I have a sugestion, would you consider changing the scale that area exploration levels up? You said it takes 40 clears to max it, ok so it is 10 for each level I assume, based on the progress bar of the area.
How about changing it to 4, 8, 12 and 16, the end result will still be 40, but it should fell less demanding because you will get more items along the way.
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
Heat oven to 190°C. / 375ºF
Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Mix cinnamon and nuts, then stir again.
Drop dough in balls on cooking sheet about 5 cm / 2 inches apart from each other.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, you will know when it's good when it becomes slightly brown.
