Thanks for your feedback.
The timing element is definitely divisive. I think if there were more complex cards and more synergy between them, that might be enough to change to a timeless system. Furthermore, the addition of class features, which can affect other characters, would also necessitate more strategy and longer times. I will keep your comment in mind when I release the next version of the game.
Regarding the UI, I have added a legend to the Itch page to hopefully mitigate some of the issues you were facing. Ideally, this would have been in the game with Toolips, but unfortunately, we ran out of time to implement it.
Finally, regarding spamming cards, this wasn't really what I had originally envisioned either, so I am looking to make the game require more thought and strategy in the future (thought, as aforementioned, the timer may have to be changed/removed at that time.
Thanks again for your detailed feedback.