If you thought Elden Ring Runes was hard already, try playing it with Long COVID symptoms.

COVID-19 continues to be a huge problem worldwide, even though many get over it, others aren't so lucky. For some, it might be a debilitating disease that leaves you constantly fatigued, not able to think, and sometimes even not able to stand. Long COVID, the condition is known, is poorly understood and thus far doesn't have a cure, with huge numbers of people still suffering.

To help raise understanding of the condition and encourage both public discourse and action, a European network of patient organizations reached out to several modders to simulate the results of Long COVID in Elden Ring, The Witcher 3, and Minecraft. The mods are designed to "let players experience what it's like to accept Long COVID by providing their game character its symptoms."

"It adds a layer of difficulty alive in the game, something Long COVID patients are dealing with the truth is," wrote Long COVID Europe. "It also taps into the habit of gamers constantly seeking to up the difficulty within their game."

The Long COVID Elden Ring mod certainly increases the game's difficulty. You can be prepared to always move 25 percent slower, have vastly reduced stamina regeneration in combat, take damage by using charged attacks, think it is extremely difficult hitting targets with spells or arrows, and take a long time to get up from the Site of Grace. And you can randomly be prepared to blackout, drop down, lose runes, or perhaps be hurt after drinking a flask rather than being healed.

The Witcher 3 mod takes items to the next level by having an exhaustion system--the greater you move, attack, or do anything whatsoever at all, the greater you lower your stamina. Once depleted, you will get an exertion level that hits you with worsening symptoms. At exertion level three, your Witcher senses become clouded, and also at exertion level four, they become disabled entirely. You'll also start randomly dropping items, and losing tabs on time while meditating so you miss your assigned wake-up time.

Things aren't any better in Minecraft, in which the mod enables you to slow down, lie awake during sex, not able to strike targets together with your bow and be inefficient at mining ore.

"As gaming is just about the most popular type of entertainment, overtaking film and TV, believe to really show the impact of Long COVID than attempting to beat Elden Ring--a game of the season and notoriously difficult--while "suffering" in the same symptoms in-game," said buy elden ring runes challenge runner Perri Karyal. "I think this really is such a poignant illustration showing the real problems people face along with a great method of spreading the content."

You can download the mods on the Long COVID Europe website or by heading straight to the mod download pages.