Indie smash Peak just got more chaotic with the addition of deserts and dynamite

It's been one hell of a year for breakout indie hits, and Peak is right up there as one of the biggest. A small project that spawned out of dev burnout and a cancelation, this chaotic climbing survival game has gone on to sell over five million copies. Today, it's introducing a new desert biome for players to clamber around, as well as some intriguing new items - one of which is bound to cause some… explosive… moments. However, developer Aggro Crab has tempered expectations - while there's a huge appetite for Peak, it says it's unsure when the next big content update will arrive.

Alongside the likes of Schedule 1 and REPO, Peak is one of the best-selling indie projects of the year. Part brutal survival game, part co-op exploration game, there are tons of viral clips of players screaming as they plummet to their demise or howling in betrayal as their friends watch them hopelessly slide down an escarpment. In today's Peak update, one of the best indie games around just gave players a brand new challenge: a sandy, scorching-hot, cactus-filled desert.

Known as the MESA, this desert replaces the Alpine biome for the next week. After seven days, the MESA and Alpine regions will then be randomly drawn into players' maps, so you'll never be 100% sure which one you might run into.

To help you prepare for this demanding new biome, a host of new survival and traversal items have been added to Peak. The Scout Cannon, Balloons, Parasol, Sunscreen, and Aloe Vera all sound like useful additions in scaling the MESA and surviving its savage heat. But the Dynamite is the item that has my attention the most. I'm sure it's intended for blasting your way past obstacles, creating new routes through the mountains, or for blowing up any nasty enemies. But I'm already seeing it as an opportunity to do evil things to my climbing buddies. Boom - c'ya.

There are ten new badges to earn in the MESA, and that of course means ten new cosmetic clothing items to deck your character out in. An arachnophobia setting, which the original Grounded so famously introduced a few years ago, has also made its way to Peak so that you can take on all of its creepy crawly enemies without the risk of getting traumatized.

As well as a few bug fixes, there are two balancing tweaks to be aware of too. The fog that forms in the Tropics now rises "slightly slower" and there's been some tinkering with the Heat status effect too. "The Heat status will now decay faster, but it will take a bit longer to start decaying, and the hot rocks in the Caldera will inflict more Heat on you."

This is the first big content update for Peak, and while you might expect a flurry of them in the coming months to keep up with its popularity, developer Aggro Crab is eager to set expectations. "A lot of you are asking about future updates and to be as honest as possible - we aren't quite sure yet! We don't want to promise a bunch of stuff and not deliver. BUT we will continue to update the community on what we're cooking as soon as we can. At this stage, keep expecting bug + stability patches for now!"

The MESA Update for Peak is live right now and free for all players. Despite being fairly new and very affordable already, there's also a tasty 38% discount on Steam at the moment, making the game just $4.95 / £3.96. Grab it here if you want to give it a go.

For more chaotic experiences you can jump into with friends, check out our list of the best co-op games. For any of you looking to refresh your setup soon, we've also got loads of great gear guides too, like this one on the best gaming keyboard.

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