"players who look at/play larger jams. ..views from jams also helps you stay on "new and popular". my entries to the git hub game off jam .., and most of these views were not from devs."
this is very interesting and good if it is really accurate information, but how did you know this? and why do you think that most jams participants are not game developers?
"other things you can do to make more people play your game is invest in a really great thumbnail and game page"
this topic is covered in darkness, I have seen beautiful, magnificent covers for unpopular games, and terrible covers that shot to the top. It's more like luck and lottery :). IMHO the effort on the cover is not worth it. This can only happen if there is an A/B test.
My current CTR fluctuates between 0.5-2%, what is the average and maximum CTR that is considered normal on itch and steam?
"5-10 players a day is a massive amount, and honestly pretty unrealistic"
But you have 5000 views ~ 1000-2500 plays, jam 7-30 days, that means ~ 1000/30~33 2500/7~350 => 33-350 plays/day
"important to filter feedback"
I agree, we need a balance between the various conflicting wishes of the players and our own vision of the project
"you need to explain the nearby units/unit switching thing somewhere more clearly."
I'll add a note to todolist to make unit selection clearer