Hello quetzal2,
Just so you know, i did not think your submission felt “like a random game”. Looking back at it, i now realize that maybe my comment about your game being an “abstract map” made you think that this is the case, but the truth is that i liked your approach, mostly because last year i also tried to do something in the same spirit as you, i called it “abstract map”, and, retrospectively, i should not have said it in a public forum without proper context. Sorry.
(By the way, i ditched that idea because, unlike you, i was unable to make it work. So there, you bested me.)
I do not have data to back up this claim, but i think that this “i focused too much on just a part of the game in the detriment of everything else” is a very common complain among jams participants. For me, at least, is something i say about all jams i take part in, no matter whether it’s a 48-hour or a 10-day jam; i always have to cut down a lot of features. And, in fact, and much to my shame, in my first ever jam i also focused exclusively on the mechanics, just like you, but was unable to even finish the “first” level. You bested me, again!
In short, you did what every engineer worth his or her salt does: you choose the best trade-off to be able to deliver within the given deadline. And deliver you did. ^_^