Before I understood that I had to collect the stick to start the game, I died once. I closed the tab too, but gave it another chance. You really should give the player the stick from the get go and place a money pick up on the road. (Placing something to pick up is a good idea because there's nothing indicating that it's a horizontal scroller.)
Depending on enemy density I used bow or throwing axe and mostly circle strafed to win. I only used the mace against the boss, with the occasional ranged circle strafe to regenerate health.
If the arrow piercing and axe explosions upgrades weren't in the tree but the smithy (where they belong), I wouldn't have known about them and wouldn't have rushed them as hard as I did.