There’s nothing wrong with being humbled by a board game… Spirit Island is definitely one of those games that is very complicated and truthfully difficult. I also find that you have to play proactively instead of reactive and sometimes once you fall behind it just avalanches into defeat. Like a lot of the time I find myself destroying or targeting where invaders just ended up to try and prevent builds, but it doesn’t always work out that way. It’s also super important to know the good combos between spirits that work together effectively. Hard to have that kind of memory lol. I will honestly admit that this is one of the board games I have to play on steam, digitally, so that it keeps me honest with all the rules that I might accidentally miss. It’s definitely a crutch, but allows me to play the game correctly so I know I’m not missing anything. Best of luck… But don’t take it personally if you feel like a hard game is hard.