Cairn is a magnificent rock climbing survival simulation by indie team The Game Bakers, located in Montpellier of France. It launched in January 2026 and is currently available on PC and PS5.
The focus here is on rock climbing realism, where plays must choose every grip and foothold to keep the main character alive and well. It’s a fantastic game, one that requires a methodical approach, some nerves of steel, and frequent sunset/sunrise asides.
Piquing Our Rock Climbing Interests on the Peaks of Cairn
Recently, we just happened to buy the Alex Honnold Free Solo documentary (2019) on Blu-ray, shortly after he also completed his January 2026 free solo of the Taipei 101 skyscraper.
With renewed interest in rock climbing, The Game Bakers couldn’t have wished for a better time for Cairn to launch. It’s had a widespread bunch of mainstream media reviews, with the good news being it’s been very well received.
Now, there’s also the wonderful Don’t Nod climbing game Jusant (2023), which we enjoyed a great deal. That title is more heavily steeped in fantasy, with Cairn focussing on a greater sense of realism. The plot involves the mountaineer Aava and her efforts to be the first human to scale Mount Kami.
As you can see with our game footage here from early in the game, doing some climbing, and not getting ourselves killed (note the great use of music, too).
The specifics of climbing are easy to get used to, as provided by Cairn’s helpful tutorial opening section. It’s about guiding one hand to one grip area, then a foot to a foothold, then another hand etc. This way you can shimming up a big old vertical wall.
It’s challenging! Bu you get pistons to help you along, which you nail into the mountain to keep your progress moving along.
Once you start up Mount Kami proper, the game gets tough. Even on the easiest setting we had on (where you get Fall Recall to try again when you mess up), you must think strategically about weight, grip holds, and momentum as you scale the big bastard.
There are around nine hours of gameplay here, but the thing is the devs have taken inspiration from Nintendo’s classic Breath of the Wild (2017) in that players can take various routes up Mount Kami.
That’s vital to the experience, a sense of genuine freedom.
Each playthrough, especially if you’re on a higher difficulty setting, can be in a different direction upward. A brilliant bit of game design, forcing you to consider new routes and potential pitfalls.
It took five years for a team of 25 to make, with French mountaineer Élisabeth Revol consulted during the process. The devs had to individually map out many thousands of potential handholds across various rock faces, which was led by creative director Emeric Thoa. He told GamesRader back in a January 2025 preview:
“That climbing system is completely new and unique, meaning we don’t have any reference to take inspiration from. And technically it’s very difficult, as all the climbing movements are controlled by maths, not animations. This allows more movement and more positioning depth than in a game based on handmade animations, but it’s also very tricky to balance. Each time we improve something, we break something elsewhere. Overall, any task that would usually take one week to make takes six to twelve times more. But that’s definitely worth it.”
It certainly was worth it! For us, Cairn wonderfully sells why mountaineers do what they do. The intellectual and physical challenge of scaling a peak, being out in the elements, feeling insignificant. All those beautiful moments of repose where you stop for a moment and take in the view. Cairn captures it all fantastically well.
It’s been critically acclaimed on release. Fully deserved and we’d say it’s certainly going to be one of the best games of 2026. And we’re placing it high up (pun not intended… ish) our list of best indie games of all time.
A Nod to Cairn’s Far Out Soundtrack
The Game Bakers team has been fabulous here, as the Cairn soundtrack is already online in the above ambience video.
The excellent score is by composer Martin Stig Andersen, who has previously worked with Playdead on games such as the phenomenal INSIDE (2016). He brought in singer Gilda and musician The Toxic Avenger for support.
It’s a wonderful mix of ambience meets more ambience and other such noises. Impressive technical insights there from us. Maybe ignore that and, instead, bask in the rays provided by the soundtrack video from The Game Bakers. Thank you kindly, all concerned.
