Category: News

📌 For New Survivors: Start Here

Welcome to Survivor Incognito! This is where survival games meet chaos, comedy, and a healthy disregard for difficulty settings.

If you’re new here and wondering what this blog is all about, here’s a quick guide to help you dive in:

🎮 Why I Play on Easier Difficulties

Think playing on easy makes survival games easy? I’m living proof it doesn’t. 👉 Surviving, Not Suffering: Why I Choose Easier Difficulties

❄️ The Long Dark Must-Reads

🗺 The Long Dark Complete Region & Transition Zone Survival Guide

❄️ Customloper Diaries

📆 Survive Your First Week in The Long Dark

🧪 Permadeath, But Make It Funny

🕷 The Backyard Trials: Grounded Permadeath

🏹 Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Skyrim Survival

🚢 Dark Waters: A Dredge Survival

🚚 Coming Soon

SnowRunner Survival: The Permagear Diaries Main Hub

Sunburnt & Sinking: A Stranded Deep Survival Diary

💬 Bonus Reading

👉 About Me

👉 The Long Dark Customloper Settings: Easier Interloper Survival Mode

👉 FAQ

Thanks for joining the mayhem. Surviving is optional. Storytelling the downfall? Mandatory

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Welcome New Survivors

Just a quick post today to say a big welcome to everyone who’s recently stumbled into the chaos of Survivor Incognito. Whether you came for the haunted fish, the frozen lakes, or the exploding oak tree, I’m glad you’re here.

If you’re new, here are a few good places to start:

  • 🗺️ Check out the Long Dark Region Guide if you’re planning a cold-weather disaster of your own.
  • 🐟 Dark Waters is nearing its eerie conclusion — perfect if you like your survival stories with a side of cosmic dread.
  • ❄️ The Customloper Diaries are still going strong — Interloper-lite, full-on panic.

This week marks the end of the Grounded permadeath run — the backyard won, basically. But starting next week, we’re trading bugs for busted axles with the debut of SnowRunner: The Permagear Diaries. Expect mud, ice, and a lot of “well that truck’s gone now” moments.

Thanks for reading — and remember: surviving is optional. Storytelling the downfall is the point.

Oh — and if you think playing on easier difficulties makes survival games easy? It doesn’t. I’m living proof that you can still freeze, starve, drown, fall off cliffs, and get stomped by wildlife with the difficulty slider turned all the way down. Turns out survival isn’t just about the settings — it’s about the decisions. And mine are… let’s say “narratively interesting.”

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Here’s What You Missed This Week – Survivor Incognito Recap

A look back at the survival chaos from this week on Survivor Incognito: from haunted seas and freezing wilderness to dino disasters and exploding oaks.

It’s been a week full of questionable decisions, close calls, and new beginnings here at Survivor Incognito. In case you missed any of the madness, here’s your survival cheat sheet!

🌊 Tuesday – Dark Waters: A Dredge Survival – Day Five

The search for one stubborn fish continued, along with a steady descent into darkness and dread.

🐇 Wednesday – Customloper Diaries Day Three

Charcoal maps, rabbit stew, and a sudden storm — because survival in The Long Dark is never boring.

🗺️ Wednesday – Behind the Blog: ARK Map Page Expansion

A behind-the-scenes update! I’m working on expanding the ARK Survival Evolved map page to cover all Switch maps. All the regions, all the doom.

🏹 Thursday – Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Skyrim Survival – Day Ten

Vampires, arrows, and highly questionable footwear choices. My Argonian had quite the day.

🐜 Friday – The Backyard Trials: Grounded Permadeath – Day Three

The lasers were fixed, the oak tree exploded (as it does), and the backyard remains terrifying.

🦖 Saturday – ARK: Aberration – Day One Diary

Punching trees, hallucinating plants, and being reminded why Aberration is not the friendliest place to spawn.

What’s Next?

More chaos, more permadeath, and maybe even a few victories (no promises). Stay tuned!

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Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Skyrim Survival Day Ten

Vampires, Arrows, and Question Footwear

Day 10 of my Skyrim Survival playthrough on Nintendo Switch. I finally track down the Master Vampire, get cursed, loot a backpack, and question one vampire’s strange obsession with boots.

Missed the previous entry? Find it here: Skyrim Survival Day Nine

Cave of Arrows and Errors

I picked up where I left off—tracking down the Master Vampire who’d been making Morthal miserable. The cave wasn’t far, but it was full of surprises. The first being how embarrassingly bad I am with a bow.

