looks like you found a nice way to not overwhelme new players but I think also a quick tutorial would be nice. Show them how to make a resource building, food building and a card which you will get a settler in, than a defense building (all of these stuff won't take as much resources as they do in the real game so it will be quick) and in the moment the player builds the defense building, spawn a weak storm that even the small defense he made will destroy it.
Viewing post in v0.10 - Easier first storm, storage tab unlockable comments
I like the idea of spawning a weak storm to show what it does! That's pretty cool honestly, and solves the problem of people not knowing what the storm does and having to wait 6 minutes to find out. I am weighing between a separate tutorial versus the current in-game tutorial style that lets you continue organically.
Pros of a standalone tutorial like you suggested is the player doesn't feel the need to rush. They can take the time to explore without consequences!
The cons is that people prefer to jump into the main game and a tutorial that forces you to do certain actions just to go through motion and get to the real game can be off-putting. Hmm