Alright, I'll break up the replies by category:
Catamite Perk
Right now a lot is gated behind this, and ultimately what "Catamite" will likely do is provide rank 1 Anal Lover, among a few other "bad" perks. This implementation of the perk is definitely a stopgap.
Experience
This is the intent - we haven't put too much focus on the actual experience/leveling mechanics, but ultimately you'll be able to get just as much if not more "experience" just from getting plowed as you would from felling your opponents.
Economy
Currently, there's not much to explore - although we may just continue to bump up starting food and potential food gains as we add more encounters. The food economy, including conserving food while travelling (it will not always take 4 food per tile, especially not when traversing known areas) will come as part of our world map overhaul, which we're hoping to start soon.
Load Button
Hit Escape to return to the main menu from most screens. We'll have more indications about what key presses do what eventually. (Escape quits to menu, space/enter traverse text, left shift toggles X-ray views, and tab hides/unhides the UI)
Random Element
This is a good idea, and we will eventually add randomness - right now there's still some confusion about how attribute checks work, so introducing randomness would make it more confusing, but once that's settled and clear we may include randomness to the checks. In addition, you'll be able to choose to fail checks as well.
Thanks for the feedback! This is all stuff we've been thinking about, but it helps to hear it and to give us an opportunity to talk through it.