First of all, thank you very much for doing such an extensive review of the game, I really appreciate it!
I disagree with the point that tactical games cannot have real time limits. After all chess is usually played with a time limit. When you set a time limit, it becomes just another resource like life or pieces left alive. I do think that 25 seconds is a short time but I couldn't increase the time without making it relevant enough with the mechanics of the game.
At the beginning of the project I thought about making the time you had left be the APs and not be discounted until you perform an action. I discarded it because I didn't like the idea that in a game about drowning you could take all the time in the world to make a decision.
Regarding the controls, the life and damage the pieces do I totally agree with you it could be much clearer. The music could also be less repetitive.
It's my first time making a tactical game and I ended up a bit burned because I didn't know how to do some things and the solutions I found made it difficult to add new features. But I learned a lot and I hope I can apply it to the next tactical game I make.
And congratulations on winning the jam, I had a lot of fun playing Scuba Squad. You guys deserve it!