Two frostbite spiders greeted me, and I introduced them to about fifteen arrows—most of which missed. Somehow they didn’t notice. Either I’m too stealthy or they were too busy being creepy in the dark.

Thralls, Vampires, and the Great Boot Hoard
Things picked up after that. I managed to sneak around and take out two thralls without them raising the alarm. They dropped quietly, like they knew it was their time.

Then I stumbled across a vampire sleeping off the night shift. One solid sneak attack and it was nap time forever. They didn’t have much, but their bookshelf was packed with boots. Not books. Boots. One of them boosted my sneaking, so I took the hint and left the rest.

Alva, Infection, and Indecision


Further in, Alva reappeared—clearly still in a mood after her last defeat. A thrall decided to help me by attacking her, which made things easier. But before I could finish the job, she tagged me with Sanguinare Vampiris. So now I’m infected. Not thrilled, but not rushing to cure it either. Still weighing the pros and cons of turning undead.

Mission Complete, Bonus Backpack Secured
Eventually I found and eliminated the Master Vampire. No dramatic boss fight—just a clean, quiet finish. I headed back to Morthal, where the Jarl thanked me and promised the Thane title if I helped the locals.

While doing some casual burglary—I mean, investigating—I came across a backpack enchantment that boosts bow damage by 10%. I took it as divine intervention for my earlier archery shame.

Rest, Recovery, and Ustengrav Awaits


With the vampire threat handled (for now), I rested at the inn and prepped for tomorrow’s journey to Ustengrav. Hopefully no more spiders. Or at least fewer boots.

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Behind the Blog: ARK Map Page Expansion – All Maps, All Mayhem (In Progress)

Quick update! I’m in the process of expanding the ARK Survival Evolved map page to cover all Switch maps — because one deadly dino-infested region just isn’t enough.

🦖 A Little Update from the Blog Frontlines

I’m currently working on expanding the ARK Survival Evolved map page — the goal is to cover all of the maps available on Switch. From the dunes of Scorched Earth to the terrifying depths of Aberration, I want the page to reflect the full dino-infested chaos that’s coming in my permadeath series.

If you’re planning your own survival adventure (or just want to see where I’m likely to meet my end), you can check out the work in progress here: [link to my ARK map page].

⚡ Why This Update?

With my upcoming ARK permadeath series in the works, it felt right to make sure the blog’s map page reflects every hazardous region I’ll be facing. Because why limit myself to one place to get stomped on by dinos?

📌 What’s Next?

I’ll keep updating the page as I go, I will also do another post when it’s finished, and I’ll be sharing more about my planned map order for the series soon. If you’ve got a favorite (or most feared) ARK map, I’m always happy to hear it!

Also expect a new Day One Diary in ARK hopefully sooner than later. I’m paying a visit to Aberration and if I’m honest, genuinely had a lot fun there

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Behind the Blog: ARK Plans, Minecraft Madness, and What’s Coming Next

A peek behind the scenes at Survivor Incognito! I’m planning an epic ARK map-hopping permadeath series, scheming up Minecraft chaos with 15 survival rules, and plotting the next waves of mayhem.

I figured it was time for a little behind the blog moment — because while my in-game characters are busy getting eaten, frozen, or flattened, I’m quietly plotting even more ways to make their (and my) lives harder. Here’s what’s brewing in the background of Survivor Incognito.

🦖 ARK: One Map Just Isn’t Enough

If you thought Day One Diaries for ARK: Survival Evolved was the end of my dino-related disasters… oh no. The plan is to turn ARK into a full permadeath series where I attempt to survive across all the Switch maps. That means scorched deserts, radiation zones, angry dinos, and probably at least one embarrassing death involving a dodo.

Right now, I’m working on:

  • Fine-tuning the settings so it’s challenging, but not “spawn, breathe, die” levels of misery.
  • Figuring out a sensible (or chaotic) map progression — because who doesn’t want to see me go from Midlands 4 to Aberration and beyond?

This new series will (hopefully) kick off after the ARK Day One Diaries finish, so stay tuned!

⛏️ Minecraft: 15 Rules of Mayhem

Yes, I’m also eyeing Minecraft. But not just any survival run — I’m planning a permadeath challenge with a twist:

  • 👉 I’ll start with a list of 15 survival rules.
  • 👉 Each day, I have to follow one rule.
  • 👉 If I fail? The next day I’ll have to follow two rules at once.
  • 👉 Keep failing? Enjoy juggling three, four, five rules… you get the idea.

