The Long Dark

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The Long Dark is a survival video game by Hinterland Studio. You play as Will Mackenzie, a bush pilot who crash-lands in the freezing Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic storm. You must stay alive in a harsh, quiet world.

Gameplay is first-person. You manage your body temperature, calories, hunger, and fatigue. You must avoid dangerous wildlife and treat illnesses or injuries like frostbite or broken ribs. Fire is used for warmth and cooking. The game uses a day/night cycle, and nights are much colder.

There are two main ways to play. Survival mode is open-world, with permadeath as an option (or a “cheat death” setting). It offers five difficulty levels (Pilgrim, Voyageur, Stalker, Interloper, and Misery) plus customizable options. Story mode, also called Wintermute, is episodic and focuses on a survival story. It has no permadeath and lets you switch between characters in different parts of the map. Story mode was released in multiple parts from 2017 onward.

The game world is divided into 12 large regions, such as Mystery Lake, Coastal Highway, Pleasant Valley, and Desolation Point, plus smaller connecting areas. A DLC expansion, Tales from the Far Territory, adds four new regions (Transfer Pass, Forsaken Airfield, Zone of Contamination, Sundered Pass) and a new connecting area called the Far Range Branch Line.

Development and release in brief
- The Long Dark received seed funding from the Canada Media Fund and a Kickstarter campaign in 2013, raising over C$256,000 with extra from PayPal later.
- An early-access version came to Steam in September 2014, and an Xbox One version followed in 2015.
- The full game released on August 1, 2017, for Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. A Nintendo Switch version arrived on September 17, 2020.
- A film adaptation was discussed around the same period, and a sequel titled Blackfrost: The Long Dark 2 was announced on December 12, 2024.

Expansion and updates
- Tales from the Far Territory launched in 2022 with ongoing paid content plus free updates.
- December 2022: Forsaken Airfield added three maps and new hub areas.
- March 2023: Signal Void introduced the first Tale/Challenge.
- June 2023: Frontier Comforts added many new cooking and crafting options.
- December 2023: Buried Echoes added Zone of Contamination and dangerous changes like toxic zones and poison wolves.
- June 2024: Last Horizon added a new map, Sundered Pass, and featured a Cougar (which was removed shortly after due to player feedback).
- December 2, 2024: Broken Silence brought the final Tale/Challenge, Sutherland’s Tale, plus many new gameplay systems and crafting options.

Reception and sales
- Early access reviewers praised the atmosphere, art, lighting, and focus on solitary survival, though some felt the world was small at first.
- The map grew in size after updates, expanding to about 25 square kilometers by 2015.
- By 2015 the game had sold hundreds of thousands of copies; by 2016 it had sold around 750,000 across all platforms.
- By September 2019, about 3.3 million copies had been sold, and sales reached 5 million by 2021.
- The game received several Webby Award nominations in 2018 and won for Best Writing and Best Strategy/Simulation.

The Long Dark is known for its calm, moody look and a strong sense of solitude as you survive the cold, learn the world, and face the dangers of a solo wilderness.