Cairn is Already One of 2026's Biggest Hits

Indie climbing adventure Cairn is one of 2026’s earliest success stories, with hundreds of thousands of players confirmed so far. Developed by French studio The Game Bakers, Cairn was created by a team of 25 developers and released on January 29, after a brief delay from its original release date of November 5, 2025.

Cairn is only the fifth original console release from The Game Bakers. Originally a mobile developer, the Montpellier-based studio’s first console release was a compilation of its mobile titles Squids and Squids Wild West, re-released with new content for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS as Squids Odyssey. The Game Baker’s first game to debut on consoles, the well-received bullet hell title Furi, launched in 2016. It was followed by 2020’s Haven, a unique post-apocalyptic RPG centered around romantic partners Yu and Kay. Players would swap between both characters as they battled hostile alien creatures across an unknown planet known as Source.

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Cairn Is Already One of 2026’s Most Successful Games

The Game Bakers has announced, via Bluesky, that over 300,000 players have picked up its latest title, Cairn. The indie climbing hit is one of 2026’s earliest surprises, with Cairn’s player count reaching 200,000 in its opening weekend. The game’s success comes in spite of the fact that it launched as a PlayStation 5 console exclusive.

Cairn is a punishing climbing simulator about scaling Mount Kami, a fictional mountain that has never seen a climber reach its summit. Players take on the role of Aava, a professional mountain climber who has gained notoriety around the world for her ambitious and often dangerous expeditions. Aava is willing to sacrifice everything in order to become the first person to reach Mount Kami’s peak, and Cairn takes players along with her on her brutal and emotional journey to the top. Along the way, she’ll encounter the remnants of other climbers, receive messages of encouragement from her friends at home, and even uncover the secrets of the mountain’s mysterious past.

Despite its fairly straightforward premise, Cairn is an intensely demanding game. Climbing Kami’s treacherous terrain is a constant challenge, with players controlling each of Aava’s limbs separately. Finding a proper foothold or a comfortable place for Aava to grip along the mountainside can be a matter of life or death at any moment. Aava does not have a traditional stamina meter while climbing, with the game instead providing visual cues that indicate her discomfort. When Aava’s limbs begin to tremble, or she whimpers in agony, she’ll need to adjust her placement along the path or risk falling off the mountain. Players will also need to monitor Aava’s hunger, thirst, and temperature as she climbs Mount Kami, and she’ll need regular breaks to eat and sleep along the way.

Despite its uncompromising difficulty, Cairn is one of gaming’s more unexpected indie hits, with many players latching onto Aava’s self-reflective journey toward the peak of Mount Kami. The game has also received critical acclaim, with its 86 score ranking among the highest rated games of 2026 on OpenCritic. The game’s positive critical reception has undoubtedly helped to spread the word about the title, with its unique mechanics and surprisingly emotional narrative drawing in new mountaineers at an exceptional rate. Aava’s journey to the top of Mount Kami is sure to stick with players long after they’ve stopped climbing.