It’s part survival, part self-sabotage, part comedy. I’m still finalizing the rules (because let’s be honest, there are so many ways to make this worse for myself). Expect everything from “no weapons today” to “you must sleep every night or else.”

🔜 What’s Coming Next

In the meantime, the usual suspects continue:

  • SnowRunner: The Permagear Diaries are ready to get muddy.
  • Dredge: Madness? What madness? I’m totally fine.
  • The Cold Chronicles: Still cold. Still surviving. Somehow.
  • Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Stealth archer life, mostly.
  • Grounded: Where the backyard is the scariest place I’ve ever been.

Thanks for following along! If you’re enjoying the ride (or the wrecks), make sure to subscribe or follow on Tumblr, Facebook, or Bluesky. Chaos loves company.

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Here’s What You Missed This Week – Survivor Incognito Recap

It’s been another action-packed week of survival, chaos, and questionable decisions over at Survivor Incognito. If you’ve been busy wrestling giant crabs, flipping trucks, or dodging ghost fish, here’s your chance to catch up!

🌨️ Monday – Why I Made SnowRunner Permadeath

I broke down the logic (or madness?) behind turning SnowRunner into a permadeath challenge. Because nothing says “relaxing drive” like knowing one bad flip could end it all. [Read More Here]

🌊 Tuesday – Dark Waters: A Dredge Survival – Day Four

The sea giveth, the sea taketh away… and sometimes it just giveth more terror. Day Four of my Dredge permadeath series saw the madness meter creeping ever higher. [Dark Waters: A Dredge Survival – Day Four]

🐺 Wednesday – The Cold Chronicles – Day Seven

Another day, another frostbite risk. My Voyageur survivor braved the cold and the chaos as we inch further into this brutal Long Dark journey. [The Cold Chronicles Day Seven: A Voyageur’s Tale of The Long Dark]

🏹 Thursday – Sneak, Snipe, Repeat – Day Nine

The Argonian archer continued slinking through Skyrim, proving that stealth is great—right up until it isn’t. Day Nine brought more dragons, more necromancy, and more “how did that go so wrong?” moments. [Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Skyrim Survival Day Nine]

🐜 Friday – Grounded: Day Two

The backyard is still terrifying. Day Two brought more bugs, more base-building, and more moments of me asking why I ever thought permadeath was a good idea here. [The Backyard Trials: Grounded Permadeath – Day Two]

🦖 Saturday – Day One Diaries of ARK: Survival Evolved Announced

Big news! I announced the upcoming Day One Diaries for ARK: Survival Evolved. Expect dinos, disasters, and probably a lot of running for my life. [Get the details here]

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🎉 500 Views of Portable Chaos – Thank You for Stopping By!

Survivor Incognito has crossed 500 views! A huge thank you to everyone who’s joined the portable survival chaos. Here’s to more maps, more diaries, and probably more regrettable decisions.

57 Days. 500 Views. And At Least That Many Bad Spear Throws.

Somehow, this little survival corner of the internet has crossed 500 views—and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s visited, clicked, or accidentally found the blog while looking for something else entirely. (Hey, I’ll take it.)

When I started Survivor Incognito 57 days ago, it was just a space to share:

Survival game stories (usually featuring questionable decisions)

Maps and guides (so you don’t get lost like I do)

And a lot of Switch-based chaos


Fast forward to today, and I’m genuinely thrilled that over 500 views’ worth of folks have joined in. Whether you came for ARK maps, The Long Dark Customloper settings, Skyrim survival mishaps, or just to watch the chaos unfold—thank you.

🚀 What’s Next?

The chaos continues:

The Day One Diaries: ARK Edition is launching soon, filling the weekend gaps with fresh prehistoric panic.

The map pages and hubs will keep growing as I explore (and inevitably die in) new places.

More survival stories, more bad ideas, and probably more pinecone tea. Expect more information soon.

🧭 Thanks for Joining the Journey

I’m just getting started. If you’ve enjoyed the blog so far: ➡ Bookmark the site
➡ Share it with fellow Switch survival fans
➡ Or just stick around for the next 500 views of portable disaster.

Here’s to the next milestone—and to thriving, not just surviving.

