I'm happy if you smiled and even laughed while playing the game. The main goal is to have fun!
Wow, I really like your word puzzle idea. It's brilliant! As a technical solution, I am thinking of a sort of RPG inventory. A character gives you a word and you use it for another problem, like a key. I have to rewrite the whole game! But won't that make you lose the pleasure of exploration and adventure in immersion?
I don't understand "I found myself wondering if the owl's were iconography which I didn't understand." What do you mean?