Coping Well!
I'm not sure if anything changed in the game since the last reviewer who gave 5, but I found the learning curve to be perfectly workable. I lost several levels quite a few times, which I suppose might be disheartening except there are no lives and money total and upgrades remain bought. I also like that I can leave and come back to the same place and upgrades.
Having to lose so many times might be a bit troublesome for some gamers, however it's best approached as a more long term game, using the repeated levels to earn more money for upgrades (which help immensely) and gaining achievements. (e.g. if you're stuck on one level and know you're going to lose, aim to allow different monsters though each time to get all the different endings)
In terms of crapatflash's experience with being unable to obtain weapons fast enough, it could be random, but I think there is a tactic for the game which makes the current (unless its changed) drop-rate acceptable. For example, one part of the method I would reccomend is to go for the monsters you know to be easier (because they turned up first) and faster asap - the high HP monsters generally move slower, you can fend them off later, even if it's just with the fist! Meanwhile, more boxes (and hopefully weapons) have dropped.
Speaking of the fist however, I agree that it's almost entirely useless by maybe even 2:00 and perhaps an improvement would include upgrades for it across all three upgrade stages.
The switch in items over time is a little awkward too as the difficulty increases but the items drop slightly in power - however again, a little patience means this shouldn't be a problem in play.
Since I've already rambled on quite a bit (!) I'll also mention that generally speaking I love the style and the little losing animations - it gives a great, slightly unnerving overally atmosphere; creepy, but not bed-wettingly scary.
Anyway, I'm not a great gamer and I'm writing this somewhere between 5:00 and 5:10 - so it's definitely possible and an enjoyable game too! ^__^