Innovation is kind of a fringe-y game, I kind of got that impression from BGG as well.
There are some people who hate the "randomness" and compare it to Fluxx. For myself, I found innovation totally by accident, I think I was looking for through the ages information or something and somehow stumbled on innovation. Needless to say, it has been the perfect game for me, the right mix of strategy / tactics / randomness / trolliness for me to be in my element. I'd be happy to share my thoughts on echoes after ~1000 games, but in essence it boils down to how many actions you can churn out per turn. The more the better. Here would be a few basic pieces of advice for echoes.
-Code of laws and flute are "must-haves" that I try to get if possible.
-Try to draw echoes as much as possible. Remember, no echoes in your hand + at least 1 card are the conditions for drawing echoes. Multiple echo tuck / meld / foreshadows are super powerful, Industrialization might be the most powerful card in echoes.
-the "power 4" in age 1, ruler, umbrella, chopsticks, flute. These are the four with left splay echoes (i.e. you can see the echo effect if the stack is splayed left). Flute under code of laws can become a "double splay," or under mysticism becomes a splay / meld /draw. if you get ruler under writing it becomes a wheel that draws 2s, if you have umbrella under the wheel or chopsticks under domestication, they become wheel + meld, or domesti + draw a card. 3 actions for the price of 1! Bell is pretty good too (score a card from your hand), if you can combine that with novel's splay left echo (draw a 3) watch out!
-I once had a purple pile with monotheism, bell, novel, and flute. Splay left 1 color, draw a 3, score a card, tuck a 1 potentially scoring a non-color from your opponent's board. You get the picture...
If anyone wants to do "learning" games with me where I discuss what cards I look for / why I do certain things, I'd be happy to.