The Long Dark is about surviving. Created by Hinterland Games — a new studio formed by industry veterans from franchises like Far Cry, Mass Effect, and God of War — it takes place in the forests of the Pacific Northwest following the events of a massive, planet-wide disaster. You play as a bush pilot named William Mackenzie who crashes into the wilderness and has to figure out just what's happening — but only after he learns how to stay alive. And, much like in games like Minecraft, you aren't given a lot of direction when it comes to what you need to do. "It's about putting the player in the world and letting the world give them information, and letting the player make decisions about what they want to do with that information," says creative director Raphael van Lierop. "We're kind of expecting something more from our players, instead of guiding them through the whole game."

"We're kind of expecting something more from our players."

Games like Fallout 3 already toss players into a huge world and force them to survive, but the team at Hinterland is aiming to craft an experience that's much more true to real life. For example, the game will track how many calories you burn, so you'll need to be careful about how you expend your energy. Running will burn those calories faster than walking, and finding food to replenish them will be a challenge. "We're focusing on some things that a lot of games just gloss over," says van Lierop. And that's where Fragassi comes in. While van Lierop currently lives on the northern part of Vancouver Island — "I can walk out of my office, and five minutes away from here there's about 50 kilometer of mountain biking trails and logging roads that twist through the mountains," he says — the rest of the team isn't quite so familiar with the great outdoors.

Stacks of survival guides and manuals were used as a starting point, but Fragassi has since signed on to help add that extra layer of authenticity. "We wanted someone who was going to give us the raw goods on things," says van Lierop. "He's there to make sure that we're as accurate as possible." Since The Long Dark is still somewhat early in development, most of Fragassi's contributions so far have consisted of "pretty high-level" concepts, as opposed to more nitty gritty game elements. But soon he'll have a much more hands-on approach with the team — literally.