Tag: The Long Dark

The Pancake Betrayal: A Tale of Syrup, Hope, and Crushing Disappointment in The Long Dark

On Day 1, I found Lily’s pancake recipe. On Day 2, maple syrup. I dared to dream. But The Long Dark had other plans. Here’s the tragic tale of the pancakes that never were.

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How It All Began

It started like all great adventures do: with breakfast.

Day 1 of my Customloper run. I was cold, hungry, and rummaging through Milton like a raccoon with a pension. That’s when I found it. A recipe card tucked neatly into a drawer: Lily’s Pancakes.

Hope bloomed. Pancakes. In the apocalypse.

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Day 2: Syrup From The Heavens

Then it happened. The gods of calories smiled upon me.

I found maple syrup. Actual syrup. In a game where peanut butter is a rare treasure and soda is currency, this was the nectar of the ancients.

I had the recipe. I had the syrup. All I needed was… the ability to cook it?

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The Dream Dies

Enter Cooking Skill 4.

And acorn grounds.

Because apparently, pancakes in The Long Dark are a late-game luxury, not a wholesome wilderness breakfast. You need to:

Boil acorns

Grind them

Have mastered the culinary arts

Possibly offer a sacrifice to the RNG gods


I barely have shoes. But yes, let’s make artisanal pancake flour from forest nuts.

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The Aftertaste of Betrayal

So now the recipe sits in my inventory, mocking me. The syrup? Hoarded like liquid gold. And I? I chew on stale crackers in the corner, dreaming of what could’ve been.

One day, I will reach Cooking Skill 4.
One day, I will gather acorns, grind them, and make pancake batter.

But today? Today I make tea. And try not to cry.

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Final Thoughts

This game has broken me before, but never like this. Frostbite? Bear maulings? Fine. But withholding pancakes? That’s a new low.

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For more info on what Customloper is, please check out: The Long Dark Customloper Settings: Easier Interloper Survival Mode

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Want to read more tales like this? Please check out: Survivor’s Shorts

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Here’s What’s Coming Next Week on Survivor Incognito

Another week, another round of questionable life choices in wildly inhospitable environments. Here’s what’s landing on the blog over the next few days:

Monday – Day One Diary: No Man’s Sky
Stranded on a frozen planet with nothing but a busted scanner and a dream. Thermal protection is falling faster than my confidence, and there are plants that bite back. Perfect start, really.

Wednesday – Day One Diary: Customloper – The Long Dark
My gentler Interloper settings meet the frozen coast of the Coastal Highway. Looting begins, weather disagrees, and the chaos is only just getting started. First steps on a new permadeath run which will be starting June 8th.

Thursday – Skyrim Survival Day 5
My Argonian stealth archer continues his journey across the frosty north—this time, with fewer torches, more panic, and an increasing failing at slealth. Good times.

Friday – The Long Dark – Day 5 (Voyageur Run)
Blizzards, bears, and birch bark. What could go wrong? Find out as the saga of survival (and accidental near-death experiences) rolls on.


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As always, all runs are permadeath, all chaos is real, and all posts go live at 1PM GMT.

Got a favourite so far? Curious about what’s next? Feel free to leave a comment—or just quietly judge my survival decisions from afar.


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Here’s What You Missed This Week – Permadeath and Prybars

Survival, strategy, and a fair bit of falling into things.

It’s been another chaotic but oddly satisfying week at Survivor Incognito, where the snow is endless, the bandits are clingy, and my survival strategy often involves “run first, question everything later.” Here’s what dropped this week:

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Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Day 3

A High Elf ambush kicked off the day, because Skyrim doesn’t believe in subtlety. Our Dragonborn-in-training wandered into Whiterun with no torch, accidentally handed in a quest they’d already completed, became Thane, fought a dragon, and looted half the city’s cheese stockpile—all without a working flashlight.
Read the chaos here:
Day 3 – Whiterun Welcomes Me

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The Cold Chronicles – Day 4

Our Voyageur finally escaped Crumbling Highway, stepping into Coastal Highway only to meet gale-force winds, a casual bear, and wolves with a personal vendetta. Despite blizzards and a questionable cliff descent, they found shelter, loot, and just so many prybars.
Read it here:
Day 4 – A Voyageur’s Tale of The Long Dark

