Oh wow!!! Thank you so much - really delighted that it resonated with you. I had such a good time pulling this together and admittedly felt emotional too when I was playtesting while building. Go plants!
Very cool. I started CFR and you're right, it's so different but so so good, I had a couple of laugh out loud moments already and I'm not halfway through.
I came back just to say: I REMEMBER NOW what this game reminded me of but I couldn't put my finger on, and of course it was: 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' by Becky Chambers, which I 1000% mean as a compliment.