Elden Ring becomes a survival game thanks to this mod that adds features like hunger, thirst, and disease

Elden Ring gameplay
(Image credit: FromSoftware / Bandi Namco)

Elden Ring becomes a survival game thanks to a new mod.

With fearsome enemies around every corner, life in The Lands Between can be tough. But if you're tired of having your Tarnished always meeting their end in battle, you can now mix things up by having them die of dehydration, starvation and disease too.

The Elden Ring Survival Mode mod comes courtesy of modder Grimrukh and adds an assortment of survival mechanics to From Software's latest. Crafting will be essential to staying alive as you'll need to whip up items to fend off hunger, thirst, and even temperature effects. And don't expect your horse to be of much help in this hostile place as, according to the mod's description, "Torrent is also nerfed". 

To add to your woes, weapons can't be found or purchased, so if you don't want to be stuck pounding enemies with your fists, you'll have to craft those too. Various diseases are also now rampant in the Lands Between, which you can randomly contract. A video of the mod posted by Grimrukh on Twitter shows their Tarnished come down with a disease called the 'Plague of Limgrave', which sounds anything but pleasant. As the footage shows, travelling around Caelid is also much more of a pain thanks to its fierce heat. 

Lastly, you'd best stock up on carrots or invest in a good torch as nighttime is now much darker. If you think you're up to the challenge, the Survival Mode mod is available to download right now on NexusMods.

In other Elden Ring news, the manga that inspired both Dark Souls and Elden Ring is returning after the passing of its author Kentaro Miura last year. Berserk will now be spearheaded by Miura's close friend Kouji Mori.

This year has seen some great releases already, and there's a lot more still to come. Take a look at our guide to the new games 2022 and beyond to add to your wishlist now.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.

Read more
Elden Ring Nightreign
Elden Ring Nightreign feels like a modded version of FromSoftware's best game ever – and after 3 hours, I only wanted to play more
Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree
"A lot of the joy is in the difficulty": After spending 400+ hours dying 15,000 times in a painful Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree run, streamer admits challenges have "ruined normal gaming" for him
Elden Ring Nightreign
The random events in Elden Ring Nightreign are the funniest thing FromSoftware's ever cooked up, from a rain of ants to Morgott jump scares
Abyss Ring screenshot of two goblins in a stone dungeon, with the player facing them in first-person view
I didn't know how badly I wanted to grill and gobble up monsters until this upcoming survival roguelike made it look so tasty
Clashing swords against a warrior in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 dev weighs in on why it's getting harder to survive in RPGs – "If a game is 150 hours and all of your sessions are the same, you're gonna get bored"
Elden Ring Nightreign screenshot which highlights just how important co-op will be because of towering spider threats
Elden Ring Nightreign's map will sometimes see "large-scale changes" to terrain including procedurally appearing volcanos, forests, and yes, swamps
Latest in Action Rpg
Bloodborne
Less than 40 hours later, Bloodborne master completes world's first, no leveling dance pad run of the 10-year-old Soulslike after proving herself with Dark Souls 3 and Elden Ring: "I knew this would be a grueling experience"
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 dialogue
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Hans Capon actor wants another sequel, and even though he's already got his own ideas, he thinks "Warhorse will smash it" regardless: "They never get it wrong"
Kratos and Atreus in God of War
The 20th Anniversary of the original God of War has me reflecting back on what the incredible reboot achieved 7 years ago
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds' first free title update is getting a showcase next week to unveil "a host" of new additions coming to the action RPG
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows draws attention of Japan's Prime Minister, who says "defacing a shrine is out of the question" in real life, but politicians acknowledge "freedom of expression must be respected" in the game
Diablo 4 lunar event
Blizzard came up with Diablo 4's most powerful item modifiers at the last minute: "Literally, we had 2 weeks left in the development schedule"
Latest in News
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says
First-person screenshot from ASYLUM, showing the protagonist's hand holding up a notebook while walking through a dark corridor.
After 15 years and a $120,000 Kickstarter push, this cult horror dev has finally released a successor to their 2006 breakout game