i am probably just gonna make an upgrade tree like most incremental games, it makes the most sense for balancing and unlocking new mechanics to the player
I know your troubles. I'm working on a kind of retro game (I try to mix columns, vampire survivors and balatro) and I reworked the upgrades and mechanics like 5 times? Now I think it works somehow but I'm still not happy with it. And the worst thing about it is that my fixes are awesome for the gameplay but nobody will ever see the work behind it.