As a "quality of life" touch, I think I would refine the way the game stops when you're fiddling with the panels: maybe allow the game to go into a 'witch time/bullet time' by pressing a button, so you can think on your next move. Mmm, I don't know.
The gameplay style works for me in the same way as confort food does, and it is so nice that one can build on top of that cute little stories such as this one.
