The struggle mechanic is genuinely soul crushing. I just end runs if I get caught at this point.
If you eaten it's basically game over, the struggles are RNG based just in case the game decides to give you a second chance
While that is true I am experimenting with something that might change it from being "basically game over".
I don't mind the current mechanics, since I understand that you aren't supposed to be caught, but I'm curious what you have in mind!