Yeah, custom controls are always difficult to figure out how to do, it takes a lot of trial and effort.
Did you ever play Bubble Bobble? I wonder if being able to spam the button to shoot out quick multiple bubbles to grab single dudes OR hold it in to make a larger one for many might be interesting. I'm not sure about the wind, that'd be hard to show the player, although as a puzzle aspect in an area, imagine there are some guys standing on the right with a huge wind blowing left so you can't easily reach them; that might be an interesting twist.