Thanks so much for playing the game and your nice feedback!
Agreed with your thoughts! I had play-tested some other mechanics and variations but they didn't feel polished enough to make it in to the itch deployment. I also think very few of them would have solved the "just use the push charge every time" which definitely feels like the biggest issue ATM.
I also think even the 20 levels I DID include could have done with more balancing and refinement - in particular there's some building shapes that feel like more of the same...
I have toyed with the idea of a different mode instead of/in addition to the classic "Get 3 stars on all levels" mode: a Rogue-lite ish mode, where you would get a limited number of uses/limited funds across a run (which would mean even if there were some OP charge-types, you would naturally be motivated not to just use them every time, because you would run out.