Hi there,
Thank you so much for the demo, I'm glad you love the visuals, it was a mid-development detour that took a lot of work to get to where it is now.
As for the gameplay, I just want to say that puzzle variety really does pick up in the full game, the doors introduced in the last two puzzles, becomes a key mechanic that's used for obstacles, offense, defense, and even "stealth", coupled with the other mechanics, this does keep things fresh for the entirety of the game.
With that said, as this is a game design experiment that aims to combine puzzles and horror, by using the source of horror (information & control) and resources you have to manage in order to solve puzzles, as a result, it had to compromise part of both, the horror becomes predictable because puzzles have to predictable, the puzzles sometimes can be finicky because you're dealing with monsters that are trying to kill you. Hell, I'm honestly happy the gameloop worked out as well as it did, there was no guarantee it did.
In fact, the game does slightly lean more in the direction of puzzles, so I do understand why a horror fan might not vibe with it as much
That, coupled with my inexperience with puzzle design, did mean the puzzle difficulty and quality was a bit inconsistent, it especially takes a dip near the end, before the introduction of the final mechanic that flips the whole game on it's head.
Any criticism to the puzzle design itself is absolutely valid, but if your main issue with the demo was the variety, then I assure you that's not an thing in the full game.
I'm also gonna outright disagree with the notion that this is barely a puzzle game,I hope you played level 6, that one is one of my all time favorites, and a great showcase for what the game is going for, even if it's on the simpler side. (Level 11 also fits that category)
With all that said, the reception for the game has been more than positive, but there has also been a couple refunds and at least one negative review, so I completely understand that the game won't click for everyone.
Thanks again for giving the demo a shot, I REALLY do appreciate it, I'm also again glad you enjoyed the visuals, they were a blast to work on.
P.S. I'm sorry for the wall of text, I also can't help it when it comes to saying to saying what's on my mind lol.