Infinite Space Battle Simulator

This entry does exactly what the title implies. It is a simulator of battles between spaceships, seemingly infinite… well, unless you fail… which will happen (I have yet to win the game…).
Similar to Rogue-likes, ISBS requires some strategy in the actions you perform. Do you get closer to have a more accurate shot or evade to lower the chance of you getting shot? Do you deploy drones or shoot until you die?
You are also forced to choose which upgrade to prioritise when you do manage to shoot down an enemy, though you are limited…
Aside from the gameplay/mechanic, which is impressive in an of itself, the story hints at something maybe more sinister? You are told this is a simulation, and though you feel(?) pain, you supposedly do not sustain actual damage. Is this part of a larger experiment? What is that experiment for? A training for a future space war?
There is definitely more than the author lets on…

This is a Neo Twiny Jam Game, written in 500 words or less.

This game has a nice setup. You have a variety of alien ships you can target, each with a varying amount of health and damage. Attacking them nets you scrap, with which you can buy upgrades.

It's a cool idea and has some fun backstory, and looks like you can unlock more as you go on. But I will not see those, because it is too hard for me, even on easy mode.

For me, the issue is that if you're hit even once by the enemy, the damage they do is almost exactly equal to what you can heal with the rewards. That means at best you get no upgrades and exist in stasis, and at worst you slowly get damaged each turn. Someone suggested doing easy mode and buying a bunch of drones, but those got vaporized in one hit when I tried going up against a harvester.

So if it's a 'there is no hope' simulator, it works well, although some kind of 'give up' ending would be nice. But as a battle simulator, for me it is not one I can imagine trying more at.