Yeah your "nuggets" do research which is how you progress basically. Research though is just straight up time gated with no way to increase the rate. Most research items take 5-13 minutes. At most you can cut that down by half by increasing game speed by 2x. I have played the whole game up until this point on this speed and it still feels like I need a 3x or even a 4x.

This is like Black and White mixed with Civilization.