During development for the previous release, work had started on TWO new characters to meet: Nora the Inventor, and Anika... the Ghost! Anika didn't make it into that release, of course (though it's possible you've already found her Butterfly Charm necklace), but she'll absolutely be in this upcoming release!
A ton of progress has been made on Anika, already: the four chapters of her story had already been largely written during the previous release cycle, and are now almost complete.
It's a bit early to say what all will be in this release - old ideas are being revisited, and new ideas generated - but the cooking mini-game could use a little attention: there's zero instruction on how to play, and when you form groups of 2x3 or 3x2 ingredients, only a 2x2 block is removed! :| Getting a 2x3 or 3x2 block should obviously yield a super-cool bonus, not do nothing!
So, yeah: expect some improvements to cooking, and one idea usually breeds others, so addressing those two known issues might stir up some more new ideas!
Along the lines of mini-games, some early work was done on a lock-picking mini-game, with the idea of making cave exploration a little more interesting, but stopped because, hey: isn't the point of For One Year to meet and hook up with people; not pick locks? Expanding on the the random hookups, which currently can get a bit samey, feels like a better use of time! There are no concrete plans, yet, but it's definitely being looked into! (And even though the caves won't be getting a lock-picking mini-game, they could stand for a little more visual variety...)
And that's all that's known at the moment, but as mentioned: one idea usually breeds another! No one could have guessed there'd be rentable carriages and different cooking pot types in the last release; even Nora's weird inventions weren't dreamed up until halfway into writing her script.
Expect additional posts here as development progress, and thanks for playing! 💞