Peak

Midplayz
Dec 26, 2025
7 min read

The Game That’s Actually Peak

I played this goofy ahh game, laughed at my friends falling into literal nothingness and genuinely had a blast. PEAK is a co-op climbing game where you & up to three pals try not to die while scaling a very very “angry” mountain. It’s goofy, tense and…weirdly emotional at times. The game was released by Aggro Crab and Landfall under their LandCrab collab. It arrived on Steam as a cozy little chaos machine that many people, me included, kept coming back to.

About This Game

Storyline

Pretty short & sweet, which I appreciate a lot!

Premise

You crash on an island and discover a not-so-scary-looking mountain at the centre. Your only realistic life plan is to climb it. You are a scout, you have scout friends and the mountain has opinions about your existence. The story is intentionally light, more of a setup for the chaos than a narrative deep dive.

World vibe The island and its biomes give off vibes that are sometimes cute and sometimes hostile. The game balances whimsy and actual danger in a way that made me smile and giggle one moment and flinch the next. The island doesn’t just feel hostile, it like actively reacts to how you play. Stray too far from your group and the creepy Scoutmaster shows up to make sure you regret that decision. I am not kidding when I say that he's scary asf...

Gameplay Mechanics

This is the meat and the main reason I kept yelling into my mic.

Core Loop

Climb, manage stamina, gather items, avoid biome hazards, revive teammates and somehow keep morale above the “crying & giving up” levels. Every run feels like a short but unique adventure, usually ending with cheers or a bunch of us sliding down a cliff while screaming or laughing, depending on how serious we are.

Co-op & Social Stuff

Proximity voice chat makes failures hilarious. When someone falls you can literally hear them fade away. It’s chaotic in the best way possible. I loved how teamwork felt meaningful but also optional for maximum chaos. Community features are very grab-your-friends-and-go.

Items & Progression

There’s a small inventory limit, quirky items (yes, anti-rope and cannons are real things in this game) and cosmetics to earn. Completing default difficulty gives you a couple of badges, cosmetics and unlocks harder modes. The devs add small updates and new maps fairly often, so the route variety keeps things fresh.

Randomness & Replayability

The map rotates every 24 hours, so the route you learned yesterday might be different today. That daily shake-up is actually brilliant for the replay value and keeps streams & friend groups coming back.

The Scoutmaster Pressure

The game actively discourages lone-wolf behaviour. If you wander a bit too far from your team, the Scoutmaster shows up to remind you that this is in fact a co-op game. He makes everything more stressful, more dangerous and wayy harder than it needs to be. It’s a smart way of forcing teamwork without slapping a tutorial message on your screen and the first time he appeared it absolutely caught us off guard.

Visuals & Audio

Visuals

Bright, chunky character models and pretty simple yet accessible art design. It’s not hyper-realistic and it doesn’t need to be. The colourful, slightly cartoony look matches the goofy-yet-threatening tone perfectly.

Audio & Music

Good proximity chat implementation; environmental sounds make falls and silly mistakes feel dramatic. Also, and this is a highlight for me, the game had a limited-time in-game concert featuring bbno$ which I ABSOLUTELY loved. The concert was a weekend-only event where giant performer avatars popped up on the shore if you blew the bugle. I forced my friends to hop on and binged the mini-set; hearing those songs in-game with the lights and crazy visuals was pure, messy joy. The event also included Ironmouse and vanillamace as guests in their respective songs. If you were there, you know how chaotic, random and fun it felt.

Pros

Ridiculously fun co-op: I laughed until I cried...perfect game for friend groups.
Strong replayability: Daily map rotation and constant updates keep it fresh and up its replayability factor.
Charming art and soundtrack: It feels upbeat but dangerous. Everything just works perfectly in setting the game’s vibes.
Active dev support: They push quirky events and fixes, which I really appreciate.

Cons

Occasional bugs or netcode hiccups: Sometimes the rubber-banding or weird falls make me rage a little.
Event-only cosmetics: Fun, but if you miss a weekend event you miss a thing you might've actually wanted.
Short session lengths: Good for quick laughs, but if you want a long single-session campaign it’s not that, unless you don’t mind re-playing multiple times.

The bbno$ Event (A Highlight on Its Own)

This event still stands out as one of the most random and coolest surprises PEAK ever pulled off, and the song choices were a big part of why it worked (For me at least).

Songs featured in the event

The in-game performance included:

“1-800” featuring Ironmouse
“two”
“bing bong” featuring Vanillamace

Each song fit the goofy, high-energy vibe of the game really well.

