Thanks!
I would've love to have time and talent to make icons/pictures of each card so that it's easily recognizable, it crossed my mind at multiple steps during development :)
And yeah, most cards feel like afterthought and there's just a couple that actually feel impactful when playing - that's also something that I was aware of, but was a bit tired of everything and left it as it hoping people won't notice. But yet, here we are :D
As for the theme - there isn't much (anything?) mechanically going on, that directly relates to the theme. It's a rather loose fit - it's a game about building empire "in spirit". So that's basically what you do, even though it's not that obvious/direct which is TOTALLY a valid point and I'm less and less confident on that assumption the more people point that out. Something to keep in consideration for the future game I think :)