This is a lot of fun but can get repetitive. More random encounters would help (enchanted tree/lake kind of things), especially when entering a prison/barracks it would be nice if you just got a reward/recruits or something instead of combat.
I came across a few bugs but none really game breaking. The most serious one was when dropping a hero he was outside of the room and could not get into the room .I guess I had dropped him right on the boundary of the allowable area.
It being in early development I am thinking there will be more help available for some of the nuances, but I managed to figure out what I needed without it. I did not thoroughly understand the loop mechanic, that might have just been the name 'loop' as opposed to sail to new island. It was a little strange when selecting that to then select the Boss option and....have to "loop" again. Sail to another island or sail to the Boss island would have been clearer.
Really promising beta and one of my favorite games I have encountered on itch.io in a while.