Cairn review: Committing to the climb

I’ve noticed that as I got older, I developed a bad habit; I rarely give lesser-known games a chance. Don’t get me wrong, I still love indies, Gris, Valiant Hearts, Last Day of June are absolute bangers in my book, but I have been defaulting to titles that are more familiar and that I’ve seen a bunch of info about previously. Simulators in particular always seemed pointless to me. But when I was offered to do a review on Cairn, a realistic climbing simulator by The Game Bakers, it intrigued me enough to break my own rule and just go for it, give it a shot. "Why not?", I said - It is a shorter game, not AAA, so it was bound to be a new experience for me. I was ready to commit to the climb.

STORY

In Cairn, you play as Aava, a professional mountaineer who has the aim to climb Mount Kami, something that hasn’t been done by anyone before. She’s someone who is determined and thriving in this task, and has only one goal in mind: to finish her climb. Although she does get messages from her friends, agent, as well as girlfriend, on her travels, she only has Climbot, a little helpful robot who delivers those messages. She doesn’t reply, though, and sometimes she even gets annoyed at the little guy for only doing its job. 

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Cairn

While you climb higher, you see little messages, gear remains as well as skeletons of previous climbers. You can come across the remains of an ancient civilisation that lived on Kami, see their drawings, their living quarters and little details about them here and there. It’s a challenging task, full of different hardships, however that’s not something Aava isn’t used to. She has been in front of a climbing wall since she was three, when her father introduced her to the sport. As the altitude grows, beautiful sights exchange, and you’ll get the urge to take a screenshot every time you get through a hard section and take a breather. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. 

The game brings on themes of overcoming the hard times, pushing your limits and reaching for the stars, as Aava is obviously one of the best in what she does, or she wouldn’t be here. The story itself isn’t the main focus, it allows you to fill in the gaps and conclude on your own, however the more you climb, the more you connect the dots that everything comes with a price. You notice Aava’s borderline obsession with this task, the way she doesn’t get the need to reply to her friends, not even when her girlfriend Naomi tries to understand why she has the need to go on these long challenges and leave everyone behind. It escalates to a point where she breaks off the antenna on Climbot, just to avoid hearing any more messages. Is she running from her problems? Most likely. But the most prevalent theme in the story, is death. 

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Cairn

Mount Kami has claimed 159 deaths, and as you climb, you’re constantly reminded of this. The skeletons and corpses you find are a stark reminder of the sacrifice, how much is needed to overcome one's limits, and how easily things can go wrong. Aava doesn’t seem to be too phased by this, though, as the game gives you a comment or two before you get the option to loot their corpse. These corpses aren’t a warning of a possible fate to Aava; she’s focused on her task, and nothing will stop her. These people failed at their task, they didn’t reach for the stars. Will Aava manage to?

GAMEPLAY

The core mechanics of the game aren’t overly complicated; you move each limb as you climb and move up (or to the sides), making sure you find little gaps and spots where you can lift yourself up. The game uses physics and common sense; if it seems like you’d fall if you put your foot there, you most likely will. That being said, this is after all a game, and you can and will end up in weird positions. The movement does take some time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s more about looking around and calculating your next move than anything else. You also get the choice to jump over small gaps or jump onto a wall to gain some momentum in your climb.

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Cairn

As you climb, at some points you’ll get the choice to put a piton in the wall, which creates an artificial checkpoint for you and a chance for Aava to refill her stamina, but you need to remember that the number of pitons is finite. The game has some elements of survival, where you need to manage your hunger, health, body temperature, and morale, but the most important thing is stamina, and it is the only thing that doesn’t have a visible meter. But trust me when I tell you, you will feel it when Aava’s stamina runs out, as she starts to struggle, her breathing speeds up, her limbs start to shake, and the screen slowly loses colour. When you find yourself in that situation, you'd better hurry and try to use a piton, or you’ll be falling to your death. I say try, because sometimes it can be too late, and sometimes the game just won’t screw a piton in, and you’ll fall to your death. 

It’s important to check the weather on your barometer, as well as check the terrain and route you want to use, as both bad weather and a bad route can make your task much harder than it already is. When you finish a section, you’ll get the choice to save and also build your tent, where you can sleep, cook, fix stuff with your Climbot or simply wait. On her trek, Aava can also break rocks for water, get milk from goats, forage and find stuff in bear-safe cabinets. If you’re lucky enough, you’ll find a map that can show you possible routes for that section, but more times than others I wasn’t that lucky.

Cairn

VISUALS, PERFORMANCE, SOUNDS

Although it might not seem like it, Cairn is a rather cosy game, and the soundtrack adds to that. The tunes you hear during your climb perfectly accompany the vistas that you encounter, many of which will make you stop and pause for a bit. The animations can get funky, but you get used to them, and they don’t take away from the immersion. The entire game is made in a cell-shaded art style, which helps with seeing the cracks in the walls but also goes very well with the overall style and vibe of the game. 

Now for the camera…It can be your enemy sometimes, as there were times when I couldn’t tell which limb I was moving or which direction because I couldn’t properly adjust my camera. You have the option to highlight the limb that you’re moving, but that just seemed weird to me. I did find a little “cheat” for the camera. When looking up and scouting out your climb, you can’t move it up as much as you want, however if you decide you’d like to see your previous route, the camera can be manipulated. So there’s a little tip from me.

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Cairn

For performance, overall I don’t have many complaints. I did encounter a few FPS drops as well as a few texture clippings, but again, you can blame the camera for that as well. The ragdoll fall animation glitched out a few times, but honestly, my biggest complaint when it comes to that is not that it glitched out but that you can’t skip it, and it gets so boring and tedious, especially if the fall is long.

CONCLUSION

In the end, I am happy I gave this game a chance, as it made me feel like every climb I managed to pull off was a win. It was a tense game that at the same time felt cozy, and I have never encountered that previously. The focus on the climbing instead of the story, which lets the player get to their own conclusions and final thoughts, is, in my opinio,n a strength, as sometimes it’s just nice to not have to think too much about the story while playing but rather sit back later and ponder about the story.

However, Cairn does have things that are holding it back. There is the obvious learning curve which might make some players give up, as the game can get extremely frustrating at some points (there was one crystal cave where I honestly might’ve given up if I wasn’t playing it for a review), and the moments when the camera feels like the main boss in a game where being able to see everything is very important. 

I’m happy that I played Cairn; it’s obviously a niche game that will find its audience, whether it’s among simulator game enjoyers or rock climbers, but if you get a chance to play it, I believe you should go for it, as it offers a unique experience despite the difficulties you’ll encounter.