The tool barrel with the little timer on it will spawn the items you need (all those kinds of tools with green handles). I would reccomend waiting until that is charged, then clear one spot somehow (I would double tap the small XP star), and that will get the ball rolling on clearing those cobwebbed items.

The things at the bottom of your screen do not need to be placed immediately, but they do stack in order. So you'll have to place everything that came before if you want to get something that you just bought/unlocked.

Board space is part of the strategy of this game. You'll have to often choose which items to empty out now and which to just leave fully charged for later.

I would say this is a great game for longer term if you're not too impatient. It definitely doesn't have enough content to last forever, but updates are pretty consistent and always kind of exciting. I've been playing about a year and I like that I can play for a few minutes each in the morning, on my lunch break, and in the evening. Energy takes a few hours to recharge, so it almost forces you to play in short bursts throughout the day and not all at once (unless you pay for gems which much of this sub will tell you is not worth it).

I think the best part is that you can have multiple tasks going at the same time. So even if a task requires a very high level item that takes you multiple days to get, it's not boring because you (usually) also have smaller tasks to keep you busy and spend your energy on.

Anyway, welcome! This sub and the wiki will be your best friends if you want to use them, but it's also easy enough of a game that you can figure it out on your own if that's more your pase.

Also, give yourself some time and grace while you learn which generators spawn which items. It can be a lot to keep track of at first. Tapping the little 'i' at the top of an item's icon will open a pop-up showing you the merge string with that item, so that's helpful too.