Penguins would have been amazing.
I get their trying something new - but I would have much rather seen a return (or variant) of last years present system. I really enjoyed that interaction with my neighbors much more than the usual "go and tap X NPC" in their town system.
It might not be that exciting, but I would have loved more winter costumes. I've been watching earlier seasons again and it would be nice to have more of the town's canon costumes and outfits. Kind of like Maggie's star outfit, there are winter outfits that have been in the show since the beginning. A wide selection of the town folk in winter gear would be a nice addition to the game (kind of like putting their lights up for Christmas, also bundling them up for cold weather).
I also would have liked to have seen the remaining kids (Lewis, Wendell, etc) introduced to the game along with the parson.
And I know it must be getting harder for them to come up with new winter items, but there's still a lot left untouched they could have went for instead of some 'blink and you miss it' items from a new episode.
An ice skating pond the kids could skate on, a sledding hill, snow forts and animated snow ball fights. These things have shown up in the show repeatedly over the past (nearly) three decades. Those would be much better additions that, you know, rocks and twigs.
