I find myself in the middle of a forest, lost and completely alone, all I have is a pack of matches and a can of beans.
With no hope and no goal I make my way up to an abandoned watch tower, all the while I’m starving and my hands have begun to show signs of frostbite. After reaching my destination I quickly notice there’s no way of climbing the tower as the stairs have been shattered.
I set up a camp fire under a piece of the watchtower that has crumbled off of its supports in a vain attempt to stave off the imminent hypothermia. The fire dies and I am left with nothing but the few matches I didn’t use. As the cold finally seeps in I feel my vision start to fade.
This is my experience with The Long Dark (TLD), a 2014 Survival game developed by Hinterland Studio. What separates TLD from Survival games like Subnautica and Stranded Deep is the gorgeous and terrifying post-apocalyptic freezing Canadian wilderness, as well as the real horror of the cold.
More than anything TLD is a game of fighting off the cold and learning to adapt to the climate. As scary as the wolves and bears are, there’s nothing more terrifying than the harsh weather.
TLD is separated into three modes. “Survival” is a non-narrative experience that forces the player to adapt to survive, “Wintermute” is the story mode of the game that is made up of a four episodes with a fifth coming soon. “Expansion” consists of the Tales From The Far Territory DLC that was released in 2022.
All three modes offer their own unique experiences using the sandbox TLD offers, but the “Survival” mode is the most pure way to experience TLD.
In the “Survival” mode players must manage limited resources in the attempt to live day-to-day, avoiding the cold and wild animals whenever possible. It’s a difficult challenge for anyone familiar with the Survival genre, but there’s a unique thrill to TLD’s game play.
Survive the cold, survive the night
Image credit: Hinterland Studio
The cold is the real antagonist of TLD, if it’s not respected and taken into consideration, a perfectly good survival run could end just as quickly as it started. There’s no goal in survival except for the simple task of surviving day by day.
Survival can depend on where you start and what items you are randomly given, it’s a game of luck in the beginning, this isn’t helped by the lack of guidance, but that only adds to the atmosphere of the game.
The map is split up into multiple regions, all offering their own challenges and different ranges of difficulty. The scale of each of the regions offers a great chance for exploration, even if large scale exploration isn’t recommended until you know the basics of survival.
Scavenging resources including food, water and essentials to start a fire is a massive part of playing TLD, the higher the difficulty the harder it is to find any of the resources. Starving is another easy way to lose in TLD, but it’s easier to freeze first.
Body warmth is shown in a gauge at the bottom left of the screen alongside other gauges displaying hunger, sight and stamina, as well as health. Warmth depletes far faster than the others, the only way to stop it from going so fast is to create a fire or find shelter but that doesn’t mean that the problem of the cold goes away.
If fires aren’t maintained or clothes are damaged beyond repair the cold becomes more and more of an issue. Finding new clothes or creating some from the pelts of skinned animals is an essential tip for survival.
Don’t let the cold in
Image credit: Hinterland Studio
Of all the Survival games I’ve played TLD sticks out to me and it’s one I find myself coming back to often. Part of this love comes from the gorgeous art design, but it’s mostly because the game executes on its promise of a difficult survival simulation perfectly.
With a sequel recently announced at The Game Awards 2024, TLD is finally getting some well deserved attention. The future is clear for Hinterland Studio and the game, but for new fans the cold nights are only just begining.
Featured image credit: Hinterland Studio
Fourth year Film and Journalism student
Deputy editor
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