I am a little afraid of putting out a new build so close to the deadline without proper testing, but I think this is a really cool feature that adds depth to the game, and also adds a sense of progression even if you lose.

Introducing the research tree!

This is obviously a common system that exists in many games, so I copied it here. I mean...why re-invent the wheel?

These grant you PERMANENT UPGRADES.

Even if you lose to the storm, you will get EXP and items based on your progress. These items are permanent and can be spent to boost a wide range of upgrades.

- Start the game with a few farms at the start of your bridge?

- Start the game with cranes unlocked by default?

- Start the game with 50 starting wood, so you get running up and faster?

Passive upgrades also exist:

- Houses can have +1 max capacity permanently

And even special upgrades to permanently reduce the storm duration in all future runs!

Things I did not have time to add:

Possible future idea 1: Risk/Reward system

I wasn't able to add the risk/reward element - the idea is that at the end of the game, you can choose to continue in Endless Mode where the storm gets progressively stronger. If you defeat the storm again, you get even MORE rewards, but if you lose, you don't get anything. Do you claim your rewards, or try to test your luck to survive another storm for exponential rewards?

For now continuing in endless mode should give you more rewards, but it is impossible to lose the rewards as there is no way to defeat the storm a second time, thus the risk factor is completely eliminated. Perhaps I will re-address this in future, but for now I just prioritized having the upgrades working as those are really the important things I wanted to add.

Possible future idea 2: Achievements

I made the items given out based on different milestones. It sorta functions as a mini achievement system - the hardest one being to get 100 settlers I think, which rewards you a rare item. Since I definitely don't have time to add achievements in a jam, I decided to do it this way to mimick achievements. 

Surviving a storm also gives you the 'Eye of the Storm' item, which I think is pretty cool. That icon is actually from a medal but I edited out the top part, haha.