Cairn (video game)

Cairn is a rock climbing simulation video game played from a third-person perspective.^[1] In the game, the player assumes control of Aava, a professional mountaineer who aspires to become the first person to reach the summit of the fictional Mount Kami.^[2]

As Aava, players are tasked with reading the rock face and charting out their climbing routes.^[3] There are multiple pathways for players to reach the top.^[4] Players must manually position each of Aava's limbs on handholds and footholds as she climbs up the mountain.^[5] The game automatically selects which limb to move by default, though players can override this with manual control at any time.^[6] Pitons, which catch Aava when she falls, function as the game's checkpoints, and chalk can increase Aava's grip.^[7] Players have to be aware of Aava's posture and manage her stamina. If Aava is placed in an uncomfortable position for a sustained period, overextending or overexerting one limb, she may fall, partially resetting the player's progress.^[8][9] Players must observe Aava to gauge her level of exhaustion. If she is under extreme stress, she will breathe heavily and her limbs will tremble.^[10] Players can shake one of Aava's tired limbs or belay off a piton to regain some stamina during an ascent. Aava's body language will also inform players that a hold is large enough for her to grab.^[7] Weather, time of day, and the composition of the rock wall will also alter the difficulty of an ascent.^[11] For instance, strong wind will disrupt Aava's balance, and heavy rain will cause rock faces to become slippery, while nighttime significantly lowers visibility.^[12]

The game also features elements from survival games, as Aava needs to rest, eat, and drink to lower hunger and thirst.^[13] At regular intervals, players can rest at a bivouac shelter, which serves as a save point. It is a place where Aava can rest, bandage herself, cook food, and repair equipment.^[14] She is also accompanied by a robot named Climbot, which can recycle pitons and make new chalk for Aava.^[7][15] Aava has a backpack with a limited amount of space that she can use to store survival resources that she finds while exploring.^[14] Players also discover side objectives by collecting maps and letters, prompting them to explore optional areas to look for collectibles. As Aava progresses, she will gain new items and upgrades, such as indestructible pitons and a pinwheel, as well as additional recipes for food.^[11][12]

Cairn is also an adventure game. Aava will uncover the hidden mysteries of the mountain and determine what sacrifices she must be willing to make in order to realize her deepest ambition.^[2] She will encounter other climbers attempting to summit the mountain, discover remnants of past expeditions and a long-lost troglodyte civilization.^[7] Her friends also leave messages for her through her Climbot.^[15] Through interactions with these non-playable characters and visiting locations of interest, players will understand more about Aava's motivations and background.^[7] Besides the story mode, the game also features a mode named Expedition, in which players can choose their playable avatar (Aava or Marco), select their climbing style (alpine or free solo), and share their results with other players.^[2] The game was also released with several accessibility options that make the experience easier. For instance, players can toggle "rewind", allowing them to turn back time before Aava falls. Players can also activate assist mode, which turns off all survival needs and increases the frequency of autosaves.^[16]

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Cairn was developed by The Game Bakers. Development of the game started in 2020, and involved a team of 25 people.^[17] Emeric Thoa served as its creative director, while comic book artist Mathieu Bablet served as lead writer and art director..^[2] It had a budget of €5 million.^[18]

Cairn was described by the team as the conclusion of their "trilogy on freedom", following Furi and Haven.^[19] Creative director Emeric Thoa felt that alpinism stories captured a sense of "absolute freedom", and that Cairn was "a reflection on mountaineering itself, on what drives people to push themselves beyond their limits to climb mountains".^[20][16] Thoa was inspired by climbing documentaries and the manga The Summit of the Gods while creating the game.^[16] The game also explores the dangers and isolation associated with mountaineering.^[16] The team also found several similarities between playing a video game and mountaineering, as both had clearly defined rules and "instinctive success and failure consequences".^[13] The Game Bakers wanted the story to be "moving". Bablet described Aava as an individual who is demanding, a perfectionist, and highly disciplined, though her attachment to her ambitions sometimes inflicts a heavy toll on the surrounding people. Several side characters were introduced to reveal Aava's background and personal history.^[20] The team spent three years consulting alpinist Élisabeth Revol and Chamonix mountain guide Loan Giroud, who shared their mountaineering experience with the team.^[21] Mount Kami was inspired by the Himalayas, the Alps, and the Vercors Massif, and the team also attempted to ascend Aiguille du Midi themselves to know more about the mountineering.^[18]

The Game Bakers described the game as a "survival climber".^[19] They compared summiting the game's mountain to a persistent boss battle, in which players use their skills and manage their resources in order to conquer it.^[22] Since the core theme of the game is freedom, players may chart their own path while climbing.^[23] The game initially did not have any save points, and the player character would die permanently if they fell, though they decided not to incorporate this idea after realizing that this increased difficulty would not appeal to all players, and instead turned it into a side mode.^[16] The team compared it to Death Stranding and the Dark Souls series, though Thoa stressed Cairn was not designed to induce rage,^[10][17] and that the game was designed to encourage players to persevere and come back from failure.^[16] Thoa further added that Cairn was about putting effort into conquering insurmountable odds and that players are encouraged to try, learn, and improve.^[23] To prevent players from being overwhelmed at the beginning of the game, the team also added many accessibility features.^[16] Each rock face and its handholds are handcrafted by the team. Thoa added that creating the game's mechanics was challenging, as the climbing movements were determined in real time using game physics and mathematical algorithms, meaning that a small adjustment to the level would bring about a cascade of other changes to other areas.^[13] The team took over three years to create and refine the climbing simulation.^[23]

The team collaborated with Lukas Julian Lentz and Martin Stig Andersen for Cairn's audio.^[16] Andersen, alongside French DJ The Toxic Avenger and Franco-Brazilian singer Gildaa, composed the game's soundtrack. Gildaa also recorded the sounds made by Aava while she is climbing, including her breathing and screaming sounds.^[24] The team felt that screaming was a signature feature of mountaineering and that it helped create a "shared feeling of exasperation" between players and Aava. To create a contrast between the serenity of nature and the intensity of rock climbing, the audio team implemented a dynamic system called "mountain intimidation", which shifts the soundscape based on players' camera angle. Music plays primarily while players explore Mount Kami in safety; the team used these melodic cues to reinforce emotional moments without distracting players during the intensity of a climb.^[16] Sophia Eleni provided the voice for Aava, and Hyoie O’Grady, Adam Howden, Aaron Neil, Rebecca Benson, Alexandra Boulton, and Rich Keeble were featured in supporting roles.^[25]

The Game Bakers announced Cairn in June 2024 for PlayStation 5 and Windows.^[2] A time-limited demo for the game was released through Steam in December 2024.^[26] More than 600,000 players tried the demo as of October 2025.^[27] The game was originally planned to be released on 5 November 2025,^[28][29] but it was delayed to 29 January 2026.^[30]

The Game Bakers planned to support the game with a series of free downloadable content packs named "On the Trail", which sees the player character following the trail of a famous mountaineer. The first update, titled Deep Water, is set to be released in mid 2026. It will introduce three new climbing locations, and allow players to play as both Aava and Marco.^[31]