1) I made it to the guardian where you learn Stun.
I thought this was going to be just a novel-type game
until I got to unlock spells and do a bit of turn-based combat.
I felt like there was a ton of story upfront which could
have fit nicely in-between the turn-based style combat or like
when the witch was talking to robo-cat about the spells.
2) My hack v1 was maxed before I did my first fight which left me feeling
as if I over powered it as well as the hack v2 once I got that one unlocked.
3) I personally find the idle mechanic a hit or miss,
with me, I am into the more action side of games. As in, if I fight a
bunch of bots and gain nothing but, can idle to max it would
drag the game down for me. Maybe if the cost per upgrade or mana
regenerated was less it wouldn't encourage idling for an
opponent that isn't as strong.
4) I would spread out the story / dialogue out over the spell unlock
scene and the combat scene since it is turn based and not
a time based combat. I would also look into the mana
regeneration and the cost per upgrade. In which you could
get a small icon cutout for the person talking and
pull in some of the story while idling.
I hope my input is helpful and I hope to see this in the next Jam.