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🦖 Day One Diaries: ARK Edition – Now Filling the Weekend Gaps

Day One Diaries returns with an ARK twist! Each short entry covers the first chaotic 24 hours on every map in ARK: Survival Evolved for the Nintendo Switch. Chaos, dinos, and bad decisions await.

So, People Have Been Clicking the ARK Map Page…

…and that’s either a promising sign or a harbinger of incoming disaster.

Either way, welcome to a brand-new side series here on Survivor Incognito:

> 🎮 Day One Diaries: ARK Edition
A bite-sized, chaos-fueled survival journal where I explore the first 24 hours on every ARK map available on the Nintendo Switch.

This series is coming soon and will drop on one of the blog’s quieter days—Mondays, Saturdays, and Sundays—to fill in the gaps with some portable prehistoric panic.

🗺️ What to Expect

Each post will document:

• Where I spawned

• What I crafted (poorly)

• What inevitably killed me

And whether I learned anything (spoiler: probably not)


These aren’t full playthroughs—they’re glorified diary entries of my first day of disaster, all tied together with maps, Switch gameplay quirks, and whatever half-baked strategy I manage to invent before something eats me.

✅ Already Posted

I’ve already covered the following maps in earlier posts:

The Island

Scorched Earth


So I won’t be redoing those. Instead, I’ll link back to those entries when their time comes in the lineup.

🌋 What’s Next?

From here, it’s on to the rest of the maps available on the Nintendo Switch:

• Aberration

• Extinction

• Genesis Part 1

• Genesis Part 2

• Ragnarok (DLC)

Each time I publish a new Day One Diary, I’ll also update the ARK Map Hub with:

• The region map

• Survival notes

• Links to the interactive resource map

• Possibly a eulogy

🧪 A Preview of What You’re In For…

To set the mood, here’s a flawlessly accurate preview of what I expect my time in Aberration to look like—courtesy of Neebs Gaming:

> 🎥 Simon vs. Snake – Neebs Gaming in Aberration
Simon’s alone. Eating peanuts. There’s a snake. Panic ensues.

It’s everything ARK represents: snack time, followed by betrayal and screaming.

🎬 Chaos You Can Count On

If something truly unhinged happens during one of these Day One sessions—and let’s be honest, it will—it’ll earn its own spotlight as a Survivor’s Shorts post.

Because some moments of portable disaster deserve a dedicated write-up… especially the ones where I genuinely thought I was safe and then immediately wasn’t.

📅 First Entry Drops Soon

Check back next Saturday for Day One in The Island—the first stop on this tour of Switch-based suffering. Followed by Scorched Earth the next week, and then finally, Aberration.

Expect bioluminescent fungus, regret, and gravity issues. See you there.

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🛠 Behind the Blog: Why I Made SnowRunner Permadeath (and How It’s Somehow Working)

You’d think SnowRunner would be the calm one.

No wolves. No starvation. No sanity meter. Just trucks, mud, and the occasional fallen powerline. And yet, when I started playing, I realized something important:

I had the perfect canvas for portable permadeath chaos.
I just needed a few extra rules (and a slightly reckless imagination).

🎮 Why Permadeath?

Honestly? For the drama. The stakes. The thrill of knowing that if I lose a truck, it’s gone. It turns every route into a calculated risk, every muddy hill into a potential obituary.

Normal SnowRunner is about problem solving. Permadeath SnowRunner is about character. I named my trucks. I argued with myself about whether I could save one stuck in a ditch. And somehow, that made it all feel more alive.

📋 How I Fine-Tuned the Rules

Permadeath in a driving game isn’t exactly a toggle, so I had to make it work manually. A few highlights from the rulebook:

  • No selling dead trucks for profit. You’re not a junkyard, you’re a survivor.
  • Every truck gets one life—unless it’s truly recoverable later (aka, it’s not a ghost story).
  • Upgrades? Optional. Some may say I’m making things harder. Others say I’m making them funnier.

🚛 Meet the Cast

So far the crew includes:

  • Scout – plucky, chaotic energy.
  • Mac (GMC) – the dependable workhorse.
  • Frank (Fleetstar) – big, bold, and stuck somewhere inconvenient.

Yes, I name my trucks. No, I won’t apologize.

🧭 What’s Next?

More entries for The Permagear Diaries, of course. I’m stacking up posts behind the scenes before I start the full series rollout—but this chaotic convoy is very much in motion.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear:

If you had to permadeath one of your favourite games… which would it be, and how much therapy would you need after?

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