Here’s my progress so far, still needs a fair bit of tweaking but I’m happy so far.
I’ve implemented mechanics that allow the player to take 3 hits before exploding/restarting level, which is reflected in the health bar (credit to a post by @FunkCrusader pointing to using UI Slider). Taking damage initiates a 1 second temporary invulnerability shield. Enemies explode on impact with the player without awarding points.