"And you - what is your summit?"
Sometimes a game comes along at a specific time in your life and it manages to dig deep into all the emotions you're struggling with at that time. Cairn is that game for me, and it has become very special to me since. As an avid hiker and backpacker, the game really felt made for me, I loved the game's inclusion and use of all the different climbing and backpacking gear that made for an authentic experience. The climbing in the game is also a lot of fun, with a challenging learning curve that pushes you to test Ava's limits, only seldom feeling finicky and inconsistent. With that comes managing all your vitals, from keeping your fingers in good condition to managing your energy, thirst, and the like.. I like how varied your options are when it comes to that, with plenty of different ingredients to find and recipes to discover. Almost every food combination can yield a unique item to help fill your bars, things like hot tea and cooked noodles are only scratching the surface.
Cairn's art style and presentation are gorgeous, the game's skybox and environments can sometimes feel like a watercolor painting, with each time of day having its own color palette and lighting. Also probably one of the best night skies I've ever seen in a game. As you explore you will also find pockets of art made by the game's native people, which are usually full of neon streaks and bright, vivid colors, making it a great contrast to the rest of the game. The music blends very well into the background, swelling only when necessary and amplifying the punch of the more emotional scenes. But most of the time you're left alone, with the sounds of Ava's steps, her breathing, grunting and even the sound of your hands gripping the rock or the sound of your rope tightening; the sound design here is immaculate. It perfectly translated my own experiences, hiking to the rhythmic sounds of my clothes, the steady breathing and the steady effort of putting one foot in front of the other.
Then there is the writing, which really is what made this game so special. As you climb you will receive voice messages from your partner, these quickly evolve as your climb higher, pleading you to come back down and asking "I don't know why/how you do this". I've had conversations like these before, people asking me the exact same thing when talking about my hiking. I related to Ava's frustration with people's inability to understand why she climbs, while also clearly missing her friends and family, it really made for an emotionally tumultuous journey going up the mountain. At some point in the game, the developers give you a choice, you can actually go back down the mountain. I thought it was a brilliant choice, letting the player decide after witnessing Ava's life and relationships through the voice messages. I chose to keep going, that was never really a choice for me, as it is in real life. The choice the game presented me with became personal, bringing my own emotions into it, which speaks to the deep attachment the writing made me develop with Ava. When I eventually reached the top of Mount Kami, I was hit with emotions I wasn't expecting which left a mark on me well after the credits rolled.
This game understood something about me that I didn't necessarily know how to articulate myself. It made me reflect deeply on some things that I myself sacrifice in order to reach all the summits in my life, not all of them being a literal top of a mountain. Those questions, as well as their answers, don't usually come up at the bottom or the top of the journey, but somewhere in between. Cairn is a very special game that will make you think and reflect on your own nature and ask you questions which you might not be ready for. I'd recommend this game to anyone, especially those with an unrelenting determination to pursue something that seems out of reach.
10/10
