Cairn demands a lot from the player, but in return delivers a wholly singular experience
Pros
- Simple but deep climbing system that feels like second nature
- Aava is a compelling and complex character
- A story that challenges its protagonist and doesn’t give any easy answers
- Stunning world, that manages to surprise you with diverse visuals and new mechanics throughout
Have you ever had to do something? Like, there is something that in your head you could not compute not achieving? Everyone asks what you’ll do if you can’t do it or if you fail, and you just don’t have an answer, because not achieving this goal is simply something you cannot accept being a part of reality. Have you ever then been asked why you need to do it? And just been stunlocked as your brain falters on the realization that there is no combination of words or reasoning that anyone else could possibly understand, and so you fall back on the only words that feel like they have any truth left to them, “I just have to.”
Cairn is a game about Aava, a woman who has to do something. She has to touch eternity. She has to scale a summit that no living being has ever scaled before and see a view that no one else has ever seen. Cairn is a game about the pursuit of the impossible and how it often drives people who have to do something to become assholes that hurt those they care about the most. Cairn is a game about the cost of reaching beyond the limits of what is doable, about the anger and fury that drives us to redefine reality to something acceptable to our terms of what is possible, and how it can destroy us, crystallize a new truth, or shatter us and our reality entirely.
Cairn’s visuals are breathtaking at times.
Great Expeditions
I didn’t expect to be sitting here writing that a game about rock climbing and mountaineering (sports I have never partaken in) has rewired my brain and shifted my worldview. I played Cairn back at Gamescom 2024 and, since then, have been telling anyone that would listen that The Game Bakers’ next game had one of the most shockingly intuitive and challenging movement systems I have ever seen in a game. What I didn’t see coming was that its story and characters would rip into a part of my brain I usually keep sealed off and challenge what kind of person I am. But I should probably tackle the basics before I get to all that.
What I didn’t see coming was that its story and characters would rip into a part of my brain I usually keep sealed off and challenge what kind of person I am.
Cairn’s gameplay is deceptively simple. You stand next to a vertical surface and press Square/X (playing with a controller is strongly advised) to enter climbing mode. From there, you control one of your four limbs at a time to find footholds, grooves, gaps, and crevices to latch onto. You simply move your right hand around until you think you’ve found a good spot, then you grab on, then you move to your left hand, then your left leg, and your right leg. You complete this process over and over and over until it becomes second nature. Until you climb Mount Kami.
(1 of 2) Cairn’s gameplay is deceptively simple, but filled with tension.
Cairn’s gameplay is deceptively simple, but filled with tension. (left), The sound cues help while you make your ascent. (right)
The game’s cell-shaded art style does a good job generally at outlining what surfaces will provide grip and stability. However, there are also subtle sound and animation cues, like a firmer “plat” when you grab a stable surface, and if you overextend your limbs, they will start to tremble and strain until you let go. This tension can be alleviated by drilling pitons into walls to hang off; however, this takes a few seconds, so if you aren’t quick to realize you’ve worn yourself down, you can find yourself drilling the piton in, but falling before you have a chance to latch on. While it is immensely rewarding to learn the feel of climbing through this subtle feedback, I will say that — at least to start — it is almost required to go into the option menu and turn on “holds feedback”. These little colored squares pop up when Aava finds a firm grip point and are great for helping you figure out just what you can’t hold on to.
The Climb
The ascent in Cairn is a long one. My save file says I played for 16 hours, but that doesn’t account for the time spent reloading save files after my 80-odd falls and nearly two dozen deaths. There will come a point in Cairn where the summit feels impossible. You will hit a spot where you cannot figure out the path forward — the rules of gravity and the limits of your body will kick in, and Aava will fall. You’ll climb again and hit that moment of failure again; the laws of nature will win out, and Aava will fall again. She will grunt, and cry out, and scream with each failure, and you (like me) may even quit playing the game for a few days. Defeated by cold, hard reality in the form of a cold, hard cliff face.
Moments like these in Cairn are some of the most stressful, exhilarating, and rewarding that you’ll find in any game.
But then you will come back. You will (rather literally) bang your head against the wall again… and again… and again. And eventually, you will find the right foothold or keep your grip just long enough to drive that piton in, or reach a plateau. You will reach a new point higher than you have ever reached before. Moments like these in Cairn are some of the most stressful, exhilarating, and rewarding that you’ll find in any game.
