Peak dev solves game pricing and possibly all economics: '4 bucks is also kind of 5 bucks, 3 bucks is 2 bucks. And 2 bucks is basically free'

We've all been there, a new co-op indie game releases for almost no money (almost). So you complete your civic duty by introducing it to the group chat with a new argument as to why everyone should spend $5 on a game that we'll for sure play more than once.

I'm certainly the guilty party here. I've made my mates cosplay as sock puppet lawyers, run around wizard towers as magical minions, and try to contain SCPs like the dog and peanut (iykyk). But one of the best pitches I've ever made to the group chat has to be Peak, not just because it's a fantastic co-op game but because it's fantastic value for money.

"We had this joke of, like, how much is a game really?” co-creator of Peak, Nick Kaman, says in an interview with Game File. "In a player’s mind, what does it mean to spend five bucks? Well, that’s five bucks. But six bucks? Well, that’s still five bucks. Four bucks is also kind of five bucks, three bucks is two bucks. And two bucks is basically free."

I have been called out, because this is exactly my thought process when I buy a game and if I recommend it to friends. It's certainly a level of coping that is almost unjustifiable, but it's served me well enough so far, so I'm not going to stop now.

"So we’ve got these tiers: You know, twelve bucks… that’s ten bucks. But thirteen bucks is fifteen bucks," Kaman says. "And we found that eight bucks is still five bucks. It doesn’t become ten bucks. Seven ninety-nine, that’s five bucks, right? So, eight bucks going to five bucks is the biggest differential we could find in pricing, so we found it very optimal."

Coming in under $8, this co-op climbing game is well worth the price; in fact, it's almost too low considering how much fun my friends and I have had climbing the changing maps. One particularly fond memory I have, which I mentioned in my Peak review, is of playing Marco Polo during a snowstorm after my group got split up, but there have been plenty more hilariously messy situations that kept us coming back to more than justify my initial elevator pitch. $8 is certainly the sweet spot for a game like Peak.