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New Pages Launched

The Graveyard

Where runs go when they’ve gone… poorly. From unexpected wolf attacks to permadeath pratfalls, this page memorializes your greatest “oops.”
Visit The Graveyard

Rules of Survival

A breakdown of how I play survival games on the blog: permadeath is non-negotiable, no cheats, no take-backs, no mercy. Also includes series-specific rules for The Long Dark, Skyrim, and No Man’s Sky.
Read the Rules

Customloper Settings

Tired of Interloper crushing your soul but still want a challenge? Enter: Customloper—Interloper weather with settings that don’t make you cry into your bedroll. Full settings list, and a FAQ included.
See the Settings

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Customloper is Live – Interloper Weather, Voyageur Loot, No Mercy

Customloper is here.

If you’ve ever thought “Voyageur is too chill, but Interloper is just mean,” this one’s for you.

Customloper is my custom game mode for The Long Dark — combining Interloper-level weather and fire-starting with Voyageur loot and wildlife settings. It’s brutal, but fair. Cold, but not cruel. Wolves still bite, but they’ll give you 24 hours to get your act together.

This isn’t just a settings list. The guide includes:

  • Full breakdown of every Customloper setting
  • Recommended starting regions (and which ones to avoid)
  • Key survival tips that will actually help you not die
  • A full FAQ for confused and/or skeptical players
  • The custom code you can plug in and try for yourself

Read the full guide here:
Customloper Settings & Survival Guide

Coming Wednesday:

The Day 1 Diary — a full playthrough using these settings. Expect regret, cold, and probably rabbits.

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Customloper: The Long Dark Challenge That Outlasted the Challenge

For the past 6–7 months, I’ve been running a custom difficulty mode in The Long Dark. The goal was simple: I wanted to keep the spirit of Voyageur—but with a dose of Stalker and a blast of Interloper.. After testing and tweaking, here’s where I landed:

  • Voyageur-level of loot – because scrounging should feel rewarding
  • Wildlife set between Voyageur and Stalker – you’re not safe, but you’re not helpless
  • Interloper weather – cold enough to regret every decision

It wasn’t meant to be a thing, but after two runs, it kind of is:

  • My first run ended in Forlorn Muskeg, trying to reach Mountain Town after coming back from the Airfield. Spoiler alert: The ice got me again. I think I lasted maybe a week in-game
  • The other? I’m sitting at around 60 days, and still alive in Mystery Lake… but after dropping four bears, I realised I might have broken the game’s spirit before it broke mine.

So now I’m bringing my Customloper game to the blog properly.

Coming Soon:

  • A full breakdown of every setting I use
  • The actual Customloper code so you can try it yourself
  • A brand new Day One Diary – Because I honestly can’t remember anything about my original first day
  • Plus survival tips for weather that makes Interloper look like light snow

This isn’t Interloper.
It’s Interloper with options—and that might be even more dangerous.

Wait—Isn’t This Blog About Easier Survival?

It is. And that hasn’t changed.
Customloper isn’t about going full Interloper. It’s about dialing in a challenge that keeps things tense but playable. Think of it as controlled chaos—for players who want pressure without the permadeath purgatory.

Think you can survive it? The full code drops soon. Stay tuned

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Skyrim Day 3 Incoming + Blog Updates!

Skyrim Survival – Day 3 drops this Wednesday. After reaching Whiterun, I get caught up in the city’s favorite pastime: dragon slaying. Spoiler—my attempt at stealth archery is about as subtle as a mammoth in a library.

In the meantime, the blog’s had a few upgrades:

  • The Skyrim Hub is now live! It’s the central place for the full survival run and all related content.
  • The Long Dark Hub It’s the central place for the full survival run and all related content.
  • The Graveyard is open—every permadeath now gets logged, labelled, and (lightly) mocked.
  • The FAQ page answers burning questions like “Why the Switch?” and “Was that death avoidable?” (Usually: yes.)

New content’s coming. Expect chaos. Bring your torch.

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The Long Dark Beginner’s Guide is Now Live!

