Really love this game! Only made it to level 3, and just barely. Usually I die somewhere on level 2. What ends up getting me more often than not are stupid accidental hits.
My suggestions would be to implement some way of getting extra lives. Right now it's pretty much just 3 hits and you're out, and if I've taken a hit or two on the first level, it's kind of discouraging knowing that I have pretty much no shot of getting through level 2. Perhaps when scoring is implemented, earning lives could be a possibility?
I would also love a keystroke which tells me what is around me. The game does it every so often, but checking it on the fly would be nice, and in some ways I think I'd prefer that; the automatic announcements get distracting.
Anyway this is a really awesome game. Hope you can continue working on it!