I dont understand all the whine here. The game is not grindy at all in my opinion. I'm at level 15 and I feel like I've gotten all the important skills I need. It should take long to maximise out ALL skills cause that makes it easier...
When going for the bourgeoisie acheivement make sure to get most upgrades such as the one adding more swans. Dont just take that upgrade making more strays appear.
But its idd a very hard medium badge, Im still trying to survive for 3 minutes :o