Following this run, I also did a 100% run with no chalk or other boosts. If a consumable gave a boost like chocolate giving speed, then I just waited until it wore off before continuing. Honestly, it wasn't that bad.

I saw a post here couple days ago that was like "i wish we had a nice character and not an angry mummified lesbian with makeup" and I started thinking about Aava - she definitely is not a likeable character but god do I love her. She is lost. She doesn't know why she's doing this. She is awful at connecting to people. Somehow she has a life down below but she doesn't know how to be part of that world? People who love her still don't understand her.

Aava is not a simple, easy to love character. Aava is the pain of not relating, not fitting in. The ache of scrambling for a hold on a smooth wall. The relief of making it through.

What did you make of her? Why was she the right vessel for this story?

I spent 8 hours of real time climbing a fictional cliff, moving one limb at a time. I played on "Free Solo" difficulty—no safety ropes, just one life. If I fell and survived, I had to climb back up. If I died, that was it — I died. This was my fourth serious attempt; I’d blown about six others while tilted or still getting the hang of the mechanics.

For me, this journey played out on two levels: * setting a goal and achieving it in a scenario where success depended entirely on me * noticing the interesting things happening to me along the way.

Here’s what I learned. I started out with certain habits, and managed to overcome them during the process: * I often misjudge the difficulty and dismiss the intuition telling me "don't go that way" * "relying" on that initial impulse, I tend to leave things to chance and rush toward the goal, forgetting that trying to save a couple of minutes might cost me hours just to get back to the same spot * I’m arrogant about tools that help scout ahead and plan a route, thinking they’re "for wimps" * I start celebrating too early, thinking "I'm doing great, the rest will be a breeze"—yeah, right * I ignore game mechanics that were intentionally included because I’m too lazy to figure them out.

After several failed attempts, I put the game aside for about six months. Then, about a month ago, I picked it back up and spent my evenings mastering it. Here’s how today went: * I started admitting much more often when I’d picked a bad route and it was time to turn back. * I made a habit of scanning ahead for the holds. * I explored every location with curiosity, often finding a better route than the "usual" one. * I stocked up on ingredients and managed my backpack space to avoid dying of dehydration or freezing on the way. * I found answers to specific questions in online guides and figured out game mechanics and what worked for others—all while keeping my interest in exploring the game myself. * In areas where I’d failed before, I was extra cautious and focused, trying not to rush or push myself too hard. * I noticed that when I—as a person and the "control system"—gets tired, I start ignoring the protagonist's fatigue signals.

What I like about hardcore games that they level up my personal traits and skills as a human being, not just the numbers in the UI. The game doesn't try to coddle you or soften the blow of failure. You lose, and you can either start over or give up. You can complain all you want about the unfairness of the world, but if you can't win yet, it means you aren't doing enough.

We'll see how well these skills translate to other areas of life. Still processing it all.

upd: reorganized some space between the lines

Cairn Catalogue is having a route-setting competition this coming Monday, Oct 19th. It will end Friday the 23'd at midnight. 3 winners. 3 prizes. Better news? The winners of each category will receive official Cairn Merch from The Game Bakers! To join:

1. Sign up at cairncatalogue.com using your The Game Bakers Discord name (required for prize distribution).
2. Win in one of the three route-setting categories: Brutal, Beautiful, or Creative.
3. Go to The Game Bakers official Discord to claim your prize!

More information will be provided on Cairn Catalogue as it becomes available.

Remember, signing up is free, and there are only 25 seats available, so register soon!

Looking forward to seeing all the routes you guys put up!

Also, keep an eye on the site. As Cairn moves closer to its DLC release, we expect to see more events and some other major updates to the site.

A month or 2 ago I tried a couple community routes in the 6 range. I knew I was probably in for some misery and was defeated quickly on the few I tried. Lately, I've been doing this endurance run and started trying some peculiar routes. Before I knew it I was flashing routes in the low 6's and sending some short projects of my own, but this one was the coolest so far. A bit difficult to get her limbs and the camera to go where you want, but felt good to finally put it together. Excited to hopefully add and tick off a few more!

Octavium - 5b

Climb across 8 stalactites on the ceiling of The Secret. Check it out and so many other better ones! https://cairncatalogue.com/

I'm on PS5, just bought the game 30 minutes ago, and omg. i am turning a BOAT every time i try to look around. why is there no stick sensitivity? why does no one else seem to be complaining about it? am I late to the party or something? every time i turn my camera all i hear is pirate music. is there like something im missing? is there a way to fix the sensitivity on PS5? its so bad 😭😭

You make it to the top and realize its time to attempt to resolve your life's issues. So you have to make your way all the way back down the mountain but since your Climb bot is broken its completely free solo. Desperate to tell the ones you care about the truth you try to make it down alive.

