Last Updated on 5 March, 2026
Cairn pushes your survival skills to the absolute limit as you scale an unforgiving mountain where one wrong move can end your ascent. Because the sheer vertical drop demands all your attention, players often easily miss the game’s hidden secrets and obscure tasks. Our achievement guide solves this exact problem by providing a clear roadmap to unlock every missable trophy without getting lost. Simply follow these steps to secure your full completion rate while you conquer the perilous summit.
Did You Know? Players have frequently pointed out the similarities in traversal, resource management, and atmospheric isolation between Cairn and Death Stranding. The developers at The Game Bakers actually confirmed on Reddit that Hideo Kojima’s game was a huge inspiration and that they consider Cairn to be a strand-like game focused on deeply satisfying traversal.
Table of Contents
- Miscellaneous and Crafting Achievements
- The Early Ascent: Gym and Cable Car
- The Village and Crystal Cave
- Encounters Along the Trail
- The Guardian Statues and The Needle
- Final Choices and Goodbyes
Miscellaneous and Crafting Achievements
You can knock out these initial achievements at almost any point during your journey. Just make sure you gather the necessary supplies as you explore.
Bag Maniac
Did you really think you could keep your bag tidy? Earning this achievement requires you to embrace the chaos. Open your backpack, rotate your items, rearrange everything, and actively shake the bag around. You will need to do this continuously for a few minutes before the achievement finally unlocks.
Herbalist
To cook the ultimate infusion, you need to follow a specific brewing sequence. First, cook an herb with water. Next, cook a second herb into that exact drink. Finally, cook a third herb into the mixture. The achievement will pop right after the third addition. Using a combination of nettle, thistle, and juniper works perfectly for this.
Red Rope Club
Become a mountain bartender and make an alcoholic cocktail. You simply need to combine alcohol with other ingredients to craft a mixed drink. You can easily find alcohol inside the cave with the fireworks or near The Child statue.
Master Chocolatier
Who says you cannot celebrate holidays on a cliffside? To cook up an Easter egg, start by combining chocolate with water to create a chocolate drink. Take that chocolate drink and combine it with an egg to craft your prize. You can hunt for eggs in a few distinct locations, including the cable car station and clinging to the faces of some buildings.
Doped Up
This requires you to push your body to the absolute limit. You must combine the effects of burst, grip, extra grip, focus, and grit all at exactly the same time. You can achieve this massive buff by using a specific combination of chalk, snacks, and infusions in one go.
Engineer
You need to craft 15 pitons from scraps. This task can span across multiple playthroughs, which means it will likely be the very last achievement you unlock. You can create a new save file and intentionally break and repair your pitons over and over again until the achievement pops.
Mountain Climber Tip: When crafting alcoholic cocktails for the “Red Rope Club” achievement, remember that you can use almost any sugar or herb addition, but you must strictly avoid using dandelions!
The Early Ascent: Gym and Cable Car
Serious Training
You will find a box in the gym room, but you cannot open it immediately. You must successfully complete all 8 climbing walls first. Once you finish the final wall, the game allows you to open the box at the end of the climbing gym.
Luxurious Grip
This requires a bit of financial sacrifice. Gather a coin from the climbing gym to start this process.
Light Up the Sky
You can shoot fireworks to brighten up the gloomy mountain. You will find the fireworks tucked away in a cave located just below the red cable car station.
Spotted!
Take the left path leading to the red cable car station. Look around the base of the building to find a set of binoculars. Use these binoculars to find Marco in the distance.
Kami Sashimi
Take a quick break from climbing to catch a fish. You can complete this relaxing task by almost any body of water you encounter on your journey.
Mountain Climber Tip: Do not let the vending machine tempt you in the gym room. Composting your hard earned coin straight from your inventory is the only way to secure the “Luxurious Grip” achievement.
The Village and Crystal Cave
Aava Porter Bridges
It is time to play postman. Deliver Rody’s letter to the Shepherdess. You will initially find this letter resting on a bed inside the village. Pick it up and carry it to The Vault. The Vault is the leftmost location after you climb past the village. Look for a group of goats, as they mark the exact location of the Shepherdess’ hut.
