Honest question: What kind of design change would you make? I am struggling to think of a good solution that doesn't involve making pieces smaller, which I don't want to do.
One option is that a subtle version of the location image pops up next to the location space if it is occupied
It would be fun to have the characters integrate with the node images, as if you are dropping them into little worlds. E.g. when you move a rabbit to the boat node, the boat now has a little rabbit poking out of it. It would be similar to those combined emojis [0]
I recognize that this is a really bad idea from a usability/discoverability perspective, but wouldn't it be charming!
One option is that a subtle version of the location image pops up next to the location space if it is occupied