I absolutely loved this game. Outer Wilds is probably my favorite game of all time, and this scratched that same itch in multiple ways. The ambiguous objectives propelled by the desire to solve a mystery, the complex physics based movement mechanics that take some time to master, even the visual style of the hot air balloon and record player remind me of the DIY Outer Wilds aesthetic.
The grappling hook kicks so much ass. It took me a bit to figure out, but once you've got it down, movement is a blast. If you posted under the controls section of the game's itch page that you can jump mid-grapple to launch yourself, it would go a long way towards getting people comfortable with grappling to islands, since discovering that was the main bit holding me back from progress.
I'm not sure how the game works behind the scenes, but you did a great job of trickling the objectives to the player. If you're lost on what to do next, the balloon will always happen to drift by a new island, which makes discovery feel satisfying.
My only complaint would probably be lack of tutorial in-game for the balloon and grapple mechanics, but this is only really a problem for a jam build. A game like this thrives in the "unknown", so I think leaving things ambiguous is totally fine for a full, fleshed out release.
Just by the nature of this sort of game, and the quick "give it a try" nature of game jams, you might get some people leaving mediocre ratings in certain categories because they "didn't get it" right away. But I don't want that to discourage you from exploring this game further. I love the vision you have here, it really clicked with me on all fronts, and I would easily play a full game of this. Great job! :) Take your perfect score and keep it up.
