Rather than just a no-bones survival situation, you'll be working through an actual storyline as you head for safety. In the story, you'll assume the role of a man trying to survive in the harsh Canadian wilderness after crashing his plane during a geomagnetic disaster. It features all the survival gameplay aspects of the sandbox version, as well as story quests and character development, making it an engaging, new way to experience all the game has to offer.

Story mode adds a new way to play For those who desire a story to go with their survival gaming, The Long Dark offers a fully voiced-acted, five chapter story mode called 'Wintermute' complete with cutscenes. During your explorations to salvage supplies and look for food items, you will need to explore carefully as to not get stuck without a place to sleep for the night. On top of this, the player needs to seek shelter from the cold, make sure they are wearing the appropriate clothing, and build fires to stay warm and cook food. The player must watch how many calories they burn, even when sleeping, and make sure they find or hunt enough food to keep themselves going. For example, eating food replenishes calories, but in order to find food, you have to explore and salvage which causes you to burn calories in the first place. The amount of activity the player performs and the distance they can travel and explore, are balanced around certain metrics such as time, warmth, and calories - and all of these game systems are closely related resulting in a finely tuned experience.

Good balance between surviving and exploring There is a delicate balance between exploring and surviving, and every aspect of gameplay is closely related.

Top down colony survival game