Since Cairn isn’t an AAA game or a live service title, the developers are celebrating a commendable achievement.

Cairn was released last week and received rave reviews. It has clearly been a huge hit with players, as the developers reached a significant milestone less than a week after its release. On Bluesky, The Game Bakers asked: Is this a revival of Kami’s golden age of tourism? They are thrilled to have welcomed 200,000 climbers to the mountain over the weekend. This impressive achievement shows just how much players have embraced this new climbing simulator.

One hundred thousand copies were sold in the first 24 hours. The Game Bakers thanked us for joining the climb and hope we can feel the passion they put into the mountain. While the all-time high player count on Steam is less impressive at only 15,000 players, it’s still fantastic, especially since Cairn isn’t a huge multiplayer live service game.

With its dangerous climbs and limited gear, Cairn can be cruel. However, the struggle makes conquering Kami Peak all the more rewarding, if we can reach it. As harsh as it may seem, The Game Bakers carefully designed this level of realism so that most players feel the situation is hopelessly bleak before relief arrives at the last moment. But it doesn’t just punish us.

Cairn has a rewind feature that allows you to undo fatal mistakes made on the mountain. This means you can learn from your mistakes as you go, or simply try out multiple routes on the rock face if you’re curious and want to experiment. If you prefer to savor the pain and relive the hardship, you can revisit your climb with the route display, which shows where you overcame seemingly impossible obstacles – or where you forgot to hold onto the rock face.

This also demonstrates the demand for indie games.

Source: PCGamer, Bsky, Bsky, SteamDB