I relate to you a lot, communicating with and understanding people is hard. When it comes to more elaborate games (I definitely want to check out what you've made!) it can be best to work on things one step at a time, both in development and in introducing the player to the game. In development, if you get feedback as you go, you can work to make things clearer to the player.
In the final game, a good strategy is to start with something familiar and build off of that to reach somewhere unique. This means they have something they know and aren't overwhelmed by too many new things at once. To build a bridge, you need part of it on the near shore.
And furthermore… people engage with your game in a different way if you’re actively seeking feedback from them compared to how they engage with it if they find it in the wild, so I’ve learned the hard way that even if you’re reliably seeing comprehension and engagement during playtesting, that doesn’t mean you’re gonna get the same thing after launch…