These moments are bolstered by two things. First off, The Game Bakers’ sparse and selective use of an incredible soundtrack put together by audio director Martin Stig Andersen and French DJ The Toxic Avenger. You will spend what feels like hours climbing in near silence, with nothing but the wind and sounds of shifting rocks underfoot to accompany you, only for a meditative song to come on as you reach a camp, or for a track that incorporates Aava’s very own breathing as she struggles to fill her lungs at higher altitudes to slowly ratchet up the tension as every step becomes a struggle.
The visuals, however, are what make the climb truly special.
The second element that makes the act of climbing in Cairn truly special is the visuals. Without hyperbole, there were several times playing Cairn where I thought to myself, “This might be the most breathtaking game I have ever played.” Vistas, both varied and stunning, confront you at every moment in stark contrast to the pain Aava is fighting through. Cutscenes and quiet moments feel deeply claustrophobic as Aava becomes entrenched and trapped in her war with what is possible. The result is an experience that feels like a woman truly isolating herself from the world, from reality.
There will be plenty who point out that the climbing’s animation system will often lead to clipping or legs looking like they are bending in ways they shouldn’t, but I need you to know that that truly does not matter, because it’s all in service of creating gameplay that simulates the choice and struggle of the act of climbing. More than any FIFA or Madden, Cairn captures the feeling of the physical activity it depicts.
Why?
While the visuals and music go a long way in conveying what Cairn is trying to get across, it’s the characters that surround Aava that manage to break down both her principles and the player’s role in all this. Aava isn’t alone on this mountain; she’s frequently getting calls (which she lets go to voicemail) from her publicist and girlfriend, and she encounters several people on her climb. Kami was once home to its own unique culture and people, and while many have moved to flat land for an easier life, there are still a few souls left scattered across the mountain. From a simple goat farmer to an opportunistic miner, these characters act as foils to Aava. Be it embodying her stubbornness or obsession, each one is placed to make you question where you are on your journey and why you are still going.
Your crusade is a violent one. One that hurts you and your loved ones. But you choose to keep going.
A lot of this comes to a head at The Needle. In gameplay terms, this is this game’s version of Sekiro’s Lady Butterfly skill check. It is where I spent the longest time failing and falling. Halfway up this sheer rock face, Aava receives a call. This call reframes your view of her and how she is hurting those she supposedly cares about in her pursuit of an impossible dream that will likely result in her death at the hands of gravity and the laws of physics. From this point on, every moment of your journey is filled with doubt. Marco, a younger climber you encounter several times on the climb, will act as the voice of reason, urging you to go back down, to be sensible, to see reason, and feel content in what you could do. Marco is right. Your crusade is a violent one. One that hurts you and your loved ones. But you choose to keep going. In fact, Cairn makes you make the decision to keep fighting, to keep hurting.
(1 of 2) You’ll come to learn a lot about Aava throughout the adventure.
You’ll come to learn a lot about Aava throughout the adventure. (left), And learning the motivations behind why she’s attempting this deadly climb is part of the wonder of the story. (right)
Cairn’s depiction of obsession, drive, anger, and single-mindedness is one of the most deeply human things I’ve seen in a game in a long time. While a lot of that might come from me bringing my own life experiences with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, I cannot understate how much the game’s questioning of these traits affected me. Cairn’s narrative can be deeply uncomfortable at times, and ultimately will most likely make you complicit in the act of hurting those closest to you.
By the time you are finished with Cairn, the game only really leaves you and Aava with one question. “Why? Why did you do it? Why did you break reality and redefine what could be done? Why would you fight for something that only hurts, and all for a view that no one else will ever see?” And when it’s done asking you that question, there is only one thing left for Aava to do. Scream.
Cairn isn’t a game about overcoming adversity or proving to the world what you can. It’s a game that wants to examine your mountain, and actually, truly wrestle with why you want to reach the summit and what harm might be done along the way.
You might have a very good answer. You might not. You might just scream. Or you might just have to do it “because I have to.” Is that enough?
Reaching the Summit
Cairn is a challenging game in more ways than one, and it won’t be for everyone. While it demands a lot from the player, what it gives in return is a deeply rewarding gameplay loop that pairs with gorgeous visuals and compelling characters for a deeply affecting story.
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