Really nice game. I played through 3 runs, (one where I cooked random stuff because I did not fully understood chains before playing, one where I a cycle with 3 starter items, and one where I did a cycle with 2 new recipe + a basis) - and beat the game with that.
I really like the art and lore part. I read it and clicked the map when I encountered a new creature.
I liked all the different upgrades. Some stuff that you might want to think about. A) it seems the best way to play is to make cycles of 3 (like Blue -> Yellow -> Brown -> Blue). because chains are so strong. if the first attack deal 20 damage, the 5th attack will deal 100 damage. It also means it often does not matter if creatures hate stuff, curses have disabled them etc. it better to continue and keep the chain.
That also means that most battles feels very similar. The only real decision I made was where to start in the cycle to start on my first turn. It also means I only add stuff that fit in my cycle in that run, and mostly stick with the starting cards ie. about 3 of each.
In mid late game it might fix itself as you can have different cards that fit a cycle, but most likely you will want to use the strongest card (hunger) cards that form a cycle. So you more or less play the same order of cards in each battle.
I don't have a good solution for you, but I think it is worth thinking about: "How do we get the player to make interesting decision (instead of mindlessly just playing the next card of a cycle)". - maybe something with card design, making cycles less strong or something else.
Looking forward to the finished game. Keep up the good work.