Info about Cairn: Official game description: REALISTIC CLIMBING SIMULATION ----------------------------- Cairn’s realistic simulation allows intuitive climbing: find the best holds and place your hands and feet seamlessly with simple controls. Adapt your posture, effort and balance —if you're not careful, you will fall! THE ASCENT OF A LIFETIME ------------------------ As pro climber Aava, you embark on the ascent of Mount Kami, a summit that has never been reached. Along the journey, meet unexpected companions and hear from those left on the ground. Discover the mountain's history and decide what Aava is willing to sacrifice to achieve her dream. OPEN YOUR OWN ROUTE ------------------- You are free to climb anywhere. Explore the mountain, read the rock face from the ground and plan your route carefully to reach the top. Solve problems while on the wall to navigate difficult sections. You can climb on anything, so choose your path wisely! CLIMBING IS A FIGHT ------------------- Climbing is challenging: each wall feels like a boss fight. A thrilling challenge for those eager to test themselves, but you can also adjust the difficulty to customise your experience. SURVIVE THE DEADLY MOUNTAIN --------------------------- Manage your resources to survive during the long ascent: pitons, chalk, finger tape... but also food, water and medicine. Set up bivouacs and explore the mountain to find resources to reach the summit. AWARD-WINNING INDIE TEAM ------------------------ An unforgettable experience from the makers of Furi and Haven, with music and sound design by the team behind Limbo, Inside, Control and Cocoon, and art and story by renowned comic-book artist Mathieu Bablet. Release date: Jan 29, 2026 Categories: Climbing Gameplay, Survival, Resource Management, Exploration, Character Progression, Non-linear Narrative, Atmospheric Horror (Light), Single-player Feature scans: - MTX: score 10; verdict: Fair; summary: The game is highly praised for its complete and well-polished package, with users expressing a strong desire for additional DLC content. There are no mentions of predatory monetization practices, and users are willing to spend more money on expansions and additional features. - Wiki: score 10; verdict: Needs Improvement; summary: The game has significant technical issues, including crashes and controller malfunctions, which severely impact the user experience. Additionally, users find the lack of adequate tutorials and the need to rely on external guides frustrating. The game design, which forces users to consult guides for achievements and lacks new content in subsequent playthroughs, has also been heavily criticized. - Steam Deck: score 70; verdict: Needs Improvement; summary: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant issues with the game's performance on the Steam Deck. Key problems include low FPS, overheating, and poor optimization, which collectively degrade the user experience. Control issues and disappointment with the Steam Deck Verified status are also notable concerns. While the game is praised for its unique climbing mechanics and immersive experience, these technical barriers hinder overall enjoyment and usability on the Steam Deck. - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: - Community fair range: $10.00 - $25.00 - Reasoning: The evidence shows a range of opinions on the game's value, with many users suggesting that the game is worth buying at a discounted price, typically around $10 to $25 USD. Some users find the $30 USD price tag too high due to various issues such as janky controls, a weak story, and technical problems. However, there are also users who believe the game is worth the full price, particularly if the gameplay mechanics and story resonate with the player. The general sentiment leans towards the game being more fairly priced in the $10 to $25 USD range, especially when on sale. - Playtime Metrics: - Game completion: 10.0h - Story completion: 8.0h - Session length: 3.0h - Endgame: N/A - Reasoning: The evidence provides insights into the typical playtime metrics for the game. The first quote mentions logging almost 15 hours in just three days, indicating a high level of engagement and suggesting that players can spend significant time on the game in short periods. The second quote explicitly states that it takes about 10 hours to complete a climb, which directly supports the 'gameCompletion' metric. The third quote discusses the emotional impact of the story, implying that the story completion time is a significant portion of the total playtime. The fourth quote compares early and later game experiences, suggesting that players can have varied session lengths depending on their familiarity and progress in the game. However, there is no direct evidence provided for the typical post-story/endgame hours. - Time-to-fun: - Summary: The game becomes fun after the tutorial and initial learning curve, with players enjoying the atmospheric adventure and sense of progression once they master the mechanics and find sufficient resources. - Stance: Fun then drops - Anchor: Mastering the climbing mechanics and finding sufficient resources - Time to anchor: 1h 0m - Friction: Steep learning curve; Initial difficulty with survival mechanics; Lack of variety/feel of progression; High difficulty in some parts; Too few save points; Partly wonky mechanics - Unlock drivers: Mastering the climbing mechanics; Finding sufficient resources - Conditions: Atmospheric setting; Sense of progression; Exploration - Player Archetypes: - Challenge-Seeking Climber (buy) - Motivation: Achievement and challenge - Playstyle: Strategic and persistent, focusing on overcoming difficult climbs and improving skills. - Experience: mixed - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: climbing enthusiast; achievement hunter - Reference games: Celeste; Death Stranding - Story-Driven Explorer (buy) - Motivation: Narrative and exploration - Playstyle: Exploratory and immersive, focusing on the story and the experience of climbing. - Experience: newcomer - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: story lover; exploration enthusiast - Reference games: The Climber; Free Solo - Feature-Focused Critic (sale) - Motivation: Game improvement and customization - Playstyle: Critical and analytical, focusing on the game's features and potential improvements. - Experience: veteran - Purchase stance: sale - Labels: game critic; feature advocate - Reference games: Jusant; The Climber Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Fun and rewarding gameplay (weight 0.26): The gameplay is consistently described as enjoyable, challenging, and rewarding. Players find it engaging, immersive, and satisfying, with a unique and compelling gameplay loop. - Unique climbing mechanics (weight 0.23): The climbing mechanics are highlighted as unique, detailed, and realistic. Players appreciate the complexity and satisfaction of the climbing system, which is well-designed and engaging. - High overall game quality (weight 0.23): The game is praised for its overall quality, including great level design, art direction, and storytelling. Players describe it as well-polished, excellent, and a masterpiece. - Beautiful environments (weight 0.21): The game's environments are frequently described as beautiful, detailed, and stunning. Players appreciate the scenic views, beautiful graphics, and atmospheric music. - Immersive climbing experience (weight 0.14): The climbing experience is noted for being immersive, realistic, and enjoyable. Players find it fulfilling and engaging, with a good sense of challenge and satisfaction. - Enjoyable survival mechanics (weight 0.12): The survival mechanics are seen as a good addition to the gameplay, well-implemented, and rewarding. Players find them fun and complementary to the overall experience. - Engaging atmosphere (weight 0.12): The game's atmosphere is frequently described as engaging, immersive, and captivating. Players appreciate the thick and immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall experience. - Immersive experience (weight 0.11): The game provides a highly immersive and engaging experience. Players find the world beautiful and the gameplay atmospheric and immersive. - Good soundtrack (weight 0.11): The soundtrack is praised for being immersive, supportive, and fitting. Players appreciate the excellent audio and sound effects that complement the gameplay. - Customizable difficulty (weight 0.09): The game offers customizable difficulty settings, providing players with flexibility and accessibility options. This feature is appreciated for allowing players to adjust the difficulty to their preference. - Emotional impact (weight 0.09): The game has a significant emotional impact, with players experiencing a spectrum of emotions. The story and gameplay elements contribute to this emotional engagement. - Intuitive controls (weight 0.08): The controls are described as natural, intuitive, and easy to learn. Players appreciate the precise and comfortable controls that enhance the gameplay experience. Common complaints: - Limb selection issues (weight 0.36): Players frequently report problems with both automatic and manual limb selection. The automatic system is described as unreliable, illogical, and frustrating, often selecting the wrong limb. Manual selection is also cumbersome and requires too many button presses. - Unlikable main character (weight 0.2): The main character is often perceived as unlikable, unsympathetic, and rude. This can make it difficult for players to connect with or root for the protagonist, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game. - Weak story and development (weight 0.18): The story is often criticized for lacking depth, character development, and a satisfying conclusion. Players find the storyline weak, uninteresting, and confusing, which can lead to a disappointing overall narrative experience. - Climbing mechanics problems (weight 0.18): The climbing mechanics are frequently described as janky, frustrating, and poorly designed. Players report issues with teleportation, falling, and overall unreliability, which can hinder the gameplay experience. - Performance and optimization issues (weight 0.15): The game suffers from various performance and optimization problems, including FPS drops and poor performance on specific platforms like the Steam Deck. These issues can significantly impact the gameplay experience. - Short game length (weight 0.04): Some players find the game to be upsettingly short, which can lead to a feeling of dissatisfaction, especially when combined with an unsatisfying ending. - Irrelevant weather system (weight 0.03): The weather system is often described as awful and irrelevant, with changes that feel too frequent and unnecessary. This can detract from the overall immersion and enjoyment of the game. Gameplay feedback: - Complex climbing mechanics (weight 0.46): The game features a detailed and realistic climbing system where players control each limb separately, offering both manual and automatic limb selection. This mechanic is noted for being intuitive, challenging, and deeply integrated into the gameplay, though some players find it needs polish. - Survival mechanics (weight 0.29): The game includes survival elements such as managing hunger, thirst, temperature, and health. These mechanics are strategically integrated and add to the challenge and realism of the gameplay. - Character and story development (weight 0.27): The narrative is driven by interesting characters and emotional storytelling. Players can experience character development and interactions that enhance the overall story. - Gameplay length and replayability (weight 0.18): The game offers a challenging and meditative gameplay loop with multiple routes