Entertainment · Gaming · 3 hrs ago
Cairn is a survival adventure about climbing an impossible mountain
Cairn follows climber Aava's attempt to scale Mount Kami, a mountain described as seemingly impossible to climb.
The game was made by French studio The Game Bakers, with co-founder Audrey Leprince producing it and Emeric Thoa serving as creative director.
The team set out to make an action-adventure, not a sports game, and began with the idea of a lonely ascent.
Its climbing uses physics-based mechanics that aim to feel realistic while staying easy for players to control.
The story explores survival, obsession and sacrifice, as well as what drives someone to attempt the impossible.
The studio's new downloadable content, On the Trail: Deep Water, is out now.
Cairn is a climbing adventure game about survival and an attempt to scale an apparently impossible mountain.
The game follows climber Aava as she tries to reach Mount Kami.
The Game Bakers designed it as an action-adventure game, not simply a climbing simulation or sports game.
Producer Audrey Leprince said the project began with the idea of a lonely ascent and a gameplay-focused climbing experience.
The interview appeared as the game’s downloadable content, On the Trail: Deep Water, was out.
- Who
- The Game Bakers made Cairn; the game follows climber Aava. Producer Audrey Leprince discussed the project.
- What
- Cairn is an adventure game about climbing Mount Kami and surviving the ascent.
- When
- The interview was published on Nov. 8, 2026. The article says the On the Trail: Deep Water DLC was out at the time.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- The developers set out to make a gameplay-focused game about climbing an impossible mountain, survival and obsession.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The team began with the idea of making a game about climbing a mountain.
The developers prototyped a simple climbing controller and worked to make the experience deep and fun enough for a full game.
Polygon published its interview with producer Audrey Leprince, when the On the Trail: Deep Water DLC was out.
- Studio
- The Game Bakers
- Climber
- Aava
- Mountain
- Mount Kami
- Producer
- Audrey Leprince
- DLC
- On the Trail: Deep Water
What people are saying
We were gonna do a game about climbing a mountain.
It was this lonely ascent of an impossible mountain.
nobody was crazy enough to do a game just about climbing.