I'm going to do my best to give this a fair, hopefully encouraging review but my main goal here is to offer honest and constructive feedback now that you're getting back into jamming, because I think you have what it takes to succeed. It looks like this was your first game ever, and it's actually a strong effort for that. I'll explain (to my understanding) what worked, what didn't, and why you probably picked the wrong game jam to start with.
As far as snake-with-a-twist games go, this one has a pretty interesting mechanic, and fun to discover after being hinted at that it wouldn't be normal snake. Playing it the intended way, I started to see the value of using oranges to slow down. Think my high score was 8.
Now as you know, I found a very fun way to play by only collecting oranges. Sometimes QA testers will find stuff that is "wtf ... actually wait, could be a cool mechanic". The game needs more mechanics, like how the the orange has tactical value to help you control the speed. Another fruit type that causes you to go backwards could be interesting. Not as a punishment, like you go backwards but rewards skilled movement by removing projectiles from the board when you collide with them. (Not saying that's a particularly good idea, but it offers balance, relief, and raises the skill ceiling a bit).
Here is a snake game from the recent GBJAM 14, there are several good examples of twist mechanics. https://retromoddogg.itch.io/kotachomp
This is also a good one to study because the runtime of the game is much longer than a typical Serpent Zero playthrough. The difficulty curve ramps up more gently, giving the player time to get into a flow state, get comfortable with the mechanics. Serpent Zero does not give much time to the player to git gud, and requires very, very tight reflexes without any chance to recover. Which, there are definitely players who crave that level of difficulty, but ask yourself if your current audience is made up of those kinds of players. Unless it's the snake world championships, probably not.
I think in most jams, people are only gonna give your game 5-10 minutes and they might walk away discouraged from being punished over and over. As a game designer, it's up to you to anticipate how the player is going to engage with your game in the few minutes you have their attention. Ask yourself: what must they experience to walk away happy, or become interested enough in your game to keep playing? When YOU play a jam game, what makes YOU feel satisfied or want to keep playing?
For me and a game like this, within 5-10 minutes, I want to feel like I've started to grasp a new mechanic, and see my improvement reflected back to me in gameplay. And to feel like with just a little more practice, that each time I play, I could survive another 30 seconds. I want to feel like mastery isn't impossible.
I think that covers the important game design stuff. One important UI/UX issue I had was to restart, I had to use the mouse, when gameplay was all arrow keys, and because I use my right hand for both, it became very tedious to go back and forth. Easy solution: provide a restart on the keyboard.
So, about the game jam you submitted this game to. It looks like a publisher-seeking-developer and vice versa jam with the goal of a commercial release. That means there are real stakes, and people are going to be especially competitive. Compare that to the Mini Jam and its community, where it's much more casual, and people are there to improve themselves, help others, exchange ideas, and so on. I think Mini Jam will be perfect for you to hop back in, and it's very cool you're trying out a team with a few others. Now your challenge will be to define the project scope (do not underestimate how important this is) and coordinate well with each other. Stay active in the Discord, there's a lot of people with experience who can help guide your team.
Conclusion: your first game is a solid effort, and its strengths/weaknesses offer good insight into game design and player psychology. I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with next!