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Cairn on Steam

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Reach a summit never climbed before in this survival-climber from the creators of Furi and Haven. Climb anywhere and plan your route carefully, managing pitons and resources to survive unforgiving Mount Kami. Discover what Aava is willing to sacrifice to achieve the ascent of a lifetime.

Cairn is a stylized, exploration and indie game developed and published by The Game Bakers.
Released on January 29th 2026 is available on Windows, Steam Deck and Steam Machine in 11 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Traditional Chinese and Portuguese - Brazil.

It has received 18,772 reviews of which 17,646 were positive and 1,126 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.2 out of 10. 😍

The game is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 12.79€ on Eneba.


The Steam community has classified Cairn into these genres:


Here is the detailed breakdown of supported languages for Cairn:

UI Subtitle Audio
English
German
French
Italian
Korean
Spanish - Spain
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Russian
Japanese
Portuguese - Brazil

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at Cairn through various videos and screenshots.

System requirements

These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.

Windows
  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-6700 (4 * 3400), AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (4 * 3500) or equivalent
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4096 MB), Radeon RX 570 (8192 MB)
  • Storage: 10 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: SSD required. Controller recommended.

User reviews & Ratings

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

24 hours played
April 2026
In a world with AI, large corporations shoveling slop games just to make a buck, this game really spoke to me. As a climber myself, I understand the frustration of falling 30 feet on lead and having to start the ascent again. This being the first game review ive wrote in probably 15 years of being on this platform, I found the story to be interpretive and extremely meaningful. I found myself connecting with the story and relating to it more than any game that directly tells you how thir main character is feeling and dealing with their emotions possibly could. Speaking of dealing with emotions, this character seems to actually feel them, they build and build into something relatable and visceral, reinforced by the immaculate sound track. Getting into spoilers, the ending being the most interpretive part is fantastic. Depending on what you believe the ending is supposed to represent, it changes the entire context of the game from the very beginning, all the way to the end. Incredible work of art. Obviously made with passion, love for gaming and climbing. An absolute master class in story telling, and a beautiful soundtrack. Rise being my favorite contextually because of the pure emotion behind it. TLDR: this game is like magic. I wish I could have a game as emotional as this for another 200 hours.
23 hours played
Feb. 2026
Been waiting for 2 years for this game to release. It's like nothing I played before. Absolute masterpiece when it comes to gameplay. Would call it vertical Death Stranding with a QWOP flavor. One has to learn how to climb properly, what techniques to use in certain situations and how to manage your resources to not starve, dehydrate or freeze to death. Scratched the itch for great climbing games. The only thing that bothered me was that sometimes Aava didn't want to climb a ledge despite her hands being totally on it, sometimes limbs couldn't go into small crevices. Exploration is hella fun! There are many hidden caverns with resources and mountain's lore! If there are any video game developers that create game about hardcore climbing then THIS game should be the main inspiration! Big thank you to the developers for creating this amazing game! And me? I'm gonna go play it the second time to explore all the hidden caverns! EDIT: Game's plot hits harder when finished in Free Solo difficulty. I highly recommend beating the game or at least give it a try without any pitons and checkpoints. Absolute masterpiece!
17 hours played
Feb. 2026
Jusant, step aside. The boss has entered. Summing up the current: 2+ hours played so far +2 hours in the demo, which hooked me immediately and made me throw it straight into the wishlist. A year of waiting for the release, with delays along the way. A French team that sweated over this project for 3 to 5 years, depending on diff sources. And what can I say. So far it looks like Game of the Year material. Maybe not a straight-up “Game of the Year” title, unless Gabe suddenly takes mercy and releases HL3, or Playground somehow doesn’t screw up Fable, but it absolutely looks like a strong contender for “Indie of the Year”. First: the climbing mechanics. Control here is extremely precise down to every movement, the controls are comfortable, animations are smooth, and the sense of the character’s body weight and that constant “one more slip and you’re done” feeling is spot on. Second: you actually have to plan and survive. I liked Jusant, it have its charm, but that’s a pleasant, casual, beautiful fantasy story (also by the French, by the way). But here we have a hardcore game. Hunger can kill you, thirst can kill you, cold can kill you, falling and cracking your skull is very much an option, and resources are not infinite. Yes, there are plenty of consumables around that can be crafted or cooked into something useful/what you can eat, but you still have to find them. You can bandage each finger separately, cook food out of whatever crap you scavenge nearby, the weather changes, and there’s a day-night cycle. I can already imagine what awaits higher up the mountain: far more aggressive cold, far fewer resources. Third: unexpectedly, the game actively rewards curiosity and exploration. If you like climbing somewhere extra or slipping into some side passage where a bonus, a perk, a bit of lore, or maybe vital survival resources are waiting for you, this is your place. I was trained from childhood on Deus Ex and Thief, so I’m the kind of player who loves poking around off the critical path, into caves or cracks, just to happily find loot or a fragment of story. It’s a great feeling when developers in games like this give you a knowing nod that says, “Yes, we expected you here, you curious