Heat Wave Approved Video Games

If you live anywhere in the United States, chances are you are living through a scorching heat wave right now. A few of the of ways to survive this hellscape is to
1. Only venture out if its in pursuit of a Stroopwafel McFlurry
2. Crank up that air conditioning and hope the power grid doesn’t collapse
3. Play a video game with a chilly atmosphere to mentally escape the heat

So, what are our picks for some heat wave approved games?

The Long Dark
Nothing puts a chill in your bones quite like surviving alone in the frozen tundra of the Canadian wilderness. And here I thought Canada was all maple syrup and polite pleasantries! The Long Dark is a survival/exploration game originally released in 2014 on PC but it came to the PS4 in 2017. It is a rewarding and grueling game and with the constant snow, it will definitely be a nice change of scenery from real life. In the game, you will spend most of your time trying to avoid wolves, avoid freezing to death, avoid starving to death, avoid falling… to death. You get the point. Personally, I love playing survival games or reading books that have a survival element because it really does put things into perspective. Yes, it may be extremely hot outside in real life. But it’s not as bad as they have it in the game. At least in real life, I am not huddled around a trash can, freaking out because I know I don’t have enough wood to last through the night, and I know that there is a bear outside of this broken down train car that I am hiding in. Good news on the Long Dark front, looking at the Developer Diary page on their website, they are continuously putting out updates to the Long Dark. So you can tell this is a team that cares about this project. The most recent update was called the Steadfast Ranger, which was a solid survival mode update with lots of elements that made the game even better. There is also talk about season 3 of the Long Dark arriving sometime in the near future. So now is a great time to jump into this game. Just avoid getting an ankle sprain, or you gon’ die! Take a look at their plans for the game here!

Conan Exiles – The Frozen North
My clan in Conan Exiles has set up shop in the southern goldy locks section of the map where it’s not too hot, not too cold to catch our bearings and level up before adventuring out into unknown perils. But as the heat wave hits real life, we thought it might be fun to start venturing into the FROZEN NORTH. As all things in Conan Exiles, to get from point A to point B, you have to craft one million things to be ready. What things can we expect in the north? Well we know that we will need armor that is weather proofed for the colder biome. Other items that can help us survive the northern hemisphere would be of course a good shelter, and apparently spicy food! So, hopefully by the time you are reading this, the clan will be slashing our way through the chilly mountains. I can’t wait to see what new pets I can tame when we get up north! What will be up there to tame? Wolves? Snow trolls? Krampus? We will just have to find out.
Want to see what else is going on with Conan Exiles? Check out their update page here. In May, they put out the Riddle of Steel DLC to honor Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, the Barbarian. So, this is definitely a game that keeps getting more impressive every year.

Subnautica
Nothing will cool you off more than dipping your toes into the fictional ocean planet 4546B in the game Subnautica. This game is an open world survival adventure experience where you are the sole survivor of a spaceship marooned on an alien planet. So you will spend most of your time underwater exploring, base building, and interacting with wildlife. Want to get to even cooler temps tires? Subnautica released an early access new standalone expansion Below Zero on PC. The trailer looks amazing! Check it out here!

Well that’s all for us. In all seriousness, try to stay cool during this heatwave. Watch out for the animals and the people in your life. Check in on old neighbors to make sure they are ok, keep your pet’s paws off the hot pavement, keep everyone indoors, people and pets! It’s too damn hot!

-Mel