The Mountain Peak

You wake on the shore of an island you did not choose. There is no boat. There is a signal beacon at the top of the mountain, 190 metres above you, and there is nothing else. THE CLIMBRock you can actually climb is marked, and you take it hand over hand: hold the grip, move, and watch the meter. Chalked rest holds are the only places your grip recovers mid-wall, so a route is really a plan about where you will stop. Ice holds burn grip twice as fast. Loose flakes hold for two seconds and then let go. FOUR BIOMES, FOUR PROBLEMS Verdant Shore is a warm-up with toxic spore beds. Basalt Scar drops rocks on you and slides scree out from under your feet. Frozen Ridge freezes your hands and throws wind gusts that arrive with a warning and a second to brace. Storm Crown adds lightning that telegraphs where it will land, and falling ice that marks the ground before it drops. THE BODY KEEPS SCOREInjury, hunger and cold each lower the maximum grip you can hold, and nothing resets them but a campfire. A hard landing you shrug off at 40 metres is the reason you cannot finish the last wall at 174. Six supplies push back: an energy drink, a piton that catches one severe fall, an anti-rope that pulls you to a ledge, a bandage, a heat pack, and food you would rather not identify.ONE ISLAND A DAYThe daily island is generated from the date, so everyone climbs the same rock and the same hazards until 00:00 UTC. Your best time is recorded and a ghost of your own run climbs alongside you the next time. Practice islands are private and endless.BUILT FOR A CONTROLLER AND A SOFAFull gamepad support everywhere, including every menu: nothing in this game needs a mouse. On Xbox the HUD moves inside the title-safe area and the type scales up for a TV. Keyboard and mouse are first class on PC.Eight badges to earn, eight scout outfits to unlock, and a mountain that keeps every mistake you make on the way up.