little bastard. We added this specifically for the 5% of players like you. Here, have some loot and a medal, you my playful fool.” And you grin at the monitor with that warm sense of pride from a dopamine hit. I mean, that’s why we play games, right? Fourth: atmosphere. Ambient sounds play, you’re in a tent on a high cliff, a pot is heating water, wind tears at the tent, and rain rages outside. The game is quite tense, yet it always finds moments like these where you can breathe and relax. That cost too much, especially after hard day at work - boot up your PC or console, relax, take yourself into different world or situation or....I mean, that’s why we play games too, right?? Fifth: the sense of progress. A strange plus, but there’s something powerful in it. Look at Half-Life 2: you constantly see the Citadel. With every step, it gets closer and closer. The entire journey behind you feels like one big adventure toward a single goal, almost a road movie, and that goal is always in front of your eyes. The Talos Principle 2 is built around this idea. Stealth games live off it entirely, take Styx (French game again!) or Thief 2 with its massive Mechanists’ Tower. Here, it’s a huge mountain. From the very start at its base, there’s a feeling that you’ll never conquer this thing. With every cliff you climb, the summit feels closer and closer, the goal more achievable than before. This is wired into our DNA, really. I think this is the psychology of climbing itself. Sixth: minimalism. Before Cairn, I booted up BF6, and the 50 tabs in the main menu, the notifications, battle passes, battle pass points, whatever those even are, gave me a headache. I honestly don’t understand 60% of the menu. It feels like someone took a dump all over it. So many elements, so much clutter, and I only ever use five of them. I just want to run around and shoot some tanks after work, not grind battle pass points. This isn’t even a dig at BF6. The poor series just became a victim of trends. Most games are like this now, even ones that aren’t live services. And what a relief it is to launch Cairn and see a clean main menu with four neat tabs, no unnecessary crap, a tidy interface that doesn’t cover half the screen. Want to support the developer? Here’s a separate Deluxe page that clearly tells you what you get. It sounds weird, but when I bought the game, I paid for that too. Not for a menu-induced headache of “uhhh, I just want to drive some tanks… where do I go… where are the settings… okay… and where’s the server browser…?”. That just a dev respect to players basic principle. Good games are experiences. And the experience Cairn offers is special, because the project is genuinely unique and currently has no real equal. Sorry, Jusant, you’re good in your own way. DontNod, we love you, no hard feelings. If you don’t want to crack your skull in real life while climbing mountains, you can do it here instead. My only complaint, and the developers probably won’t read this anyway, but ill try - is that I really love to see a Ukrainian text localization. I’d really love for more people from the Ukrainian community to get familiar with a project like this. Update: I conquer Kami this evening. 7 ingame days, 16 hours, 42 falls, 1 death, with 2 almost empty bottles of water and few meds. What a journey, what an experience. This is absolutely Indie of the Year material, without question. P.S. S. As a small bonus: If you enjoy the atmosphere of this game, I highly recommend checking out the French (again!) animated film Le Sommet des Dieux (2021). It’s based on a Japanese manga, so the film feels like an intriguing blend of Eastern and Western cultures. The theme and atmosphere are very similar to the Cairn.
13 hours played
Feb. 2026
A phenomenal start to 2026 and one of those games that reminds me why I love playing video games. Cairn's concept is fresh and original, and the climbing feels exceptionally great once it clicks. The game is challenging in a good way and sometimes even frustrating, but that only makes reaching the several checkpoints more rewarding. Climbing Mount Kami feels incredibly satisfying. I took my time on the way up without searching every corner for collectibles. Instead, I let the atmosphere and the journey sink in and naturally came across a few hidden secrets which for me made the world feel even more immersive. That, together with the climb itself, made Cairn an experience unlike any I have had in a game in a long time. An extremely strong game and already one of my personal highlights of 2026.
29 hours played
Feb. 2026
One of those games you think about a lot after you beat it. The gameplay loop wasn't easy to figure out at first (I'm not a climber), but with some options tweaked (namely, the option to show you if you got a good grip) it becomes much more manageable and enjoyable, On paper, I should have hated it. My passion was always more about the depth of the sea rather than the hights of a mountain or skies, but something about Cairn just puts you into the proper mood. The game gives you just the right amount of control to struggle with some walls, but still makes them manageable with the right tools (buffs) and patience. I'm not sure the Free Climb (hardcore) difficulty is for me, but the Alpinist (default) level of hardships was just enough to make me enjoy all the survival mechanics. Oh, and if you hate those, you can always disable them outright in the options, which is great (I've always enjoyed having control of the games I play). I absolutely adore the fact that Cairn rewards being attentive to your surroundings, The amount of secret caves, various hidden backpacks and bodies of the climbers that came before are a really nice touch. And it's not just being attentive, then comes the part where you try to figure out how to get to that cave or backpack, which is something I greatly enjoyed. The exploration part of the game is great, so if you love that in games, you'll be pleasantly surprised. I could go on about the vibes (the mountain, the sounds, the music... — those are just impeccable), but what made this game stick out for me are the themes it raises along the climb. I found myself yelling at the screen after another fall and then pressing Alt+F4 in frustration, only to wake up next day with the thought "I got to climb the mountain, I got to get back there!". Because it's that addicting. I highly recommend playing this if you love a good story and games that make you feel (in this case, you feel something unexplainable, the yearning to climb).

