COVID-19 is still a huge problem worldwide, and while many recover from it, others aren't so lucky. For some, it becomes a debilitating disease that leaves you constantly fatigued, unable to think, and sometimes even unable to stand. Long COVID, as the condition is called, is poorly understood and so far has no cure, with millions of people still suffering.
To help raise awareness of the condition and encourage both public discourse and action, a European network of patient organizations reached out to several modders to simulate the effects of Long COVID in Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, and Minecraft. The mods are all designed to "let players experience what it is like to live with Long COVID by giving their game character its symptoms."
"It adds a layer of difficulty to life in the game, something Long COVID patients are dealing with in reality," wrote Long COVID Europe. "It also taps into the habit of gamers constantly looking to up the difficulty in their game."
The Long COVID Elden Ring mod certainly adds to the game's difficulty. You can expect to always move 25 percent slower, have vastly reduced stamina regeneration in combat, take damage from using charged attacks, find it extremely difficult to hit targets with spells or arrows, and take forever to get up from a Site of Grace. And you can randomly expect to blackout, drop to the ground, lose runes, or be hurt after drinking a flask instead of being healed.
The Witcher 3 mod takes things to the next level with an exhaustion system--the more you move, attack, or do anything at all, the more you decrease your stamina. Once depleted, you gain an exertion level that hits you with worsening symptoms. At exertion level three, your Witcher senses become clouded, and at exertion level four they become disabled entirely. You'll also start randomly dropping items, and losing track of time while meditating so that you miss your assigned wake-up time.
Things are no better in Minecraft, where the mod makes you slow, lie awake in bed, unable to strike targets with your bow, and inefficient at mining ore.
"As gaming has become the most popular form of entertainment, overtaking film and TV, what better way to really show the impact of Long COVID than trying to beat Elden Ring--game of the year and notoriously difficult--while "suffering" from the same symptoms in-game," said Elden Ring challenge runner Perri Karyal. "I think this is such a poignant demonstration of the real problems people face and a great way of spreading the message."
You can download the mods from the Long COVID Europe website or by heading directly to the mod download pages.