GAMES

[ Words Alan Wen ]

From Breath of the Wild to Jusant , gaming has a bit of an obsession with climbing. But whereas most of these games tend to have rather lenient stamina-based mechanics – and Jusant focused on the chill and meditative qualities of scaling tall structures – Cairn is the opposite. Don’t be fooled by its cel-shaded palette and deceptively simple inputs: this might well be the Dark Souls of alpine climbing games.

As pro climber Aava, you’re on a quest to climb the summit of Mount Kami, which no one has ever done before. While you have a little robot assistant, the actual climbing is all on you as you plan your ascent, using all your limbs to reach any hold on your path upwards. These aren’t just conveniently marked out for you, since you’re free to climb anywhere. There is, however, no visible stamina gauge to keep an eye on: instead it’s all about how you position Aava’s arms and legs – and you’ll soon notice the stress they’re under if they start shaking.

It’s a more naturalistic and realistic climbing sim, then. That said, if you overextend, you can find yourself contorting her limbs into pretty absurd positions. Obviously, the more contorted Aava ends up looking, the less likely it is that she’ll be able to hold on for long, the tension ratcheting up as the camera zooms in on those wobbly limbs.

You at least have pitons you can use to stick to the walls, in order to give yourself checkpoints to recover from – although these are limited in supply. Of course, you could also just free-solo it, or forget you have these tools, only to reach a sticky situation halfway up… and if you fall, it’s not just going to hurt: you’re very likely to die. That’s a reminder to also make sure you use every save point you come across, in a game that will surely leave you breathless.