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Frequently Asked Questions

Cairn is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam.

No, Cairn is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 29.99€ on Steam.

Yes, Cairn received 17,646 positive votes out of a total of 18,772 achieving an impressive rating of 9.17.
😍

Cairn was developed and published by The Game Bakers.

Yes, Cairn is playable and fully supported on Windows.

No, Cairn is not playable on MacOS.

No, Cairn is not playable on Linux.

Yes, Cairn is playable and fully supported on Steam Deck.

Yes, Cairn is playable and fully supported on Steam Machine.

No, Cairn does not support VR.

Cairn is a single-player game.

Yes, there are 4 DLCs available for Cairn. Explore additional content available for Cairn on Steam.

No, Cairn does not support mods via Steam Workshop.

No, Cairn does not support Steam Remote Play.

Yes, Cairn is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.

You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for Cairn.

Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates
Steam data 17 October 2026 07:15 UTC
SteamSpy data 21 October 2026 18:14 UTC
Steam price 29 October 2026 15:14 UTC
Steam reviews 19 October 2026 05:58 UTC

If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Cairn, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.

  • SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Cairn
  • SteamCharts - Analysis of Cairn concurrent players on Steam
  • ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Cairn compatibility
Cairn
Rating
9.2
17,646
1,126
Game modes
Features
Online players
168
Developer
The Game Bakers
Publisher
The Game Bakers
Release 29 Jan 2026
Platforms
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