Today Bethesda announced that Skyrim‘s new Survival Mode has been released on Steam for beta testing. There have been a number of mods that allowed players to make the environment of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim more challenging, adding the need to dress warmly or bathe regularly. Survival mode gathers together many of these types of mods to create a truly harsh country filled with things, both monstrous and natural, that want to kill you. Players can see what test out Survival mode and see what lies in store for them simply by opting into the beta through Steam.

Survival Mode adds new gameplay features and challenges to transform Skyrim into a land of unrelenting cold and harsh wilderness. You can check out the map below to see all the treacherous climate zones, plus helpful landmarks that could ensure you survive your journey. For maximum challenge, try Survival with Legendary difficulty.

So what all does this mean for those trying to fight their way through Skyrim’s now unforgiving terrain?

• Hunger
  • Being hungry will lower your stamina and decrease your ability to wield weapons. Eating cooked food helps the most, and eating raw food might give you food poisoning. As a bonus, just like in real life, hot soup will restore your hunger meter and your cold meter.

• Fatigue
  • Don’t like resting and sleeping? Now that will effect your ability to use magic. As your fatigue ramps up you’ll have access to less Magicka, Stamina and potions will be less potent. You also have to sleep in order to level up, just like in older games like Oblivion and Morrowind.
• Cold
  • As you might be able to guess, the frigid cold and winds of Skyrim will be your biggest foe, as you get colder, your max health will decrease, and you’ll be less able to perform things like pickpocketing or lock picking, activities that require manual dexterity. If you continue to face the cold without warming up, eventually your maximum health will reach 0 and you will die of exposure.

• Warmth
  • Fear not! You can wear warm clothes and stand near fires and eat soup to stay warm. Even holding a torch will help.
• Freezing Water
  • Frostbite sets in quickly when you combine artic winds, wet clothes, and ice.
• Disease
  • Creatures from all over Skyrim now carry a whole slew of new and exciting diseases! Vanilla diseases are even more potent, and if you don’t cure them they will get worse, becoming afflictions.
• Affliction
  • Afflictions are your diseases getting worse, but as an added bonus, they stick around even after you get cured, my favorite afflictions include:
    • Weakened: Less effective at melee combat.
    • Addled: Your spells and enchantments are less effective.
    • Frostbitten: Your ability to use a bow and pick locks and pockets is decreased.
• No Fast Travel
• No Health Regeneration
• Carry weight reduced
• Shrines don’t cure disease for free
• Perks/Standing Stones benefit reduced

All in all, it sounds like a brutal experience that should be fun for the whole family. The Survival Mode will be available for testing immediately on Steam, and next early month for PS4 and XB1. Both console and PC players will have a free week to struggle against the elements before having to pay to unlock the features through the Creation Club.