hardcore mode
Permadeath gaming difficulty
Hardcore mode is a video game difficulty setting where death is permanent—when your character dies, you lose all progress and must start over.
The stakes transform casual play into something tense and consequential: I lost my hardcore mode character after forty hours.
The term extends beyond gaming to describe any undertaking with no second chances or safety nets.
- difficultyState of being hard
- difficulty spikeSudden increase in challenge
- permadeathIrreversible character termination
- survivalRemaining alive against odds
- challengeTest of ability
ironman · nightmare · brutal · punishing · unforgiving · high stakes · roguelike · checkpoint · respawn · grind · trial and error · endgame · boss · death · game over · extra life · retry · masochist
- gamingvideo games, buff, games, PlayStation 4, gameplay
- challenging gameschess, Dark Souls, sudoku, Go, Elden Ring
- game modeseasy mode, ranked match, deathmatch, practice match, team deathmatch
- gaming achievementsplatinum trophy, gold trophy, silver trophy, bronze trophy, perfect game
- Nuzlockepermadeath, game over, perma-death, randomizer
- game overgame over, the end, you died, defeat, wasted
hardcore modeeasy mode
Lowest difficulty option
casual mode · beginner mode · story mode · creative mode · god mode
hard, core, harder, hardest, harden, hardened, hardening, hardness, hardship