Also yeah, reading some of the past comments, It'd be cool if there wasn't a "game over", but instead some sort of Soft Lock. Getting free would require timing (so you don't get recaptured), and depending on HOW you are captured, plenty of mashing.
When you're captured, maybe there's different types of being captive?
You could become a captive that's stuck in the tent of your owner.
You could be one that gets paraded around the village via rope or whatever.
And you could be one that, if you don't escape soon, could get butchered up for food (which would be the ACTUAL Game Over).
Following that up, if hunger isn't gonna deplete slower in future updates, what about being able to chop up other animals you find out in the wild (whether or not the village is required for this is up to you). You can feast upon your kills, or of course sell them like usual.
Combat right now is... serviceable. I've actually managed to fight back and WIN twice during my last playthrough, albeit barely.
And if we wanna get ahead of ourselves, the ability to purchase and own a tent in a village (and therefore receive a compass pointing to your tent at all times). There you can store food items you find/buy, you can store your captives, and you can... idk, chill in there? Maybe it can be a zone where you don't lose hunger, and you're completely safe? Kind of like another version of a pause menu.
Anyway, that's probably all I've got in terms of suggestions for now.
Hopefully you're still working on this game, for us who want to see more of it.