Just starting out in The Long Dark on Nintendo Switch? Cold, hungry, and not sure what you’re doing? I’ve got you covered.

The Beginner’s Guide is now live—and it walks you through:

● Choosing the right difficulty

● Where to start (hint: not on a mountain)

● Managing warmth, hunger, thirst, and rest

● Understanding the User Hub

● What to actually do in your first in-game week


Plus, there’s a full controls table and region map to stop you from wandering in circles.

Click here to read the full guide

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Here’s What’s Ahead This Week – Survivor Incognito Update

Coming Up This Week:

1. Skyrim Survival Day Three:

○ Our Argonian survivor continues their frigid, torchless march through Skyrim.

○ Follow the chaos and check out the full series on the Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Skyrim Survival page.

2. The Long Dark Day Four:

○ More snow, more mistakes, and fewer calories

○ Full playthrough available on the The Cold Chronicles: A Voyageur’s Tale of The Long Dark page.

In Case You Missed It:

  • We’ve covered some basic Rules of Survival already:

○ If the game let’s you cheat death (The Long Dark, looking at you), we don’t take the offer.

○ Difficulty stays low, but decisions still have consequences.

  • Expect more games to enter rotation soon – but the current runs must end first. That’s the deal.

In The Works:

● Beginner’s Guide: How To Survive Your First Week in The Long Dark

A practical walk through focusing on Mystery Lake. For players who want survival not suffering.

● No Man’s Sky – Survival Series Pending

The space odyssey is on standby. It won’t launch until one of the current playthroughs wraps up. That gives me time to build out a few early entries before going live.

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New Rules, Who Dis? (Permadeath Begins Now)

Setting the official rules for all future playthroughs on Survivor Incognito—permadeath is here, and chaos just got consequences.

Starting today, all future playthroughs on this blog—The Long Dark, Skyrim: Survival Mode, and anything else I drag my tired, freezing self into—will follow official permadeath rules.

That means:

If I die, that run is over.

No reloads. No saves. No mercy.

I start fresh from Day 1, with a new character or region.

What about previous entries?

My original Day 1 diary for The Long Dark was from my first experience with the game—long before these rules existed. So yes, I fell through the ice and died like a confused deer. That was real. That was me. That was chaos, pre-regulations.

What now?

From here on out:

I’ll clearly label each run.

I’ll document every in-game day, death or glory.

And I’ll stick to the rules. Even if a moose doesn’t.

Full breakdown of the rules are now live and can be found here [The Rules of Survival (According to Me)]

Let’s see how long I last.

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Here’s What You Missed This Week (And What Is Coming Soon)

Missed this week’s survival updates? Catch up on new posts, check out what is in progress, and out where Survivor Incognito is headed next.

What You Missed This Week:

● Sneak, Snipe, Repeat – Day Two:

The Skyrim Survival saga continues with a cold climb, stealthy bow work, and a few undead inconveniences: Sneak, Snipe, Repeat: Skyrim Survival – Day Two

● A Voyageur’s Tale – Day Three:

Said “Nope” to a bridge guarded by a moose, took a detour through an abandoned mine, and emerged in the Crumbling Highway in my continuing search for matches: The Cold Chronicles: A Voyageur’s Tale of The Long Dark – Day 3

● The Map Hub is Live!

Currently featuring:

○ ARK: The Island

○ ARK: Scorched Earth

○ The Long Dark Regions Transition Zones

More maps and survival notes are on the way: The Map Hub

Pinterest is now a thing!

You can now follow Survivor Incognito on Pinterest for post updates, gear lists, and all the cozy chaos in one scrollable place: Pinterest Page

What’s in the Works:

● Green Hell – Day One Diary

Failed to punch some trees, got poisoned by something unseen, and spent most of the day searching for vines to make rope. A strong start.

● Beginner-Friendly Guide – The Long Dark

A practical survival intro using Mystery Lake, minus the gatekeeping.

And finally, a Privacy Policy page is now live – because even barely-surviving bloggers need fine print. Read it Here

And remember: if it moves and growls, it’s probably not friendly. Survivor Incognito,  signing off – for now.

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