lazy bastard definitely improved my playing by teaching me to build malls, once I learned how to do it properly I realized its much more convenient than hand-crafting.

similarly, a no-spoon run (even if unsuccessful) teaches you how to blast thru the early game most efficiently.

the no-laser turret achievement made me much better at building more robust defenses (previously i would just do rows of laser turrets). you could also learn this by playing a higher difficulty. also, more complex defenses are more fun :)

similarly, logistics network embargo will force you to build more complex projects with belts and inserters so it gives you practice getting lots of different ingredients to assemblers. I would only ever play this once to learn the principles because the logistics chests are super convenient for normal play. but if you find yourself "overusing" them it can make you a better player.

and if you haven't tried nuclear yet, do Steam all the way.

and so on and so forth...