I really love the concept. Also I am a fan of complex games. So I was really looking forward to this game. However having to learn the right words to a spell for each season really put off to be honest. I felt like I would have to go through the whole bookshelf to read every book and create a long excel sheet to have all the information available to start having fun with this game. I feel like this makes things more complicated than they should be and makes the games less accessible than it could be. From what I saw, I can assume that the game mechanics are already complex enough. So I would probably omit this system. Also I would probably start with fewer locations to visit in the beginning to make sure players are not overwhelmed. That being said, I believe the game has a lot of potential and might be very intersting to play, once a player gets past the initial hurdles.
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Thank you for the play and feedback! On the design, it was a constant back and forth for me trying to balance fun, depth, and do-ability in 7 days. With the seasonal spells, my aim was to keep the game fresh as you played by adding variety and some more of a puzzle to each season, but I can see how that ended up overloading the mechanic. Good point on the number of homes at the start too. Early on I did have an idea to increase the number of visit-able townsfolk (as well as the number of houses on the map) as the town grows, but didn't have time to implement for the Jam. By starting with fewer homes to visit and increasing them over time, I think that could help reduce beginner fatigue while also making it more rewarding when the town grows. Overall I think I need to reconsider and re-balance the mechanics so that the variety comes through in different and less overwhelming ways.
I do like the idea of changing seasons though. They might really help to keep things fresh. I am not sure whether you have already implemented that, but the probability of certain needs of the villagers could be changing according to the seasons. Like in spring people think more about finding love, while in summer/autumn the harvest is usually more important to them.
I could definitely see myself revisit the game in the future. And I am looking forward to seeing what kind of changes you are going to implement.