Thank you so much for the reply and positive response. You nailed pretty much all of my goals with this game / my general philosophy regarding the themes (and the fact that you were picking your nose after writing is hilarious). Regarding feedback I could definitely ramp things up and add more to the animations. They were very fun to make, and can see myself experimenting further with the style / this specific project (used Aseprite to mix real life images with additional pixel graphics).
Thanks again for checking it out and hosting, this has been my first Game Jam and has been a really fun / engaging opportunity.