and difficulties, encouraging replayability and strategic planning. - Realistic and immersive experience (weight 0.11): The climbing mechanics and survival elements are designed to be realistic and immersive, requiring concentration, patience, and precise movements. - Resource management (weight 0.1): Players must manage their resources carefully, including food, water, and equipment, to survive and progress through the game. This adds a layer of strategic planning and inventory management. - Customizable difficulty settings (weight 0.07): The game offers various difficulty settings, including a hardcore mode, allowing players to customize their experience based on their skill level and preferences. Performance notes: - Performance issues and FPS drops (weight 0.25): The game suffers from significant performance issues, including sub-30fps performance, lack of optimization, and frequent FPS drops. These issues are particularly notable in interior environments and can be dangerous for hardware. - Buggy gameplay (weight 0.13): Players have reported occasional bugs, frequent falls, and minor bugs at the end of the game. There are also issues with limb control and character animations. - Hardware demands and optimization (weight 0.11): The game is demanding on hardware and struggles to maintain stable performance even on lower settings. There are also reports of memory leakage with Bluetooth devices and poor optimization with AMD cards. - Mixed performance on Steam Deck (weight 0.1): The game has mixed performance on Steam Deck. While it is verified to run on Steam Deck, some players report it runs poorly with frequent performance issues. - Visual and technical glitches (weight 0.07): Players have noted minor visual bugs and technical issues with character movement. There are also reports of rocks not being smooth and specific hardware struggles to maintain 60 FPS. Recommendations: - Highly recommended for unique experience (weight 0.13): The game is frequently praised for its unique and engaging gameplay, as well as its immersive and introspective experience. Many players highlight its innovative mechanics and meaningful storytelling. - Recommended despite some issues (weight 0.1): Players recommend the game for its deep human experience and quality, even though some mention issues and price concerns. It is suggested for those seeking a meaningful experience. - Recommended for climbers and gamers (weight 0.09): The game is highly recommended for climbers and outdoor enthusiasts, as well as gamers looking for a story-rich experience. It appeals to those who enjoy challenging and atmospheric games. - Absolutely recommended to everyone (weight 0.08): The game receives high praise and strong recommendations from players, who suggest it to anyone interested. It is described as a must-buy for various types of gamers. - Worth the price (weight 0.06): Many players feel the game is worth its full price and provides good value for money. It is seen as a worthwhile investment for the experience it offers. - Desire for cooperative mode (weight 0.06): Players express a strong desire for future DLC or a cooperative mode, indicating interest in multiplayer or cooperative versions of the game. - Request for additional content (weight 0.06): There are requests for additional content such as new routes, mountains, and DLC. Players hope for more peaks and content to enhance replayability and extend the game's lifespan. - High praise and awards (weight 0.04): The game receives extremely high praise, with some players rating it a perfect 10 out of 10. It is considered a strong contender for Indie of the Year, reflecting its high quality and impact. - Recommended for survival game fans (weight 0.03): The game is suggested for fans of survival games and sims, drawing comparisons to games like Death Stranding. It is praised for its survival elements and unique mechanics. - Challenging and beautiful experiences (weight 0.02): The game offers challenging and beautiful experiences, making it a memorable and engaging playthrough. Players appreciate the balance between difficulty and visual appeal. Other player notes: - Multiplayer mode requested (weight 0.03): There are suggestions from players for the addition of a multiplayer mode, either as a built-in feature or through a mod or DLC. This indicates a desire for more social or cooperative gameplay options. - Request for Ukrainian localization (weight 0.02): There is a desire from players for the game to be localized in Ukrainian, which would make the game more accessible to Ukrainian-speaking players. - Positive feedback on gameplay mechanics (weight 0.02): A player expressed a positive sentiment about the climbing mechanics in the game, indicating that they found it enjoyable or engaging enough to wish for similar capabilities in real life. Emotions: - Frustration (weight 0.25): Players are frustrated primarily due to issues with the game's climbing mechanics, which are described as janky, unreliable, and unrealistic. Additionally, performance issues such as low FPS, lag, and optimization problems significantly detract from the gaming experience. The automatic limb selection system is frequently criticized for causing unintended falls and making climbing sections unnecessarily difficult. - Excitement (weight 0.13): Players are excited about the game's innovative and engaging climbing mechanics, which provide a realistic and immersive experience. The beautiful environments, atmospheric visual style, and emotional storytelling contribute to a captivating and enjoyable gameplay experience. The unique mechanics and the sense of adventure and exploration also generate excitement among players. - Joy (weight 0.11): Players find joy in the game's beautiful environments and the rewarding experience of overcoming challenging climbing sections. The emotional connection to the character and story, along with