Thanks for playing and commenting first!
You are right that this genre's game pace is a bit off. I also notice this, especially if the first few upgrades aren't that effective. At the same time, I am glad you enjoy the game design of portals and the twisted gameplay. It affects you and your enemies, so you need to navigate around the level wisely.
As you can see, I barely had time to develop the game during this jam. It is already a miracle for me to complete the submission, lol. I will continue to work and polish those designs to make the gameplay more balanced and fun.