Thanks for your review and thoughts! You are right on the nose, both exploration and permadeath are key components of this game :3
I do really like your idea of having a casual/hardcore mode... as a roguelite the difficulty and likelyhood of dying (especially when you first start) is part of the core of the game, as the idea is that you when you die, you pass things on to your student and things might be better/easier for them. With that said though, like you, it's not everbody's cup of tea, so I think having a casual mode where things will be a bit easier and the character you lovingly made doesn't die forever is a great idea and makes it more accessible for people who are more into the RPG and less into the Roguelite. So thanks for your thoughts, I'm definitely going to implement that, and thanks for taking the time to play and write everything out. After the Jam is over and it's been updated, I'll let you know so you can try it out again :)