Oh boy, we got a lot of feedback here, thank you so much! I'm gonna unpack this one piece at a time and give my thoughts.
Design
I like the example you gave with I Am Bread. I think I didn't see the controls as a problem during development, as I got used to them. I think, as you said, it's just a problem with it being an auto-scroller with precise movement required, which is why it's often seen as a problem. When it could also be instead seen as just a level design problem. That's a fault in the last-minute level design (all levels were done in the last few hours of the jam, unfortunately). But I absolutely agree with what you said with that.
I've noticed everyone always tried to throw the character around like a ragdoll like you mentioned because that is genuinely fun. During development and even now, I'm just not sure how I'd turn that mechanic into full on coherent and controlled gameplay. I think my biggest problem in this regard is, I'm not sure how I'd take this, a 2D game, and make it not a side-scroller. That's the part that has me the most confused, I feel.
Regarding the obstacles, I had a similar idea with having more varied obstacles. Actually, I had the exact idea you had for the exact reason you mentioned, to allow for the character to be thrown around more. This was unfortunately not a thing entirely because of time constraints for both team members on this project, although I wish we had focused on that more than the elements that we did, looking back.
Should you or anyone else see this, do you have any recommendations for, should we continue development, how to make it not a side scroller and instead capitalize on the chaotic nature of tossing the player around in such a way that the level design enables that? I'm just not entirely sure how we'd be able to make that happen, it's something I've thought about throughout development and don't have an answer to, even now.
Adherence to the Theme
What you said makes total sense, I can see the argument being made that it's actually a physics game. I think approaching it that way could help a lot, should development for it be treated as such.
Originality
Thank you, I appreciate your feedback on this. I may look into physics games more, as it's not a genre I've played too much beyond a few games here and there to look for inspiration if we continue development on this. But I absolutely agree with what you said.
Overall
Thank you for your feedback. You took what was probably a different stance from most other people and I think that opens up a completely different way of thinking about the game. You've given us a lot to think about and while I'm not sure where I would take it from where it is now at the time of writing this post, it would be fun to continue, if we found a good direction to take it. That direction is honestly, probably treating it as more of a physics game rather than a precise "move the thing through things to get other things" type of game. I've said it a lot already, but thank you again for your well thought out post, we really appreciate it. I hope the rest of the jam treats you well!