the enjoyable gameplay mechanics, contribute to a positive and immersive experience. The beautiful scenery, relaxing atmosphere, and satisfying gameplay loop enhance the overall enjoyment. - Enjoyment (weight 0.11): Players enjoy the game's climbing mechanics and the beautiful, immersive environments. The unique and engaging gameplay experience, combined with the game's art and scenery, provides a relaxing and enjoyable experience. The exploration, level design, and emotional depth of the story contribute to the overall enjoyment. - Satisfaction (weight 0.1): Players feel satisfied with the game's realistic climbing mechanics and the sense of achievement from overcoming challenging passages. The engaging survival mechanics, inventory management, and the emotional impact of the story contribute to a rewarding and satisfying gameplay experience. The detailed environment and the game's completeness also add to the overall satisfaction. - Disappointment (weight 0.06): Players express disappointment with the game's story and character development, which are perceived as lacking depth and being underwhelming. The unsatisfying ending and performance issues, particularly on certain platforms, contribute to a sense of disappointment. Additionally, the game's high price and short duration do not meet players' expectations. - Admiration (weight 0.03): Players admire the game's unique climbing mechanics and the immersive atmosphere created by the visuals and sound. The engaging atmosphere, well-designed mechanics, and the emotional journey of the character development are highly praised. The game's art direction and the lack of handholding are also appreciated by players. - Awe (weight 0.02): Players are in awe of the game's beautiful graphics and landscapes, which create an immersive and emotional experience. The artistic presentation, combined with the unique climbing mechanics, contributes to a sense of wonder and admiration. The game's ability to evoke strong emotions and its overall storytelling impact players deeply. - Reflection (weight 0.02): Players reflect on the game's themes of ambition, obsession, and personal introspection. The emotional and thought-provoking narrative encourages players to contemplate their own paths and lives. The game's narrative and themes resonate with players, prompting deep reflection. - Achievement (weight 0.01): Players feel a sense of achievement from reaching the summit and overcoming the game's challenges. The progression system and the rewarding experience of completing difficult climbs contribute to this feeling of accomplishment. The game's mechanics and the overall journey provide a satisfying sense of achievement. - Sadness (weight 0.01): Players experience sadness due to the emotional impact of the game's endings and story. The emotional ending and the characters' journeys evoke strong feelings, sometimes bringing players to tears. The emotional depth of the narrative contributes to this sense of sadness. - Immersion (weight 0.01): Players feel deeply immersed in the game's atmosphere and emotional journey. The game's sound design and climbing mechanics, along with the world design, create a captivating and immersive experience. The character development and the game world draw players in, enhancing the overall immersion. - Gratitude (weight 0.01): Players express gratitude towards the development team for creating a unique and fulfilling gaming experience. The game's development and the genuine enjoyment and emotional relief it provides are highly appreciated. Players are thankful for the immersive and engaging experience the game offers. - Annoyance (weight 0.01): Players are annoyed by the janky gameplay, particularly with limbs glitching out and the character Aava's behavior. The dialogues and personality of Aava, along with certain story elements, contribute to a sense of annoyance. These issues detract from the overall enjoyment of the game. - Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Players feel a sense of nostalgia, comparing the game to classic titles like Tomb Raider III and Soma. Reflecting on the journey and the characters met along the way evokes a nostalgic feeling. The desire to replay the game and relive the experience contributes to this sense of nostalgia. - Confusion (weight 0.01): Players are confused by certain aspects of the game, such as the character not wearing shoes and the surreal ending. The relationship between characters and their motivations and actions are also sources of confusion. These elements create a sense of uncertainty and bewilderment among players. - Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Players are enthusiastic about the game's realistic climbing experience and the overall positive gameplay mechanics. The variety in gameplay and the ability to use keyboard and mouse effectively contribute to a high level of enthusiasm. The unique and engaging mechanics enhance the overall excitement and enjoyment. - Hope (weight 0.01): Players hope for potential DLCs or expansions that could enhance the game's replayability and content. The desire for a cooperative mode in future updates or sequels adds to this sense of hope. Players look forward to additional content that could improve the overall gaming experience. - Empathy (weight 0): Players feel empathy due to the deep and meaningful narrative and the human-like character development. The moving story and good character development evoke strong emotional connections. The emotional journey and the characters' experiences resonate with players, fostering a sense of empathy. - Relief (weight 0): Players feel relief after overcoming challenging sections and reaching flat sections after difficult climbs. Temporary fixes for optimization issues also provide a sense of relief. The game's mechanics and the ability to progress through difficult parts contribute to this feeling of relief.}