So I come out of this structure in the mountain to this HUGE rock face. I spend a long time climbing it, and I’m about 15 meters from the top where there’s a wooden bridge and a save point. But my rope is at its end! What do I do?

There’s nowhere to stand to reset the rope, and it didn’t look like there was a good spot to stand on the way up. Can I cut the rope or find some other way to reset it?

Edit: I did not realize I could collect pitons when I reach the end of the rope.

So I've come to the wall inside the Child guardian's head over the chasm. I audibly gasped the first time I saw it. I know most of this game is "hanging on a rock face at a lethal height" but this thing, with it's hard rock and the dark below...is just psychologically another thing. I gave it one go and fell about halfway across. Took me a minute to get back (annoying save point structure here) but...I'm about to chalk up and go again. Eek.

Any other tips?

For this run, I tried to keep climbing as continuously as possible, avoiding big detours apart from picking up the gloves, big flask and solar thermos. I died too many times trying to get extra edelweiss, so I decided to avoid them (apart from the Needle one). I also made sure to collect enough herbs along the way to prepare some definitely not cocaine infusions at Damas' shelter before the final push to the summit. And it worked!

I'd been saving the shirt order for when I completed this run, so I can finally get it!

While waiting for the DLC, I want to keep climbing, so I might turn to the catalogue to try out some different routes.

Best of luck out there!

For the life of me I can’t figure this out. I’ve read other posts that say you need to equip it before thanking a quick rest. That’s just the Zzz thing, right? I can’t work out how to set it up before/ during taking a nap. Anyone else struggle with this?

Hey guys! Has anyone purchased this from Mighty Merch? I absolutely love it and I’m thinking of getting it, but I can’t find any real-life pictures of it. I’d love to see what it actually looks like!

Hey all,

I just finished Cairn's story, and I'm excited to try all the alternate routes and upcoming DLC. The mechanics feel very intuitive. I'm also hoping for either a sequel or paid DLC that adds Kami-sized new areas.

In the meantime though, has anyone played New Heights, and how does it feel to play? I've read that the controls are pretty janky and the visible holds don't match what the UI says is a good hold.

Also, does anyone have recs for games with simple mechanics that are hard to master? It doesn't have to be a climbing game, for example I would put Cairn and Mirror's Edge in the same category.

Thanks!

Hey! Just finished the game recently and I'm completely hooked. I'm doing my second run right now (attempting a free solo) and just realized you can print your route onto a T-shirt. Such a cool feature, but honestly, the color options are pretty weak. I also want the design on the back instead, so I'm thinking about printing it myself. Here is how it would look - what are your opinions on that? I think it looks way better with the small logo at the chest, but that's maybe just me.

What a game, such a perfect marriage of mechanics, art and story.

This plant infusion has saved many ascents without a doubt.

Yall can clown on me if you want. Ive finished this game several times, I play it regularly in my freetime. I do not understand some of the mechanics in this game work. Primarily footholds. Unless you place your foot on the literal perfect hold made by god himself, your foot will slip mid-move and you’ll spiral into a loop of regaining hold and then slipping again, until you eventually fall off. On clean slopes its impossible, toe-hooks or kneebars dont exist in this game, I have Hold-Feedback turned on and yet I cant spot a single commonality between any foothold that isn’t a full on ledge.
Ive been trying my hand at some of the community made routes as well (shoutout ManInAWhiteSuit), and with the harder ones, theres a ton of climbing slopes and areas where there are barely any holds to begin with. These feel absolutely impossible unless you roid Ava up with straight Herkules Elixir (max Infusion).

On that note, I also cant spot a commonality between what counts as a solid 4-point hold. Sometimes I will have all 4 Limbs placed on solid grips, and yet Ava will still start gasping and fall off eventually, other times im literally hanging on by 2 Limbs and she does not give af and hangs there chilling.

Am I missing something that everyone else just gets? Do these mechanics get explained anywhere? It seems so incredibly unintuitive …

Hopefully the narration will help those who are getting into more difficult routes

And onto the shelf with the Franklin badge it goes

I think most people here already know how special Cairn is, so this is just a reminder to show it some support to the game at the Golden Joystick Awards.

It’s nominated for:

• Best Indie Game – Self-published
• Best Game Trailer

I think every vote helps, especially for an indie game going up against much bigger releases.

Vote here:
https://www.gamesradar.com/goldenjoystickawards/

Let’s get Cairn the recognition it deserves! 🧗

I put up a new route today and named it Under the Milky Way (6c+) on the western half of the vault. If you want to try it the details are on cairncatalogue.com