itch.io

There is a steep learning curve, and it can feel like RNG at first. I do also think you can get bum luck early on and lose within 20 turns with no chance.

BUT, part of the fun is realizing you actually have way more influence over your deck than it feels like at first. Here are some strategies that can get around the issues you mentioned [Spoilers]:

1. You can use a small number of island pieces to built a jetty (a line of blocks going in one direction). Then you can put all of your piers off to the side of your real island, so they don't clutter your coastline.

2. The location and placement of your wooden houses and lumber yards can significantly increase or decrease the number of cards they produce. If you want to reduce the number of lumberyards (and fields unfortunately), place your houses in a checkerboard pattern (they produce no new cards).  If you want to maximize production, put them in a square pattern.

For lumberyards, you can maximize production by placing your trees in a checkerboard and placing lumberyards *not on top of each other* so that two yards can use the same tree. 

If you want to minimize lumberyard production, you can just place them next to one tree at a time.

Finally, late game, using taverns and markets effectively gives you fine-tuned control over your deck.

3. This might be an exploit: if you place 10 houses together (getting a mill), then place one house next to the group, you can then use "remove" on two of the group houses. If placed properly, you can combine your new house with the remaining group. This both maximizes lumber/field production (because the final house played is in the center of four houses) and gets you a new mill with only two new houses placed! Same goes for stone houses.