Interesting game, I played it a few hours and lost track of time. Some of the mechanics aren't clear but it's still enjoyable.
I read your write-up. Turning the HeroQuest house rules you made with your kids into a tavern sim while stuck on hold is a great origin story. And “looks only its creator could love” has aged well, because the new art really sells the world now.
I’m in the same boat: a CNC programmer, not a coder, and I built my own game the same way, playtesting and feeding back to the AI as I went. Yours is a good few steps ahead of mine, though. The Spirit Mirror and the Morning Gazette are the kind of ideas I wish I’d thought of. Your closing question, “where is the line?”, is one I keep thinking about too.
That’s partly why I started a small Discord for people making games with AI. No judgement about how it’s built, just playing each other’s games and giving useful notes. If you’d ever like fresh players on Tavernkeeper, or just people to talk that question through with, you’d be very welcome: https://discord.gg/u4xdWuXF2H