Thanks for responding. I think you have a cool idea, and I was excited to start playing it, but I think it's the sum of those small confusions that resulted in a bad time. Next time, I'd focus on player feedback, and I think that would greatly improve the experience. It doesn't need to be a wall of text for a tutorial, and can be as simple as a thing as a little tune when you get an upgrade or a sound when you take damage. I think if I had that, I would have been able to make heads from tails a lot more.
Edit: And, if it were me (and, this is totally just how I would do it, there are pluses and minuses), I would have started the player off with a very easy "give me" upgrade they couldn't possibly miss, just so they know what it looks like, and they can learn the upgrade mechanic, separate from the rest of the game.