Thanks for the feedback.
I've noticed the same thing in Thrive before, which I like to call the dual nature of the game. We are both making a species editor the player uses to make strategic choices but also an action gameplay component where those changes have an impact. So Thrive has this dual nature where neither side of the game is the entire game, but instead the sides try to complement each other.
I think we are kind of entrenched on this design and can't really consider removing either half of the game. A purely creature designing and watching kind of game would be a different game than Thrive, sadly. I think it would make Thrive a totally different game if we removed the swimming around portion so we unfortunately cannot satisfy everyone.