Take into account it impeccable timing: simply days after Alex Honnold pulled off one other utterly unhinged free-solo climbing feat, a online game arrives for anybody who watched that and thought, “I wish to try this too, however ideally with out the chance of dying.” That sport is Cairn, and as an alternative of a skyscraper, it offers you a mountain.
Cairn is the most recent launch from French developer The Sport Bakers, and it could be the primary survival climbing sport of its sort. Relatively than treating climbing as a enjoyable co-op sport or a fast gimmick, Cairn commits absolutely to the act itself, presenting a simulation-style ascent of the fictional Mount Kami, a peak no climber has ever efficiently summited. That distinction doesn’t deter the sport’s protagonist Aava, an skilled and well-known climber who takes on the mountain whereas additionally working from unresolved issues in her life.
When you’ve performed Peak, the latest co-op climbing sport constructed round chaotic teamwork and shared problem-solving, Cairn appears like its solitary reverse. The place Peak turns climbing right into a social train outlined by coordination, communication, and the occasional disastrous misstep, Cairn strips all of that away, leaving you alone with the rock, your stamina, and the results of each resolution. It’s a quieter, extra deliberate tackle climbing.
For now, the narrative framing is secondary. What issues is the climb, and Cairn delivers one of the vital compelling gameplay experiences I’ve had this 12 months. Sure, it’s nonetheless January, however the highs I hit whereas enjoying Cairn on PlayStation 5 will probably be troublesome to prime within the months forward.
To the highest
Credit score: The Sport Breakers
As talked about in the beginning, Cairn is a survival climbing sport the place gamers management Aava one limb at a time as she ascends varied cliff faces and rock partitions on her solution to the summit of Mount Kami. The mountain carries a grim popularity, affected by the stays of lifeless climbers and haunted by a mysterious inhabitants of mountain people who had been compelled to desert their properties and pursue life on the bottom, or as they name it, the “horizontal world.”
Past the meticulous climbing mechanics, Cairn additionally asks gamers to handle Aava’s primary survival wants, together with thirst, starvation, and heat. This implies cooking and consuming meals cobbled collectively from supplies discovered on the mountain, typically scavenged from the gear left behind by much less lucky climbers, and consuming water sourced from springs, caves, and different pockets scattered throughout a centuries-old peak. That is the survival facet of Cairn’s survival climbing, and it weaves instantly into the climb itself.
Whereas climbing is the clear focus, Cairn does have a narrative, albeit a sparse one. Aava spends a lot of the sport alone, accompanied solely by a climbing robotic she’s had since childhood and stubbornly refuses to call. Alongside the best way, she encounters a handful of different characters, essentially the most notable being Marco, a youthful and sometimes mouthy climber who clearly idolizes Aava, a widely known determine within the climbing world.
Climbing Mount Kami isn’t any small feat, and the sport permits gamers to strategy it in two major methods. The primary is free solo climbing, whereas the second is a extra assisted technique that makes use of ropes, pitons, and bolts. For essentially the most half, you’ll find yourself utilizing a mixture of each approaches, largely as a result of you may have a restricted variety of pitons obtainable so that you can jam into cracks to create a safe handhold as you climb every face.
Credit score: The Sport Breakers
Gamers can climb nearly something, however the sport subtly guides you thru the cracks, crevices, and slender ledges etched into the rock. You may place Aava’s fingers and toes nearly wherever alongside a wall, however these cracks and small outcroppings provide essentially the most dependable grip. A stamina system governs how lengthy she will maintain a place, as proven by the seen shaking of her legs and arms when she’s positioned in a poor grip or a clumsy physique place. On the press of a button, Aava can take a quick relaxation to get better stamina, however you’re restricted to doing this solely twice per climb. Let any of her limbs tremble for too lengthy and he or she’ll lose her grip and fall.
Relying on the way you routed the ascent, that fall may cease at a piton with Aava dangling from a rope, or ship her all the best way again right down to the place you began, which may simply imply dying. When you do not wish to belay, safely securing Avaa to a piton with rope, stamina may be regained by situating her in chill, optimum positions after which ready for her to calm again down. That is the place I wish to credit score the sound design of the sport, as you may inform when Avaa is healthier rested by the shortage of deep breathes she takes earlier than taking a deep sigh to indicate she’s able to go once more.
