You're spot on with your feedback! I actually had kind of a busy weekend irl, so I could only use about half the time I normally would be able to. Because of that I chose to forego a lot of the art I'd normally invest time in and just focus on the technical rules behind it.
A better UI style is definitely something I'm planning on working on and of course a better introduction is an excellent idea. I only had about a handful of hours left when the game itself was finished to make a tutorial of sorts, so I settled for some screenshots with added instructions. I like your example of that, that seems like a great way to introduce the player more gradually to the whole concept.
I also just loved the way you designed your levels, visually speaking, so I might just take inspiration from that as well if you don't mind ;). Thanks a lot for your insightful feedback and I'm glad you liked it :D