Thanks for giving it another go! On the spikes: there's no timing to wait for. A trap only hurts you if your last step of the turn lands on it; walking across it with steps left is always safe. The fact that it wasn't clear tells me I need to explain it better in the game itself.
Fair point on building the fun first. The lives timer is part of the design, but I'll keep your feedback in mind while it's in early access.
On Memo Dungeon: makes sense that fleeing would just lead to a similar fight. Maybe just making it explicit (e.g. "no escape — win or lose") would already help.