Last year's best climbing game was also a horror game, and it gets a big anniversary update today

White Knuckle screenshot — (Image credit: Dark Machine Games)

I know that, for a lot of you, the obvious best climbing game of 2025 was Peak, the absurd going-up sim from Landfall that took the world by storm. But it's not my choice. Why? I ~~have no friends~~ preferred White Knuckle, the early access horror-climber from Dark Machine that tasked you with climbing out of a grimy, industrial environment really fast.

It's a good time, and I praised it back around when it got its early access release for "mechanics that are complex enough to feel rewarding when you nail it but simple enough that you don't trip over yourself (too much)." Well, we're now one year out from that time, and to celebrate, the game is getting a big honkin' anniversary update, out today.

The headline item is that you can now customise your run with the use of trinkets and bindings, which for all the world (and maybe because I've been playing a bunch of Arkane classics lately) remind me of Dishonored's bonecharms in how they're described. "Trinkets provide buffs to player Stats & Abilities, while Bindings grant additional Trinket slots and increase score multipliers—at the cost of a severe debuff."

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White Knuckle | Anniversary Update Release Date Trailer - YouTube

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Which sounds like quite a change. Dark Machine is also switching up White Knuckle's metaprogression system that lets you add buffs and cosmetics to the game's safe rooms—the bits you get to cool off in between runs—and, of course, a new map. Oh, and there's a competitive mode in there now too, for those of you who can't bear to leave your pals behind in Peak.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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