All That Glitters
When you are in the village, head inside and climb up the Crystal Cave. You will receive the glow-in-the-dark gloves as a reward for your efforts. Immediately after you break the stalagmites to exit the cave, turn right to discover a Troglodyte’s Map.
Meteorologist
This is a game changer for bad weather. Use the Troglodyte’s Map you just found on your route planner. The map reveals the locations of 3 distinct doll pieces. Once assembled, you can use the doll 3 times to neutralize harsh weather and instantly bring clear skies.
Honey Heist
Keep your eyes on the right side of the path after you leave the village. You will spot a massive archway. Climb up to the very top of this archway to collect some wild honey directly from the wall.
Mountain Climber Tip: You can collect the three doll pieces revealed by the Troglodyte’s Map in absolutely any order you choose, giving you ultimate flexibility in your routing.
Encounters Along the Trail
Lick Responsibly
Find a frog on your journey and give it a lick. You will become incredibly woozy, but you will earn a shiny new achievement for your questionable dietary choice.
No Thanks
Marco loves to talk, but you do not have to listen. Marco will ramble for about 30 seconds during a specific encounter. You must interrupt his rambling before he gets the chance to start talking about his family.
Grizzly Woman
You have to survive a terrifying bear encounter. You will find the bear resting in a cave on the right side of the path, just before you reach the wooden bridge.
One Day, I’ll Be Rich!
Gather up all the crystal shards you can carry. Bring the entire collection to the crystal-cutter to pop this achievement.
Return to Source
You need to catch a weird salamander. Enter the bottom left entryway carved into the cliff face. Hug the left wall tightly as you walk, and you will eventually stumble right into the salamander.
Mountain Climber Tip: To survive the bear encounter, speed is your best friend. Sneak in, loot the maple syrup from the corpse inside the cave, and run away immediately!
The Guardian Statues and The Needle
The Child
This involves finding the first guardian’s troglodyte piton. Walk all the way to the right side of the area to locate the massive guardian statue. Climb straight into the opening at the top of the statue to claim your piton.
The Ancient
It is time to find the second guardian’s troglodyte piton. Right after you cross the wooden bridge, rappel down the cliff face. This drop gives you access to the second guardian statue. You can enter this statue directly at its foot.
Heartbeat
Keep an eye out for a beautiful Edelweiss flower. When you are climbing the tall rock spire known as The Needle, look for a doorway about halfway up. Inside the doorway sits a corpse holding the Edelweiss. Pick it up immediately. This flower functions as a precious extra life as long as you keep it safe in your backpack.
The Secret
You must uncover the third guardian’s troglodyte piton. You will find the final guardian statue waiting in the ravine. Climb inside its head to claim the final piece of the set.
I Did It!
You must reach the mini-Kami summit. Stay in the exact same room where you found the final troglodyte piton. Look around to find a Kami replica and climb all the way to the top of it.
Mountain Climber Tip: The area around The Child guardian statue is the absolute best location to unlock the “Don’t Stop Me Now” achievement. Simply climb 30 meters upward without placing a single piton and it will pop instantly.
Final Choices and Goodbyes
In Memoriam (Parts 1 and 2)
Pay your respects by placing the origami in the shelter. Specifically, you need to place the origami right down in the middle of the backpack room.
Love Birds
Head over to the right side of the mountain to find a kite. Cut this kite free to let loose Rody and Johanna’s creation.
Home
The journey ends with a difficult choice. When the game gives you the option, you must choose to go back down with Marco.
Mountain Climber Tip: Be very careful with the kites on the right side of the mountain. One is necessary for the Love Birds achievement, while the other kite functions strictly as a save point.
Conclusion
Reaching the breathtaking summit of Cairn requires true grit, but our guide ensures your trophy hunt remains completely stress-free. By following this chronological path, you have successfully conquered every missable challenge and optimized your precious climbing resources. You can now celebrate your flawless ascent and show off your fully completed achievement list to the world. Keep this walkthrough handy for your next expedition to guarantee another perfect run.
Fun Fact: While exploring Mount Kami, you can stumble upon a hidden cave that looks like a massive, recently abandoned rave. The music playing in the background is actually a rave remix of a track from the developer’s previous game, Furi If you accidentally fall into a gap in this cave, you can even find a corpse holding a rare item.
