Hi, thanks for playing and for your in-depth feedback, it's clear you've given the game a proper playthrough and I really appreciate that!
Yeah I agree balancing and polish could be better, I over-ran in the beta so didn't get much time for it in wrap-up but I wanted to get the game on itch to see what I could do in the time limit.
I'm currently working on the RNG to stop the battles/events clumping together one after the other like you mentioned, along with changing movement to a smoother type where the player is only affected by the grid when they stop moving over an event, so hopefully that will arrive soon in an update.
Great to hear you enjoyed mix of influences and general vibe, especially the world-building as I've never attempted that before in a game, I'll certainly keep going with the project and see where it goes.
Hope you've had a great Christmas and best of luck with your gamedev too!
- Iain