I think it's important to remember that this game is in Early Access, there's a lot going on here that's really cool, it seems like someone working on it was genuinely passionate about the idea.

That said, the game play is pretty lacking. The controls are quite janky, unit orders don't work (and the "all or nothing" unit management for unit types makes the feature essentially redundant. The levels are repetitive, there limits of merging are surprisingly low, as is the island upgrade potential. The difficulty doesn't really make sense - the only thing that will end your attempt is a combination of the "Aether eyes are on you" event combined with absolutely atrocious unit intelligence.

Still, lots to be pleased with here! Definitely not worth the money in its current state, I'd wait til it's properly developed or hope for a good steam sale, a little bit disappointed given the price :')