Cairn (PS5) Review

Before I sat down and really gave myself to Cairn, I really wasn’t sure what to expect beyond stress. From the outside, it’s an almost QWOP-esque climbing game. A very deliberate one. Slow. Quiet. Focused. I figured I’d admire the mechanics, respect what it was doing, and move on. But what happened next was a ten-hour emotional journey that I’ve played through two more times just to see what I missed. Each time, the emotional beats hit differently, but I fell more in love with the game with each playthrough.

What surprised me most was how emotional Cairn ended up being, and not always in the ways that I expected. Following Aava as she climbs for reasons that slowly reveal themselves over time, it’s clear almost immediately that climbing is her escape. It’s where she goes when she needs to shut the rest of the world out and deal with things alone. There’s something very real about that, and sometimes a little uncomfortable. It feels less like a hobby and more like a necessity for... Read more