The Long Dark

Survive. Adapt. Perish. Repeat.
This game is... something else entirely. It's not your average survival game where you craft an empire out of sticks and stones or become some overpowered wilderness god. Nope, The Long Dark takes a simpler, much harsher route: you’re in the frozen wilderness, you’re alone, and you’re going to die. The only question is how long you’ll last.
First off, let’s talk about the vibe. This game doesn’t scare you with cheap tricks like random jump scares or monsters. It’s something much more primal — solitude. The silence. The wind. The creak of an empty cabin. It’s like the whole world is whispering, “You’re not supposed to be here.” And yeah, that gets under your skin. You’ll find yourself checking shadows for wolves or lighting a match just to ease the weight of the dark. It’s intense, but in the best way possible.
Then there’s the survival itself. You’re juggling everything—calories, thirst, warmth, fatigue — all while keeping track of time, weather, and the fact that wolves and bears don’t care about your to-do list. Every decision feels heavy. Do you risk crossing the ice to reach that cabin? Do you use your last match now or save it for later? It’s not just about staying alive; it’s about outsmarting a world that’s actively trying to kill you.
But here’s the thing: dying isn’t a failure in this game. It’s like a lesson. Every mistake you make teaches you something — don’t wander off without extra clothes, don’t ignore that storm brewing in the distance, don’t think a wolf will back down because you’re holding a flare. And when you finally nail a long run, when you’ve got a stash of food, a warm shelter, and maybe even a rifle — you feel like a legend.
Now, what about the gameplay modes? The Wintermute story mode? It’s fine, serves as a good intro, but the real magic is in Sandbox. That’s where you can truly lose yourself. Whether you’re in a chill mode where wildlife leaves you alone or cranking the difficulty to Interloper where every second is a fight for survival, it’s entirely up to you. And hey, the custom mode? Absolute lifesaver. Tweak it to fit your style and just dive in.
And let’s not forget the devs. These people love their game. They’re constantly adding new regions, mechanics, and even special events (like a Halloween monster mode — wild, right?). It’s rare to see a game that’s already so polished still getting this much love years after launch.
In the end, The Long Dark isn’t just a game. It’s an experience. It’s for people who don’t mind a challenge, who appreciate a game that respects their intelligence and throws them into a world where the only goal is to keep going. It’s brutal, haunting, and absolutely unforgettable.
10/10. Get it. Survive it. Or at least, try.

Listen, Hinterland. I've been with you (this game) for ten years now. The YEAR OF OUR LORD, TWENTY FOURTEEN.
Before the player had hand models, I was there.
Before wolf stuggles had animations, I was there.
When I had a group of friends gathered around me with snacks, watching this Early Access Cold Canada Wolf Game, until the run ended to a failed rifle shot, well of course I was there lol.
When there was a surge of discovery to take off all your clothes before you jump in the ice water after goodies on the frozen shoreline, I was there.
You have, with every update, given me everything I've ever wanted in this type of survival game.
We may not always agree on some decisions made, and even when you added a story, the survival mode was treated with equal importance. I saw the changes happen to Mystery Lake, the subtle detail updates, suddenly areas had... MORE. I loved it all. The immersion I feel in this game world is second to none other as far as survival goes. I would like to personally shake the hand of the audio designers. Even back in 2014 early access, you guys had it NAILED.
I may never play Wintermute. It's not the type of game I want. But, unlike many, almost every, other game out there that creates two or more (or like nineteen, WARFRAME) modes, SURVIVAL just always felt fantastic. I even noticed when you would tweak snowfall along the roadsides so I didn't break my friggin' ankles as much when running for my life from wolves or through a blizzard.
So, here's how this is gonna work. I'm gonna buy this Tales from the Far Territory DLC. It's probably going to kill many of my characters. I'm going to keep enjoying this game, and you? You're going to take my money, a second time.
I would have considered this a complete experience when you gave us Desolation Point, and the ability to finally craft our own tools. Now, at the end of 2024, as an early Christmas present, I can PUT PAINTINGS ON THE WALLS.
We can watch, together, all of us, as the collective community begins to photograph bear attacks as close to the last possible moment, as possible, then fills a house with them. Or all the houses. You did this. You have given us the perfect experience. I wish I didn't have to sleep.
Post review (and post mild popularity) edit: A commentor asked me, (corrected for grammar) "Isn't the game just about exploration and hunting? How did you get to 1700 hours?"
My response, also in the comments:
"Because survival is paramount. The game does not have infinite resources. You are managing an ever-dwindling supply, and the only time you get more is by moving locations, which, depending on the difficulty, your knowledge of the world, and how the weather is behaving, can be a daunting task.
I tend to play with risk. My runs have never survived past 100 days. There's an achievement for 500 days, but my actual true goal in-game is to map everything, find everything, explore everything, craft everything, and attempt to make each safehouse a viable location.
I'm simply not done yet."
Also, I went and bought the soundtrack, too. Do me a favor and start making a Hinterland brand cast iron skillet for sale. I'll buy one of those too.
Post edit-edit:
Thank you all for the votes and posetivity. This game means a lot to me. My most recent, and current playthrough (as in, hasn't died as of the 6th of January, started near the end of november, picked up the DLC around the 1st or 2nd of december), has scoured and encamped most of Mystery Lake and Coastal Highway, found one DLC weapon (Vaughn's Rifle, very nice), only two wolf struggles, killed three bears, and is nearly at 80 days of survival, a personal landmark. The game is more fun and immersive than I've ever experienced before.
There is a lot still waiting for me. I have much work to do. I'm afraid of what happens when I finally run out of matches.
Post-post Edit-edit:
Have made it to 101 days. Cleared out the entirety of Mystery Lake and Coastal Highway. A ton of food placed everywhere. Pleasant Valley and Bleak Inlet are next on the list. Losing this run will hurt when its time comes. No cougar encounters, but I haven't sought them out. Only moved through their areas.
Buy this game. Buy the DLC. Buy the soundtrack. HINTERLAND! MAKE ME A CAST IRON SKILLET!

