The Game Bakers released On the Trail: Deep Water, the first DLC for its climbing game Cairn, on Thursday, free on PC and PlayStation 5. Its three new climbing spots read like a dare. There is a gym packed with brutal routes, a sea stack rising from the waves, and an island where the only safety net is the deep water below.
Deep Water is a prequel, set before the main game. Aava and Marco, who is playable now, take on a series of crux climbs laid out by Otto Mondo, a legendary climber. They are his trial for anyone training for Mount Kami. A crux is the hardest section of a route, so this is a whole DLC of the bits that make you swear. Along the way you explore Mondo’s crags and piece together the legend behind the man. The studio puts a first run at about 3 hours and full completion at about 5.
If you have not met The Game Bakers, they are a Montpellier studio founded in 2010 that self-publishes and works remotely, with members around France and beyond. Each of their games is a different kind of game: Furi was a boss-fight game, Haven a romantic space RPG, and Squids Odyssey an underwater tactics RPG. Cairn, released on January 29, 2026, puts you on Mount Kami as professional climber Aava, choosing your own route up any wall. Between climbs you forage, find water and keep warm through the night.
The studio says Cairn is already on many Game of the Year lists as award season opens. A free prequel with a new playable climber is a smart way to put it back in front of you right before those lists come out.
A free update for the main game adds a Free Roam mode on Mount Kami, so you can travel to any bivouac site you have already visited. You can explore the mountain and attempt the climb as Marco. Cairn itself is 30% off for the launch, its biggest discount yet, which puts it at $20.99 instead of $29.99 on Steam. A Nintendo Switch 2 version is still listed as coming soon.
If you finished Cairn earlier this year, the DLC and Free Roam cost you nothing. If you never started, the Steam sale is the cheapest way up the mountain so far.
