Thanks everyone for feedback and I agree that the early game is too slow and I'm working on improving it substantially.
I just uploaded a new patch that further improves the early game.
Plus what you are suggesting is actually what I'm working on next haha, which is the ability to actively click on unclaimed ore in order to slightly nudge/knock it towards the stash. This should give players something to do early when there is downtime, and also make the early game a bit faster, while not feeling too active/necessary, but also having uses later in the game with allowing you to retrieve buried artifacts sooner.
This works! But also one more thing I think would help a lot with early game is tier 1 prestige upgrade that gives speed to dwarves. Maybe 10%/20%/30%. As I find low dwarf speed in the beginning being the most annoying part and it actively makes me not want to press the button :(
Prestige upgrade for less break time of dwarves would be cool too.
Alternatively maybe (idk if it exists) late game ability... mby artifact like work or something that lets you suck all the gems from the map each 5-10min or something.
Cool game overall man, I think you have a gem!
I'll be adding a bunch of runner prestige upgrades, such as making you start with extra runners, increasing their carry capacity, as well as speed increase. However it probably won't be just a flat bonus, but instead something along the lines of: "Runners get +70% speed, reduced by 5% for each runner you have, up to a minimum of 15%.". This way at very start when you only have half a dozen runners, they'll get a big speed boost, but then as you buy more it will slowly decrease to 15%, so that it's actually balanced.
As for reduced break time, I feel like it's already not that long, though some upgrades/artifacts do increase it. I'll add an artifact that also decreases it, but I've been actually thinking of a runner prestige called meditate: "Runners gain the ability to meditate. This increases their resting time by +50%, but gives them a chance to gain a random revelation after each rest, such as increased carry capacity, speed or luck, until they return to the stash." This can be toggled somewhere probably. This sounds like it could be a fun ability. :)
Actually I have plans for a couple of ore collecting rituals that will come with the new buildings in the full game. As a spoiler, one idea is the Shrine having The Great Tilt ritual that tilts the entire ground to the left for a few seconds, which causes all the ores to roll/fall into the stash haha.
Btw in case you haven't noticed since tutorial doesn't popup again after prestiging, though I think you have, but I've added the ability to click ore, which I think is a nice addition that feels good :)
Thank you for your feedback and encouraging words!