I fell 18 occasions on this one spot.
Credit score: The Sport Breakers
When planning a route, you may press L1 on PlayStation 5 or Tab on PC to deliver up a climb overview, supplying you with a way of the potential paths upward. Pitons may be positioned instantly into the rock by a quick-time occasion that feels just like hitting an ideal reload in Gears of Struggle. Time it completely and the piton locks in securely. Miss the mark and it might probably break outright. Land someplace in between and it turns into twisted within the rock. I didn’t see the complete penalties of a poorly positioned piton too typically, however given how regularly you’ll fall, it’s clear you need these anchors as stable as attainable.
This method creates a simple risk-reward equation: how a lot of the route are you able to realistically free solo earlier than burning a piton. Early on, enjoying it secure appears like the apparent selection, however the larger you climb, the extra obvious it turns into that the pitons you introduced with you’re all you’re getting. After finishing climbs, Aava’s robotic companion can get better pitons for reuse, however provided that you’ve managed your route properly sufficient to outlive the ascent within the first place. Damaged pitons recovered by the climbing bot can be utilized to create a brand new one — it is two damaged pitons for one new piton, so it is not a lose one, get one again state of affairs. You begin the sport with six; after my eight hours within the sport, I had 4 to make use of.
There are additionally some rock faces which might be too dense to insert a piton, and for that, that you must use Troglodyte pitons, that are indestructible and may be planted on any rock. After inserting a piton you may belay off them, which you are able to do to get better stamina, rope right down to sure factors, and even entry your backpack for those who want a fast chew or drink.
Resting up
Time for dinner.
Credit score: The Sport Breakers
Cairn additionally contains a day-and-night cycle, together with harsh climate circumstances that may dramatically have an effect on a climb. Heavy winds can knock Aava off steadiness mid-ascent, whereas rain reduces grip and makes even acquainted routes extra harmful. These results may be mitigated by foods and drinks that quickly fortify Aava, stopping her meters from depleting, or through the use of chalk to enhance hand grip. Chalk is fortunately ample, as it may be replenished by recycling trash generated from consumed objects or discovered scattered throughout the mountain. You hand that trash to Aava’s climbing robotic, and after a brief quantity of in-game time, the chalk is able to use.
After an extended climb, resting turns into important. Gamers can pitch a tent at designated save factors scattered all through the mountain. These camps allow you to prepare dinner meals, craft new pitons, manage your backpack, and, most significantly, heal Aava’s fingers. Finger situation performs an important position in sustaining grip, and as you progress, her fingers will develop cracks and cuts that should be bandaged individually.
Therapeutic is a surprisingly mundane course of, requiring you to slowly wrap every finger one by one by rotating the correct stick in your PlayStation controller. It’s tedious, typically frustratingly so, however it aligns with the sport’s broader themes of sacrifice and endurance. Therapeutic objects are scarce, forcing onerous decisions. You may absolutely bandage each finger, or focus solely on the worst accidents and push ahead. It’s a neat system, even when it often feels pointless.
Credit score: The Sport Breakers
Cooking, in contrast, is straightforward and intuitive. Aava makes use of a small pot, which first must be crammed with water and heated earlier than elements may be added. Flowers may be brewed into teas that present varied fortifications, whereas fish and different elements may be cooked into full meals. Every possibility restores thirst or starvation respectively, apart from soups which do each. Any water not saved in your flask may be carried in bottles in your backpack, which may be discovered all through the map. Each bottles and flasks may be refilled at springs, ponds, and fountains scattered throughout the mountain as you’re employed your manner towards the summit.
When every thing is ready, you may proceed to climb or take a break, which can fast-forward time to everytime you really feel comfy going once more. I strive my very best to not climb at night time until needed, because it’s onerous to see, even with Avaa’s employees gentle, and sleeping helps Avaa get better. If none of this appeals to you, although, there is a informal mode that makes the survival components an afterthought. This mode turns off Cairn‘s survival components akin to starvation, offers Aava infinite climbing gear, and allows you to rewind and check out once more after falling.
