Thanks for such comprehensive and thoughtful feedback! The initial plan was indeed to have the player figure out solutions and guide the characters with many explorable rooms and events. Unfortunately, time didn't allow that. We do have the motivation to develop the game further into our initial vision (especially after your encouragement!), but it's hard to say for sure since we are both students. We will also definitely try the games you mentioned!
By the way, when trying your game, I couldn't find a way to detach the load after parking into the area, and I seemed to be stuck at that step. Did I miss something?