Cairn Executive Producer and Narrative Director Slows Down and Focuses on the Rise Ahead

cairna challenging, narrative-driven survival game with a focus on climbing, has already surpassed 300,000 players. cairn It was released on January 29th and has become one of the fastest-growing indie titles of the year.

Players take control of professional climber Aava as she takes on the great challenge of becoming the first climber to summit the impressive Mount Kami. Although the mountain is fictional, the game initially tells the player that it is similar to Mount Everest, which stands at 29,032 feet above sea level, or 8,848.9 meters.

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“I really like it when the goals of the game are clearly aligned with what the player sees and does,” Audrey Leprince, co-founder, executive producer, and CEO of The Game Bakers, told GameRant. “It’s so obvious that you have to climb the mountain in front of you. There’s nothing else. That’s why we like the simplicity of it.”

It may be simple in spirit, but creating the gameplay was no easy task.

cairn Leprince said it resonated with gamers and climbers alike and was something the team was a little worried about at first. But her fears were allayed when she attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in California.

“There was a climbing club there and everyone said, ‘I love it. You can do the same thing in real life.’” And we were so happy and surprised that the climbing community thought this was a realistic game. Because we knew it wasn’t completely realistic,” Leprince said.

It's clear that the developers behind the game shared many of the same principles of the climbers they worked hard to emulate. A minimalist and simple approach that focuses on the challenges ahead and the beauty of the world around us.

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To truly convey the feeling of climbing to the athletes, the team conducted extensive research, including a team trip to Mount Blanc, France's highest peak. There, they climbed 4,000 meters (13123.36') with a guide, Leprince said. They also worked with climbers. cairnFive years of development with French mountaineer Elisabeth Revol.

Revol has an impressive resume that includes numerous ascents in the French Alps and even summiting Pakistan's infamous “killer mountain” Nanga Parbat. Unfortunately, her climbing partner, Polish climber Tomasz Mackiewicz, did not survive the climb.

“We did a lot of educating ourselves,” Leprince said. “Surprisingly, half the team took up climbing, and out of the team of 15, four or five people are still into climbing and climb regularly, most of the level design team. So it’s kind of magic.”

Leprince himself grew up in the climbing world. Her father was a mountaineer who even attempted the infamous mountain K2 in the western Himalayas.

The team knew early on what aspect of climbing they wanted their athletes to feel. In fact, that was pretty much it. Leprince said that he wanted players to truly embody Aava, and that he tried to put as little of a buffer as possible between the player, the mountain, and the protagonist. “We wanted to convey realism, humanity, embodiment of the body, and actually climbing,” Leprince said.

This design philosophy led them to implement survival mechanics that players must contend with, including managing hunger, temperature, and skin health. “[We] We spent a lot of time making you feel like you were inside her,” Leprince told GameRant.

“We wanted to convey the harshness of the climb, how hard it is, how difficult the test is and how much mental strength, motivation and determination it takes, especially to climb 8000 meters like Aava.”

“Of course, the question we ask at Cairn is why do people climb mountains and take so many chances and leave so much behind to be on those mountains? So that’s also something we wanted to make sure players could experience for themselves.”

Build your game one game at a time

The team essentially had to create an entirely new type of gameplay system, and between figuring out the controls and matching the level design, Leprince said it took years to get it right. In an age where yellow paint is king of climbs in video games, The Game Bakers had to find a way to indicate where players should go without making it too obvious. And not having a clear path helped them establish it. cairn'space.

“The best way to slow a player down is to make a lot of choices and decisions and tactical decisions per minute,” Leprince said.

“By giving [players] It's so free that if they don't tell you where you're going and just say it's a system, you have to study thinking, 'Oh, should I go this way?' I'm trying to do this, and oh, I see this. I'll probably try to take a detour.' So it became natural that there was no need to speed up the game.”

One of the most essential parts of climbing is patience and not moving too fast. All movements should be slow, steady and intentional. It takes time to plan the optimal route and review your equipment. When climbing, you should never rush anything. Game Bakers was able to convey this to players through structured gameplay systems and Aava's design.

Aava can sprint, but not for long. She can use fast walk, but doing so takes damage. Slowing the player down to focus on Aava, her journey, and the world around her was all a very intentional choice. “I don’t know any climbers who actually run between climbs.” Leprince joked. “Now is the time to rest, breathe and enjoy yourself and the beautiful mountains.”

Creating a World of Cairns

Although climbing has been the focus, the world in which Aava exists and the mountain itself are equally important. cairn. The team collaborated with French cartoonist Mathieu Bablet to create the game's signature stylized cel-shaded look. According to Leprince, Bablet is one of France's biggest emerging cartoonists. It was also Bablet's first time working on a video game.

“I think the results are fantastic,” Leprince said. “A lot of the inspiration comes from the mature work, a lot of the inspiration comes from the mountains themselves. There's nothing more beautiful than the rural world.”

The art style was only one aspect of the setting. cairnTone and feel. It's a very textured game. The team wanted players to be able to feel the rocks beneath Aava's hands and hear the wind, rain, and grass crunching beneath her feet. To achieve this, The Game Bakers brought in audio director Martin Stig Andersen, who has worked on titles such as: limbo, insideand control.

“[Andersen was] A man breaking bones and recording inside skulls to create the sounds of Limbo. “This is his level of data and precision,” said Leprince, who began recording 6,000 to 8,000 breathing and effort sounds in collaboration with Sophia Eleni, one of Aava's two voice actors.

“[Eleni] I was doing push-ups, flipping upside down, jumping, pretending to be hit and hurt, and screaming. I have videos of Martin with her, recording her trying for hours, grunting, breathing and making sounds of pain. And Martin composed these magical landscapes that looked so natural that people could tell what was happening even with their eyes closed,” LePrince said.

Aava is also voiced by Camille Constantin Da Silva, who did most of the character's songs. Eleni recorded most of Aava's conversations.

“[Eleni] It put so much humanity and vulnerability into Aava and even really enhanced the dry sense of humor that the character has,” Leprince said, “because everyone says Aava is stern and almost unpleasant. Sophia was able to make her more human, relatable and touching in some of her lines, showing the vulnerability behind the determination of this ultra-strong climber.”

Sound design and voice work are used not only to create the atmosphere of the world, but also to cue gameplay for the player. The way the team approaches fitness has been very intentional. As Aava struggles, players can hear her moans of pain and heavy breathing. Her limbs will begin to shake, and unless the player has recently installed protective gear on the wall, Aava will likely fall to her death.

“You could always show a health meter with numbers: red, orange, green, etc. So we removed that altogether,” Leprince said. “That’s why we spend so much time on sound design, camera, animation and character acting. You can tell what’s happening without having to look at the gauges.”

she said early on cairnIn development, there was originally a clear prompt to let the player know when Aava got a good hold. However, I realized I no longer needed it and removed it. It didn't fit their minimalist approach. cairnGameplay of.

“The sound is enough to tell you whether it's a good hold or not, so we removed everything to make it minimalist and let you focus on new emotions and immerse yourself in the experience,” Leprince said.

What’s next for Cairn?

“We are already working on more content for Cairn and will be releasing it all in the coming months,” she said. “And hopefully it won't take two years so we can enjoy it sooner. But yes, we have plans to continue for a little bit longer.”

LePrince went on to say: cairn This is a complete experience as-is, so Aava's story may not be the focus of new content. The team will announce more details when they are ready, and it sounds like there will be plenty of climbers ready for another climb when they do.