Cairn review

Pursuing the goals we set ourselves can be self-fulfilling and rewarding. Video games make this the whole point of their medium, with the player constantly pursuing some form of objective, be that the main quest, side quests, a quest to 100% completion through hidden unlockables, or even just a quest to unlock a cute outfit. It’s a carrot-on-a-stick situation, and that’s why video games are one of the most engaging mediums to get involved in. Cairn takes the idea of pursuing our goals and dials it up to 100 by making the experience a balance of pushing yourself to your absolute limits to achieve that goal, but also maintaining that adrenaline so it becomes borderline addictive. It all sounds a bit toxic, especially when you don’t know when to quit, and Cairn has you battling your inner self to come to terms with when it is time to leave it behind.

Aava is a strong-willed protagonist and is one of those rare types that seeks the thrill of the perilous mountain-climbing hobby. The type that scales mountains freestyle with the constant impending doom of falling to your death, starving, or being mauled by a local bear. However, you quickly realize why she does it when you get involved in Cairn’s deceptively simple gameplay cycle of climbing.

To ascend the cliff face, you will be able to take control of all 4 of Aava’s limbs and maneuver them into the many nooks and grooves of the rock, carefully maintaining your balance by making sure your grip is secure. The game is attuned so it automatically chooses which limb to move, but you can manually choose a limb if you want. This system works fine most of the time but could still do with a lot of polish, as Aava often struggles to determine what a flat surface was. I often gritted my teeth trying not to fling myself off an edge because the game wasn’t registering my location.

In the beginning sections of the game, you’ll have time to ease into the process and Cairn’s many inner systems that determine how secure you are on your climb. Aava has a built-in stamina system that is affected by multiple factors like the status of her fingers—which you can bandage up—and her hydration. You’ll feel this stamina system run out when she begins to shake and her breathing becomes heavy, but the challenge comes in the form of quickly stabilizing yourself; otherwise, you’ll be sent flying off the cliff. It’s quite tricky to be able to understand what makes a successful climbing position, but that was part of the charm of the challenge. You also have access to chalk to make your grip firmer, and pitons that act as safe checkpoints you can fall back on when you fall.

The other side of the gameplay is basic resource management. Aava will have different gauges you need to top up, including food, water, health, and warmth. Food and water are the most difficult to manage, as they are constantly diminishing, so you’ll need to pick up forageables or items taken from limited bear-protected boxes, abandoned setups, and even the corpses of past climbers to cook in your pop-up tent. The others can be topped up using medication and nearby springs and waterfalls. I found myself constantly battling with Cairn’s resource management, which felt like a much-needed addition to a game that would become repetitive with just climbing, but also a hindrance when climbing became harder. At one portion of the game, I had to climb a sheer cliff face and I spent a lot of time trialing and erroring my way up, inching closer, but I ran out of food quickly because of this. This was when I began to realize how punishing a game Cairn was.

Unfortunately, I’ve fallen into the pattern of associating cozy games with indie games, so I stupidly went into Cairn thinking I was going to have a relaxing narrative adventure. I was wrong. Often, Cairn is very unforgiving, and as mentioned before, it really pushes you to your limits. Climbing is meticulous by itself, but pair that with resource management and weather conditions, and you can feel like giving up. However, this was entirely the point. When I inched up away from my pitons, lost my grip, and fell, I let out a massive groan of frustration but was cut off when Aava screamed in frustration. This reaction made me think, why are we doing this? Why is she doing it to herself when the challenge is so unforgiving?

A cairn is defined as a ‘mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark,’ a fitting title for a game where its protagonist is so set on her destination despite its costs. Through somber cutscenes, we learn Aava’s loved ones worry about her and about important events that she has missed. This self-determination can also be seen as self-destruction as the player passes the many memorials of climbers that have died during the climb. She even finds the remnants of a lost civilization that had to migrate from the peaks to be with humanity below because of a lack of desire for that way of life. Aava meets many NPCs that shift the perspective on the climb and always ask the question of whether the goal is worth the achievement when you are sacrificing so much. Is it worth creating a landmark that may become a memorial to our achievements when that time could have been spent with others? Cairn dives into this and makes for a touching yet exhilarating journey.