We just released a new version that fixes some of the problems, the biggest changes being:
- Powerups are easier to pick up in the beginning.
- Increased enemy spawn radius to make accidentally running into newly spawned enemies less frequent.
- Overall balance tweaks.
- Show info when a new big wave of enemies is spawned to better communicate level progression.
The overall balance should now allow more easily passing the first stage of the level, with the ending being slightly more difficult. This should allow learning the mechanics better without sacrificing replay value.
Accidentally running into enemies should now happen much less often as their spawn radius was increased during most of the game's stages.