You wake up on a strange, unfamiliar continent. Surveying the immediate vicinity, you find nothing but some berries, tall grass, and piles of flint here and there. However, soon you find a sapling, and combining that with some materials you found earlier, you’ve made an axe. You set to work, cutting down a tree to make a bonfire with, but a hissing noise startles you. Turn around, and bang! You’ve been eaten by an angry spider.

Welcome to the wonderfully hellish game that is Don’t Starve.

This game was released in early 2013 by Klei Entertainment to a mostly positive reception, with an evocative, spooky, Tim-Burtonesque art style that was critically acclaimed. Don’t Starve is a survival game where you, playing Wilson the “Gentleman Scientist,” start with nothing, and it’s a test for even the most seasoned of gamers. The game quickly became known for its macabre humor, blistering difficulty, and, scourge of gamers everywhere, permadeath.

For those unfamiliar with the term, normal death in a video game will usually set you back to a checkpoint or start point. In a survival game such as the indie smash hit Minecraft, death will often toss you back to the point where you began the game. Not here. For those who are slewn by a gangly Tallbird, devoured by the Darkness, fail to obey the title of the game or fall to one of the other myriad of ways to perish, the consequences are harsh. Don’t Starve will not bring you to where you died, or a checkpoint, or even where you first spawned. Death means loss of the entire world. Anything you may have built or discovered is lost forever.

Now, to many, this seems unnecessary. A major flaw, even. Perhaps it is. But Don’t Starve, while about keeping yourself alive, sends a poignant message as well. You’ve been sent to this huge, lonesome world, and yet, there is still, even in this wasteland devoid of any shelter or convenient food, a glimmer of hope, of fun even. It takes, if not a special, definitely an interesting kind of person to say, “I may have been beaten to death by a mechanical man in my last game, but you know what? I’m going to have fun this time. I will not let a deadly pig-man, or a flock of flesh-masticating penguins, or even a mysterious beast that only comes out at midnight, for the sole purpose of feeding on my flesh, get in the way of my surviving, and enjoying it.”

While it’s true that this applies to the game, it’s a sentiment that can be appreciated in our everyday lives. It translates to, “I may have to get through high school, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the little things as well.” Like Wilson, I can pick a flower, or go on an adventure, or do something, anything to make my day a little more fun.” This is what will keep you coming back for more. Those tracks you saw last game, could they be here as well? You’ve found a village – perhaps its members would like to be friends! Suddenly, life isn’t so bad after all –there’s an abandoned farm, with fresh food.

For those who dare to play this gem of a game, a treacherous mix of punishment and fun awaits. You may die on your very first night, but the satisfaction of making something like the insanely difficult to acquire Presdihatitator elicits a feeling of satisfaction hard to come by in this day and age of gaming. Don’t Starve, whether you play on mobile or PC, is an adventure you don’t want to miss.