Elden Ring Survival Mode Dials Up The Difficulty With Hunger Pains, Diseases And More

When we talk about modding third-person fantasy RPGs on the PC, you almost assuredly will start thinking about the Elder Scrolls series, and particularly Part V: Skyrim, with its enormous library of user mods. Those games have official modding tools straight from Bethesda, and they're built in such a way that they're easy to modify.

Still, they're not the only games of this genre getting customized by clever players. FromSoftware's Dark Souls series has a small-but-dedicated modding community, too. There are your usual graphics mods and randomizers, but there are also mods like Dark Souls: Daughters of Ash that add all kinds of custom content, including weapons, enemies, new level geometry, bosses, and more.

This year's mega-hit Elden Ring is nothing if not "open world Dark Souls," so naturally, folks have taken to modding it, too, and it uses an evolved version of the same engine FromSoftware has been using, which means the mod tools that folks have developed over the years can simply be adapted for the game's new features, like mounts. Players have already created some amazing mods, like a photomod that enables custom camera control and the famous Seamless Co-Op Mod that removes most limitations to jolly cooperation in the game.

One of the most interesting mods that we've seen from a gameplay perspective is Elden Ring Survival Mode. A somewhat-common feature in open world games is the addition of survival mechanics. Forcing the player to manage their hunger, thirst, and overall physical health layers on an extra tier of difficulty that can improve immersion—not that freakin' Elden Ring needed to be any harder. You can see the announcement and a brief trailer below:


To be clear, this is a fan-made mod, not a built-in game feature. It's also not actually out yet, although the modder plans to release it later this evening after the premiere stream (by LobosJr on Twitch) ends. We'd keep an eye on Grimrukh's "User Files" page on the Nexus if you're itching to try and fight both monsters and nature to stay alive in The Lands Between.