Thank you for the kind words! Yes, it has a lot in common with the books from last year. I like framing stories like this with self-contained missions because it makes a game easier to play balance.
Very good point about the quests system and signaling the different boats, I think that would have definitely improved the game. Having the players know in advance what kind of goal they were working towards would make the end feel like more of a reward and less like a surprise. As for the game having different outcomes, yes it had that but you are correct it wasn't clear. There are 8 different outcomes determined by how much money you get.