The climbing in Cairn is genuinely enjoyable, a sense that’s solely amplified by how placing the sport seems. Cairn’s artwork type sits someplace between a graphic novel and a minimalist animated movie. Characters and environments are rendered with clear traces, flattened shapes, and painterly textures, giving the world a hand-drawn, nearly storybook high quality. The colour palette leans muted and earthy, with delicate gradients and atmospheric lighting that emphasize altitude, chilly, and isolation slightly than uncooked spectacle.
The UI follows that very same philosophy. Menus and overlays are intentionally stylized to really feel tactile and diegetic, with rough-edged frames and sketched iconography that mix naturally into the world. General, the sport’s visible id reinforces its themes of solitude and endurance. The artwork by no means distracts from the climb; as an alternative, it lends each second a quiet, contemplative weight that builds because the journey continues.
Credit score: The Sport Breakers
That mentioned, Cairn isn’t with out technical tough edges, and a few of its efficiency points can pull you out of the expertise, particularly throughout climbs. There are moments the place you fall into a real rhythm, fastidiously inserting every limb and steadily working your manner upward. The sport routinely selects which of Aava’s 4 limbs to maneuver, although you may override it manually. That system often breaks immersion, with limbs awkwardly morphing by each other and creating unusual, nearly rubbery animations. As you get nearer to the summit, issues can get even messier, with environmental objects briefly glitching or wobbling in ways in which really feel unintentional. The sport by no means crashed throughout my playthrough, however there have been occasions it felt perilously shut.
Past the principle ascent, Cairn presents a number of facet aims found by letters and maps Aava finds alongside the best way. These often ship you off to climb completely different sections of the mountain looking for toys, trinkets, or uncommon objects, together with specialised pitons. In accordance with the builders, a typical run ought to take round 15 hours, nearer to 18 for those who’re aiming to see every thing, and upwards of 30 hours for those who sort out the hardcore free solo mode. I powered by the sport in simply over eight hours, which left me questioning what corners I could have reduce to complete a lot sooner than supposed.
There’s a delicate Metroidvania-like construction to how development works. As an alternative of conventional upgrades or leveling programs, you unlock higher gear organically as you climb, together with indestructible pitons, expanded chalk capability, and instruments like a pinwheel that warns you of incoming wind. It’s a sensible strategy that makes development really feel earned by exploration slightly than menu administration, and it suits neatly into Cairn’s broader philosophy of studying the mountain as you ascend it.
Is Cairn value it?
Credit score: The Sport Breakers
The sport’s title is a becoming reflection of its themes. A cairn, in the actual world, is a stack of stones positioned to mark a path, commemorate the lifeless, or sign that somebody has handed by earlier than. In Cairn, the mountain is affected by related reminders of those that tried the climb and by no means returned, from deserted gear to the tales left behind in notes and letters. Like an actual cairn, these traces don’t provide consolation a lot as context. They’re quiet acknowledgments of effort, failure, and persistence, reinforcing the concept each ascent is constructed on the makes an attempt of those that got here earlier than, even when the summit stays unconquered.
Regardless of some tough edges, Cairn is totally value enjoying for those who’re drawn to video games that worth programs, environment, and mechanical pressure over fixed spectacle. Its climbing mechanics are in contrast to the rest out proper now, demanding persistence, planning, and a willingness to simply accept failure as a part of the expertise. When every thing clicks, Cairn delivers among the most meditative and rewarding moments I’ve had in a sport in years.
That mentioned, this isn’t a sport for everybody. The deliberate pacing, occasional technical hiccups, and hands-on survival mechanics will seemingly frustrate gamers on the lookout for quick suggestions loops or fixed narrative momentum. The finger-bandaging, restricted assets, and frequent falls can really feel punishing, particularly early on.
However for gamers prepared to satisfy it by itself phrases, Cairn presents a sport that trusts you to study by repetition and consequence, and one which finds magnificence in exhaustion, solitude, and persistence. It’s imperfect, typically awkward, and sometimes janky, however it’s additionally considerate, bold, and deeply memorable.
Cairn is accessible right this moment on PlayStation 5 and PC.
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