Overview:

Is it possible to successfully marry a linear, authored narrative experience to an open-world sandbox? Using anecdotes and insights gained through the ongoing development of the hit survival game 'The Long Dark', van Lierop shares hard-won lessons about community-informed development, the principles that define a successful sandbox gameplay experience, and the challenges of wrapping a story mode around the core of a popular survival sandbox, with a large vocal community of players who might just prefer you left it alone!