Thank you so much, both for playing the same and for taking the time to write a review!
Indeed, there are a few things that need some fine tuning, and others that are just clunky in a board game, as opposed to a videogame. I was afraid of the card-token tracking, and you just confirmed that.
I did not want to limit players in the strategies they might come up with, so I think that printing a sorting number on a card is not the way to go. Something temporary, however, like a sticky note might work better (for a paper version; an actual game might have a plastic piece, like a paper clip). Perhaps there’s something that can be explored using shapes and/or colors, to make it more obvious?
Re: Food I have considered many times squashing food and resources together into a single resource. I would become a lot like mana in traditional card games, I guess, and that’s what led me to keep them apart. I think that the food mechanic is unique enough to be fun, but I agree that it also needs fine tuning.
Perhaps one could use resources to permanently buy more food, instead of gaining it for single turns. But, with more food available, I am afraid all decks are going to gravitate towards heavy units. It might be necessary to adjust the number of minions from 6 to 8, or something like that. Maybe have the players rotate them, so that they have 8 in total, but only 6 can be playable at a given moment.
Re: turn limit This is a cheap mechanic, yes, and one that definitely does not work in a physical game. I have a few non-implemented ideas for tie breaks. In the end, this rule might not be necessary at all, and can probably be left out.