From left to right, these represent temperature, rest, drink, and food.

On the bottom left corner of the screen, you will find four dials. If you have played Episode 3 of Wintermute and know the region, it should be survivable.

Pleasant Valley is very large and can be difficult to navigate, but there's lots to find in the farmhouse, the plane crash, and Thomson's crossing.

Coastal Highway has milder weather than either Mountain Town or Mystery Lake and plentiful looting opportunities, but parts of the map, especially near the Quonset Garage, tend to have a high population of dangerous animals.

Mystery Lake has a moderate number of structures and low predator density, along with lots of hunting opportunities, and is a good choice for new players.

It also doesn't have any fishing, eliminating one potential food source.

Mountain Town has plenty of buildings to loot, but more predators than some of the other regions.

For new players, it's likely best to start in one of the four regions below. When you start a new game of The Long Dark in any difficulty other than Interloper, you will be given a choice of regions you can start in, which will greatly affect the initial difficulty of the survival experience.

The long dark bear challenge map