Right now, if I say that I played an indie game that revolved around climbing rock faces, you’d probably assume I was talking about Don’t Nod’s , which released late last year. That game has you climbing to the top of a tower, placing pitons on the way up to cat⛄ch you if you fall, and us🧸ing the triggers to move and place one arm at a time as you climb. On paper, sounds very similar, but in practice, it’s an entirely different experience.
Cairn, for one, feels like an intellectual exercise. Climbing, afteไr all, can be quite a cerebral sport – it requires a lot of planning to climb a natural rock face without plunging to your death. There are no handholds helpfully highlighted to show you where to go in Cairn, no yellow paint or rungs sticking out of the wall. It’s just you and the rocks. You have to survey the wall from the ground and figure out what the best place to start climbing is.
There’s more in your way than just finding a viable route. You’re controlling all four of your intrepid climber’s limbs, and you aren’t a machine that can go on forever – you have physical limitations, so pushing your body too hard by overreaching might mean you lose your grip and fall. If your posture is bad, you’re🐈 supporting all your weight on bad holds, or you’ve just reached too far, you’ll fall off the wall. You’ll probably get stuck, many times, hindered by a lack of decent holds or by your own body’s shortcomings. You can play cautiously, trying your best not to end up in a sticky spot, or you can do what I did and spam click your way through puzzles to brute force your way out of 🐓problems.
Despite the game’s cerebral nature, it does feel incredibly ph𝔍ysical – as your strength starts to give out, your arms and legs will begin to tremble, t꧟hen shake violently, and you’ll grunt and scream as you push through with pure force of will.
There’s also t🀅he fact that this isn’t just a climbing simulator, it’s a survival game. While I didn’t get to explore this aspect of the game very much, I did have a backpack full of things I could use to aid my ascent. I had pitons, which I used often – much like in Jusant, these serve almost like save points, ensuring that if you fall, you can haul yourself back up to your last piton and try again from there. You also have chalk and finger tape, helping you hang on to difficult holds, and you’ll need to scavenge for food, water, and medicine on the mountain.
You’ll even need to set up bivouacs (temporary campsites) around the mountain and on rock faces, though I’m not sure how fleshed out the camping mechanics are just yet. I hope 🔯the simulation aspects extend to camping as well, because I’d love for this to be a camping simulator as much as it is a climbing simulator. I’m not sure how important these survival mechanics will end up being, but I’m certainly intrigued.
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Cairn, as it exists now, is pretty janky. It’s buggy enough that a fall launched me off the wall and through the air, flinging me across the map. You can make your limbs contort into bizarre positions, leaving your body wobbly and twisted. While it does break the immersion, I found this to be oddly compelling – it reminded me of Bennett Foddy’s GIRP, which I developed 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a week-long fixation on last year. It looks messy, but it allows ꦜfor you to worm your way through difficult climbing problems in a much more entertaining way, which is more interesting than a simulator that won’t let you get weird with it.
Cairn has a projected release date of 2025, which feels like way too long a wait. I don’t mind if I get thrown across the mountain again, I just want to♈ summit the wall that foiled me.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Cairn
- Released
- November 5, 2025
- Developer(s)
- The Game Bakers 𝔍 🎃
- Publisher(s)
- ཧ 𒐪 The Game Bakers
- Number of Players
- Single-player
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Unknown
- PC Release Date
- November 5, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- November 5, 2025
REALISTIC CLIMBING SIMULATION
Cairn’s realistic simulation allows intuitive climbing: find the best holds and place your hands and feet seamlessly with simple controls. Adapt your posture, effort and balance —if you're not careful, you will fall!
THE ASCENT OF A LIFETIME
As pro climber Aava, you embark on the ascent of Mount Kami, a summit that has never been reached. Along the journey, meet unexpected companions and hear from those left on the ground. Discover the mountain's history and decide what Aava is willing to sacrifice to achieve her dream.
OPEN YOUR OWN ROUTE
You are free to climb anywhere. Explore the mountain, read the rock face from the ground and plan your route carefully to reach the top. Solve problems while on the wall to navigate difficult sections. You can climb on anything, so choose your path wisely!
CLIMBING IS A FIGHT
Climbing is challenging: each wall feels like a boss fight. A thrilling challenge for those eager to test themselves, but you can also adjust the difficulty to customise your experience.
SURVIVE THE DEADLY MOUNTAIN
Manage your resources to survive during the long ascent: pitons, chalk, finger tape... but also food, water and medicine. Set up bivouacs and explore the mountain to find resources to reach the summit.
ENDLESS REPLAYABILITY
In Expedition mode, choose Aava or Marco and attack different mountains your way: select your climbing style (alpine, free solo) and challenges to take on. Compare your performance with other climbers.
AWARD-WINNING INDIE TEAM
An unforgettable experience from the makers of Furi and Haven, with music🏅 and sound design by the team behind Limbo, Inside, Control and Cocoon, and art and story by renowned comic-book artist Mathieu Bablet.
