Game profile
The Long Dark
A calm yet unforgiving survival game set in the snowy Canadian wilderness after a geomagnetic event. Wolf attacks, frostbite and food scarcity turn every decision into a matter of life and death, while an episodic story mode complements the wanderer experience.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Survival, set in a world after the collapse. Visually it is deliberately stylised rather than photorealistic, and the overall tone stays dark throughout. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
It is genuinely demanding, and repeated failure is part of how it is designed. The story matters and gives the mechanics a frame, without taking over. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available broadly, on 4 platforms. It sits in the mid price bracket.
What stands out
- Unforgiving cold
- Episodic story
- Wolf danger
This fits you if
- you want to wind down rather than be tested
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- levelling, looting and optimising a build is your kind of loop
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- you want real resistance and are fine with dying a lot
Look elsewhere if
- you want to relax and not be punished for mistakes
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you want something light and easy going
- you want to play it side by side with someone
How long is The Long Dark?
About 35 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 6 weeks, or 18 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 82 out of 100, which puts it above 40 percent of the 1276 games here and at rank 760 overall. That is mid-table for this database. Not a standout at the top, but solidly rated.
For comparison, Survival averages 80 points across the database, so this one sits 2 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 204 collected ratings.
Released in 2017, so it has 9 years behind it. Usually cheap by now and the rough edges are long fixed.
The facts
- Release year
- 2017
- Genres
- Survival
- Playtime
- approx. 35 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Demanding, punishing
- Story weight
- Present and relevant
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Post-apocalyptic
- Visual style
- Stylised
- Price bracket
- Mid price
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
- Critic rating
- 82 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Long Dark | 2017 | approx. 35 hrs. | 82 | Mid price |
| Darkwood | 2017 | approx. 15 hrs. | 80 | Budget |
| Death Stranding | 2019 | approx. 40 hrs. | 84 | Budget |
| Kenshi | 2018 | approx. 100 hrs. | 82 | Budget |
If you liked this, try these
- 80/100 Darkwood Shared: Survival, Post-apocalyptic, shorter
- 84/100 Death Stranding Shared: Survival, Post-apocalyptic, rated higher
- 82/100 Kenshi Shared: Survival, Post-apocalyptic, longer
- 84/100 Pacific Drive Shared: Survival, Post-apocalyptic, rated higher
- 84/100 Project Zomboid Shared: Survival, Post-apocalyptic, longer, rated higher
- n/a HumanitZ Shared: Survival, Post-apocalyptic, longer