Although I tried using screenshots in advance to teach the game (due to my original poor experience inviting a friend noted above), I now have 3 friends who won't come back here after feeling flustered and overwhelmed by the time limit in their first experiences trying to play with me on the site.
Unfortunately my words are not enough to overcome those very poor initial experiences. Nobody enjoys feeling clumsy and embarrassed and that is what it does to some people who need a little more time to find their footing - more than 1 min 45 sec - after they land on a table for the first time. And it's embarrassing for me too, after extolling the site, to be in the position where I have to tell a flustered friend to hurry up, click there, just hurry! Explaining this constraint in advance doesn't make the experience any better for either party. I've learned my lesson and won't be inviting any more newbies.
I'm glad the site is here and appreciate the work that goes and has gone into it, however this slice of the experience has been nothing but depressing.
EDITED TO ADD: a link to the post I wrote 4 years ago right after the first time I tried playing via link with a friend. Had I found and re-read it earlier I wouldn't have led myself or my friends into the same experience twice more (memories do fade...). Linking for what it adds imo.
https://www.happymeeple.com/forum/index.php?topic=31.msg729#msg729