Thank you for your feedback!
I believe part of the game challenge is to understand "how" to survive, so I think the first run is a sort of test, or discovery run, where you learn how traps work, or what different damage a shotgun makes compared to a gun, etc... But I appreciate it might not be the best approach for everyone. I hope the UI helps as much as possible without giving away too many clues.
Re: price. To be honest I think it's pretty much in line with the Playdate game prices. If you beat the game in 20 minutes, in hard mode (so probably on your first or second run), it means you are really good (or lucky!). Again, might not be for everyone, but for the amount of work it takes to create a game like this and the replayability it has (at least until you beat the game in hard mode) I hope it's worth the price and players' time. But again, I appreciate your opinion and feedback of course.