Co-op Days: PEAK

Chaos ensues

Co-op Days is a series where I write about the multiplayer/co-op games I’ve played with my friends and let you know my unfiltered thoughts. While I usually play games with my brother and our childhood friends every Sunday, I may also talk about games that I’ve played with my partner or with my other friends.

You can check out the other entries on this series here.

---

Play time: 7 hours
Played on: Steam Deck
Difficulty: Normal

I’ve been wanting to play PEAK for a long time — basically since the moment it came out. But because we were playing another game at the time, my co-op squad and I couldn’t get to it.

Well, we finally tried it out, and let me tell you: it’s a blast.

PEAK is a co-op climbing game where the slightest mistake can spell your doom. Either solo or as a group of lost nature scouts, your only hope of rescue from a mysterious island is to scale the mountain at its center. Do you have what it takes to reach the PEAK?

In this game, teamwork is key. You have to ensure that you stick together. You have to be aware of who has what, who is the better climber, who is the better strategist, and who dares venture forth and ‘pave the way’. I’ve been playing games with this specific group since basically I was a baby, so we instinctively knew who would be good at what. But we also tend to troll each other, which made for a chaotic and fun time.

Gameplay Mechanics

The system in this game is simple: you have a stamina bar at the bottom of your screen. Everything depends on this bar. As you climb, the bar depletes; so the more stamina you have, the better you climb. If you take damage from a fall, it takes up space in the bar. If you get hungry (which will happen no matter what), it eats away at your stamina.

As you climb the mountain, you encounter some items that might be useful to you. It is usually not immediately clear what they do; it takes a little bit of trial and error to figure it out. And each item has a certain weight, which also takes away from the stamina bar, making climbing even more difficult. So you need to consult the group as to what you might need for the future, what you might need to throw away, or use immediately.

Helping out your friends is always good to help conserve their stamina and overcome hurdles

Oh and you need to climb the mountain as soon as you can.

The mechanics are very simple indeed, but that doesn’t mean it’s not fun. It involves a lot of decision-making and discussion. And you have to get creative sometimes. The places that seem unclimbable can actually be climbed with the right tools and strategy. I’m actually proud that I was able to make a way for a part of the map that had us stuck for a long time. I think we all sighed in relief after we got past that part.

The good thing is that the maps don’t stay stagnant either — they are renewed regularly, so you don’t really play the same map over and over again.

Good old silliness

I’m not sure if PEAK is considered “friendslop”, but if it is, it is one of the best examples. It offers a fun gameplay loop, but more than that, it allows for some hysterical moments.

The implementation of the proximity chat is amazing. The voices have effects depending on where you are. For example, they echo when you are in a cave, or when you are far away from each other. It is also hilarious when a friend falls down, you hear their voice getting farther and farther until you can’t hear them.

One of my friends decided to take a trumpet with him and played it nonstop during the whole first map. He didn’t even speak. We would ask him a question, and he would answer by playing the damn trumpet. It was so annoying, yet it was the hardest I laughed in a while.

Overall thoughts

PEAK is one of the most fun co-op games I’ve played in a while, especially due to its chaos factor. There are a lot of ways for things to go wrong, and when they do, they are often hilarious. It is very engaging to play with friends, but I heard that it’s fun to play solo as well, if that’s what you prefer. It’s definitely a game that I’d love to play from time to time, especially in between more serious games.