Guest appearances that actually mattered

Ironmouse’s appearance during 1-800 added that extra “internet crossover” energy and it was pretty cute, while Vanillamace showing up for bing bong tied perfectly into the game’s unhinged Bing Bong character.

Overall, the event felt like something the devs genuinely wanted to do for the community, not just a promotional checkbox. The songs, the guests and the way it was integrated into the world made it feel memorable and very on-brand for LandCrab. #ComeBackBbno$

Community Engagement

The game’s community interaction is honestly one of its strongest points and the best part is that it never feels forced.

Social media presence: Their short-form videos on platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Twitter are basically highlight reels of chaos. Failed climbs, cursed physics, patch updates and player clips that feel way too relatable. It feels less like marketing and more like “look at this dumb thing that happened", which fits the game perfectly.
Devs messing with players in real time: The devs talking through Bing Bong in streamers’ games was such a fun touch. Seeing an in-game object suddenly speak with dev commentary while someone is mid-panic climb was hilarious and weird in the best way. It made the devs feel present, not distant. They did mention that they won't do this again, but who knows?
Actually listening to the community: They’ve removed features or bugs before, then added them back after players asked for them because they were funny or fun. That alone tells me they understand what makes PEAK special. Fun comes first, even if it’s a little broken. Thank god they didn’t remove the Cannon Speedrun Glitch!

PEAK launched from a game jam and then quickly grew into a full release. The devs have been pushing frequent patches, new biomes and seasonal or weekend events. The team communicates via Steam news and patch notes, and the game receives constant maintenance and content patches that add maps, bug fixes and fun events. I respect how fast they iterate and how playful their community posts are.

Overall, the devs feel like part of the community instead of hovering above it, and that energy shows every time I boot the game up.

Tips From My Experience

After way too many failed climbs and a couple of “okay that was surely my fault” moments, here’s the advice I’d give if you’re jumping into this game and want to survive longer than five minutes.

General Survival Tips

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast: Rushing almost always gets you killed. Take a second to plan your route, watch your stamina, and don’t panic jump unless falling dramatically is your goal. Just stay calm and composed!
Stamina is your real health bar: If your stamina is low, you’re already in danger. Rest often, cling to safe ledges and don’t try to hero-climb when you’re running low on stamina.
Look up before you look forward: A lot of good paths are vertical, not obvious. Checking above you often reveals safer routes or grab points you’d completely miss otherwise.

Teamplay Tips

Call out everything: Ledges, ropes, hazards, shortcuts, bad ideas. Even simple callouts help your friends a ton, especially when the dumb one is about to make a very bad jump.
Anchor the group before moving on: If someone finds a safe ledge, let them hold position while others climb. One stable player can save an entire run.
Revives are risky, plan them: Don’t rush a revive while hanging on with no stamina. Get secure first, then help. Trading one death for another never feels good. If you’re close to the end of the biome, it’s okay to leave them behind as you can just respawn them at the camp.
Don’t stray too far from your team: The Scoutmaster exists for a reason. If you decide to ignore the handbook, go full solo explorer and leave your group behind, the game will punish you for it. Staying together isn’t just safer, it literally increases your chance of survival.

Item & Inventory Tips

Carry team items, not just “cool” ones: Ropes, pitons and safety tools win runs more often than weird experimental items. Someone should always be the support friend.
Inventory space is precious: Don’t hoard junk “just in case”. If something hasn’t helped in a while, ditch it. Lighter players survive longer.
Use items early, not perfectly: Saving tools for a perfect moment often means dying with them still in your pockets. Use them when they make things safer, not when things are already doomed.

Mental Game Tips

Accept that falling is part of the experience: Everyone falls. A bit more than often. Laugh it off and keep going. Some of the best runs start after an embarrassing wipe.
Learn one thing per run: A shortcut, a bad jump, a safer route. Even failed climbs make the next attempt better, hopefully.
End runs before frustration sets in: PEAK is way more fun when you stop on a laugh instead of a rage quit. Short sessions are part of the charm. Don't be the toxic one in your team.

These tips won’t make you unbeatable, but they will make you feel smarter than your friends, at least for a little while. The main goal is to have fun, so focus on that rather than trying to actually reach the peak (unless y’all decide that you’re playing seriously). It's better to have fun than be a toxic pain in the ass to your team mates.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed PEAK. It’s silly, tense and perfectly tuned for short sessions with friends. The combination of procedural daily maps, a tight cooperative loop and a dev team that clearly loves messing with the community makes this one of those indie surprises I’ll keep recommending. If you like cooperative chaos, friend-driven stories and occasional in-game concerts that make you feel like a child again, this is my game for you.

Rating: 10/10

I witnessed more drama while playing this game with my friends than while watching an Indian Soap Opera!