Being outdoors, performing extreme physical activities, has never been of any interest to me. As much as I value the importance of physical health, I will forever admire the determination it takes to accomplish feats of strength, the elation of every little successes, and the anguish of failure. 

The Game Baker’s newest game, Cairn, made me feel all of this. This, this is what video games were made for.

The Challenge

You play as Aava, a pro climber, as she leaves her grounded life and loved ones behind, following the impossibly tempting call of the mountain. Her next challenge: Mount Kami, a summit that no living soul has ever reached. 

The Final Boss

In the past, Mount Kami was a hub for tourists. The mountain had cable cars that allowed many to experience its beautiful views, however, overtime it became abandoned, trashed and left forgotten. Mount Kami’s peak is the final boss. Undefeated. You’ll meet other climbers who dared challenge this boss, learn from their mistakes, pick up where they left off or what they have left behind. As you climb, you’ll learn of Kami’s history and its past inhabitants. It’s a dangerous expedition, one that Aava is determined to complete in order to achieve her dream: to be part of a whole.

The Journey to be Part of a Whole

Cairn is a climbing simulator. Similar in a way to 2023’s Jusant, the goal is to discover and overcome by climbing a mountain. The difference is you can grab anywhere you’re able to and attempt a climb. Find the best holds and place your hands and feet seamlessly with simple controls. Control each limb individually and it will adapt its hold based on the surface. Read each rock face, use the map, and plan your ascent. Do you want to take the short yet challenging route? Or a gentler path, taking in all the scenery? 

There are three difficulty modes based on the level of challenge you’d like. Explorer mode offers the easiest climbs, giving you Prince of Persia-esque powers allowing you to rewind time if you fall. It allows for more lenient survival obstacles, allowing you to live longer without food or water. And most importantly, it limits the stress of lost progress due to failure, through frequent auto saves.

The intended challenge is Alpinist difficulty. This is the difficulty I experienced. This truly gave me the feeling of trial and error, the stress as I struggle to maintain my stamina while my arms and legs struggled to keep me from falling, and the adrenaline as I succeeded in planting my feet onto solid ground.  Saving only happens in specific areas, reminding me that if I grab the wrong surface I could lose 20 minutes of progress. Running out of food and water is a threat, my fingers bruised and bloody, and I cherish every moment I spend in my camp. I highly recommend playing in this difficulty.

Lastly, if you are an extreme masochist, is the Free Solo mode. One life, no rappels, no assist options. 

It can seem daunting, but don’t fret. Choose what style best suits you. However, there’s beauty in the struggle. It slows you down, allows you to appreciate the beauty in your surroundings. The game also gives you plenty of tools to help you succeed, you just need to use them appropriately.

Tools for Survival

The ascent to Kami is not an easy one. And since Cairn is a mountain climbing simulator, it aims to give you a taste of what you’ll experience in a gamified mountain climbing experience. You’ll need to worry about your stamina, health, grip strength, thirst and hunger. This means you’ll need to eat, drink, and maintain your fingers!

Aava has her backpack full of supplies. You’ll need to manage this by foraging for herbs and finding the odd supplies that previous climbers left behind is key to maintaining your survival. 

Pitching and resting in your bivouac will also allow you to cook simple meals as simply consuming the base form of the ingredients you find is not the best use for them. Finding herbs and infusing it with your water, for example, can create an drink so potent and valuable that it can give you several 5 minute buffs that can make a dire situation into one where you survive another day. 

Lastly, your trusty companion, the Climbot, keeps you safe by maintaining your pitons. Climbot also allows you to recycle the trash you find to create valuable chalk to increase your grip strength. 

Managing all of this is both crucial and fun! There’s some satisfaction with shaking your backpack in order to squeeze in just one more item. Or creating the perfect concoction to prepare for the next climb. If all else fails, Aava can go fishing for trout!

The only thing I can think about that I didn’t like about my experience, is perhaps it needed a bit more save points while playing in Normal difficulty.

Look & Listen

While defeating the final boss and overcoming yourself is end goal, don’t forget the journey along the way. 

This aspect is by far my favourite part of Cairn. There’s a story to be had here. You just have to take the time to look and to listen. The world that The Game Bakers created is fantastic and they really took the time to ensure that they can show it off to all of us. 

The sights and sounds gives a quiet but overwhelmingly beautiful vibe. Cairn has a day/night cycle that not only impacts your climb, but makes you appreciate every hour you spend in the game. You will be taking MANY screenshots! Luckily, Cairn’s photo mode will support your new found obsession. Not only is it a robust photo mode, but you can also use it to “see” in the dark since you can change the time of day. allowing you to see what the rock face looks like even when you can’t in the dark.

Let your curiosity take charge and utilize the game’s fantastic Look mode to plan your route and see areas of interest. Not only does this mode let you see ahead, but it tracks the entire route you’ve taken since the beginning. It’s truly amazing and satisfying to have a visual of your successes and failures.

Platform

I played Cairn on a PlayStation 5 Pro. I’m not the type that cares too much about performance, as long as it’s a smooth experience. I am happy to report that performance is great on the PS5 Pro. However, the reason why playing on the PS5 was an extraordinary experience is due to the Dualsense’ haptic feedback and controller speaker. It added an extra layer of immersion that may create a difference in experience if played on a different platform. 

“Hearing” the echo of your footsteps while in a cave, feeling the resistance of the wind made Cairn feel more alive. And it’s always fun hearing your friends and family attempt to contact you during your climb through your controller’s speaker. 

While Cairn is surely to be a fantastic game wherever you play it, I am thankful that The Game Bakers created an experience unique to the platform.

It’s Impossible (for me) to not be Romantic About Cairn

It’s possible for this game to not be for everyone. Afterall, it’s a game about mountain climbing. As for me, I knew after playing the demo that this was a game I would be interested in playing. If you are unsure, go ahead and try it out! 

However, if there’s anything to take away from this review, it’s the deep emotion connection I felt during and after the climb. I felt frustration, happiness, sadness, despair, relief, and guilt. For a mostly solitary and quiet game about climbing a mountain, I learned much about myself. I may be exaggerating, I don’t know. But I loved this game! What a fantastic way to start 2026!

Cairn was reviewed on a PlayStation 5 Pro. We’d like to thank The Game Baker’s for providing us with a review code for purpose of this review.

Cairn releases on 29 January 2026 for PlayStation 5 and PC.