Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful comment.
I currently have an elderly pet at home, and I've also spent time caring for injured insects. The one I cared for the longest was a cricket I found almost frozen in my garage during the winter. After reading everything I could find, I realized it had almost no chance of surviving if I released it back into the wild, so I decided to bring it home instead. You can probably imagine me wrapping Christmas presents with a cricket chirping beside me. It was such a unique Christmas, and I'll never forget it.
I did my best to make its remaining time as comfortable as possible. When it eventually reached the end of its natural lifespan, all I could do was watch it grow weaker until it passed away. It's a helpless feeling, but at the same time, I knew it was simply part of nature, and that I had done everything I could.
At first, I didn't connect the countdown theme with this idea, so I ended up spending quite a bit of time exploring other directions. Then, during the jam, I came across an injured firefly and brought it home to care for. It survived for two days before it passed away, and that's when this idea came to me. I just didn't have enough time to finish those details within the jam's deadline.
Thank you for the suggestion! I agree that adding more animations and audio would make the experience even better! And I'd like to add Ruben, my cricket who passed away, to the game as well. It feels like a nice way to remember him.