went back through the entire level searching for what they "missed" oops 😩
ok yeah i see what you're saying. there is sort of another shift coming — your encyclopedia also lists puzzle elements, though i haven't yet entirely figured out how that works. but i guess i wanted to make the hand-holding very optional (non-blocking signs) to suggest that mechanics wouldn't really be thrown in your face, and also give you a few levels where you do have to just fiddle with things and see what happens. and even in the earlier levels there are a couple bits and pieces that aren't spelled out explicitly — e.g. that one thing you can do with the mushrooms that some people naturally try every single time and some people never think to try once
in general though i think a big part of the magic of "everything interacts" games is just trying stuff out and being delighted that you discovered a new thing, and i'm trying to find a balance between encouraging that sort of experimentation vs leaving you feeling like everything is arbitrary and this is an inform text adventure