India, April 4 -- It's 11.45 pm on a Wednesday and four adults on two different continents are laughing into their headsets, because one has slipped off a cartoonish mountain.

"Nooooo!" he calls out in mock horror, as his pastel-hued body ragdolls down the slope. The shout slowly fades. The laughter continues.

The group is playing Peak, a low-budget, low-effort independent release that involves climbing a deadly mountain with friends, in order to be rescued from a deserted island.

Released in June, it was one of last year's most popular videogames, with over 10 million units sold by late-August.

Peak is now the default face of "friendslop", a growing and increasingly popular genre that is proving to be quite divisive among gamers.

If...