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☑ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

I love this game with all my heart. Its fun and well thought out. Its exactly what I was looking for in a survival game. I cant wait for the sequel Blackfrost!!!

The Long Dark is a game unlike any other. I am, personally, not a "gamer" but when I play this game, I have a hard time putting it down. The Wintermute portion of the game has a story line and characters that are haunting and wonderful. When you finish the game, you find yourself wanting to go back and play more because you miss the personalities/relationships of the characters. It definitely takes you to another place and time. The survival portion of the game is amazing also but does not have the character development that Wintermute does. They do give you tasks and missions to accomplish that are mysterious and fun. Be ready to put some serious time into this game. It is a super long adventure that you will not soon forget. I have finished both parts of this game and in all honesty, I do still once in a while, go back and play both because it feels like a warm blanket with a mug of my favorite coffee every time I do. I will, for the rest of my life, be playing this game from time to time. It is that good.

Excellent game.
Do not listen to the haters whining about no episode 5. The community said they wanted DLC for sandbox mode prioritized over story content, so the developers listened and provided. Episode 5 is coming out in late 2024 as they stated many times already.

TLDR: I bought this game more than 8 years ago. The core gameplay was already complete back then and the game has only gotten better. The overall experience is unique and well worth the asking price.
This review is honestly overdue. I bought this game aaaall the way back in 2016, when it was a ~$20 early access title, before the "survival/crafting" genre became the entrenched domain of shovelware.
So, first thing first: This game is NOT a survival/crafting game. You will not be building massive bases and crafting AK-47s. You will be walking, slowly, through the snow, with your exhaustion and temperature meters at zero, trying to calculate if you'll reach your shelter before your health ticks down to zero and praying you don't hear a wolf barking as you come around a tree. Now, I absolutely understand how that would not be appealing to everyone. But if you are looking for something genuinely different from the survival/crafting same-old-same-old, The Long Dark is definitely unique.
I also really want to highlight that TLD is unique in its development cycle. I've seen complaints about how the story mode is not complete after about 10 years. A few points about this.
First, the story mode is released in 'Episodes' and these aren't like scammy battle passes. Each episode is a complete section of the larger narrative and there are currently four (out of a planned five). The game itself is in a complete state and the story mode releases are simply additional content for the game platform. That is, we are still waiting to see how the STORY ends, but the gameplay itself is complete. It is definitely good to be wary of unfinished games in the current market, but TLD does not fall into that category.
Second, the story mode is currently offered separately for $20 at FULL PRICE. That is quite reasonable for the current state of story mode content. Additionally, you can get both the Wintermute story mode and the standalone survival mode bundled for $35. Which again, is easily worth the price as is. The only other major content offer is the Tales from the Far Territory DLC, which is also $20 full price and brings two additional regions and what I would describe as an additional, lite story mode. So a total of $55 for the complete game content at full price, which I believe is well worth it, and all three of these offerings are still receiving content updates. And if you are interested but not 100% sure, TLD is frequently on sale for 40-50% off. With the ongoing sale at time of writing, you can get Story mode + Survival Mode + DLC for a total of $32. And the current level of content is beyond worth that price point.
Which brings me to third, the content is already there. This is not a game that is languishing in the roadmap, with promises of a complete game that never comes. Take it from someone who was having a great time with the game even back when it genuinely was unfinished, before the story mode even started. The core, wilderness survival gameplay has been there from the beginning and hasn't changed. But Hinterland has still been providing regular (if infrequent) updates which focus on continuing a story and throwing in new and interesting challenges for survival. And that also makes this game unique. The game is old, and still being developed. But the updates are about getting more stuff to do with the existing and stable core mechanics. Which is EXACTLY how continuous game development should be. In a market where half-finished games are farted out with a promise of a finished game some time in the future, TLD was already a whole game even in early access which has just been updated into a BETTER whole game as time goes on.
There are definitely things that will feel awkward to folks who have gotten used to the standard of fast-paced, high-mobility, combat-focused survival games. You can't jump. You walk slow. Your inventory space is extremely limited. Guns and ammo are precious. Your gear requires a ton of time and resources to upkeep. These things feel very very weird in the current climate of popular games. But that's honestly one of the reasons I love this game. If you want a genuinely unique gaming experience from a studio who, by the best of my abilities to tell, absolutely deserves support, I cannot recommend TLD enough.