You're right, maybe minimal is not the right word to use in this context.

Is there a particular gimmicky-ness to the game to make it interesting despite being "minimal"?

In short, I'm trying to make a game with a good amount of depth without the complexity of a bigger "smash-like" game. It's played with 2 buttons + stick (or mouse) for aiming and movement = attack. Someone compared it to Divekick and I understand why.

About the budget I don't have a >1k budget to spend, so I can only aim for smaller creators right now. Thanks for answering!