Thanks for the feedback! I know the game is undercooked, I fully intend to make better quality waves in the future, but right now they are quite mediocre.
As for the popups, those are permanent stat boosts that you gain every level up. There's no ability or "using" upgrades. In the future, I plan on having many more varieties of weapons, each with their own upgrades, as well as artifacts and pirate captains that change the way the ship works. I will probably even add in a railgun weapon type that the player does have to aim.
thank you for playing, and for your feedback!