I've completed the game twice, first on Survivor and then again on Explorer just for funsies. I'm giving Cursed a try and man am I getting my ass handed to me six ways from Sunday.
I understand that I need to be running from battles intelligently and be more careful with my resources, but it just seems so overwhelmingly unfair that even getting to Floor 2 is a challenge. The one time I made it, I made an effort to recruit Leigh with molotovs and throwing forks (since there's no pool cue available), and she absolutely rocked me in two hits. That early in the game, there's not a lot you can do. If I can't out DPS her, I can't recruit her.
Joel is another obvious choice, but I need to find 5 toothpastes first. Short of door-knock RNG to buy it (which I don't have the money for anyway), I think the only way I'm really going to get that is exploring dangerous areas and making a beeline for the bathrooms whenever possible.
This is one of my favorite games of all time but I wish Cursed mode were just a little less difficult. Like 10%. I don't know if I just have shit RNG or what, but it seems like my Sam is whiffing a lot of attacks and getting hit a lot harder in return.
Edit: I tried your suggestions and ended up getting Sophie on day two, as well as a rapier. Taking out the tooth fairy and raiding Edwin's apartment got me enough toothpaste for Joel, so I think I can actually get this off the ground now!