{"id":1489192,"date":"2026-02-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/difficulty-cairn-baby-steps-kinder-more-generous-masocore"},"modified":"2026-02-07T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T10:00:00","slug":"difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/","title":{"rendered":"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn<\/a>. The onerous journey has left the toes of its alpinist star Aava bloodied; I’ve pushed the tendons of her rangy fingers to snapping point. With more frequency than I care to admit, I’ve caused this hell-bent climber to tumble down the same part of rock face over and over again, saved only by a piton. At other times, lacking such safety measures, she has bounced all the way down to Kami’s base off jagged, life-ending shards of rock. I curse the game, mountain, and myself with each major and minor tumble, every lost metre and handful of minutes.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn. The onerous journey has left the toes of its alpinist star Aava bloodied; I’ve pushed the tendons of her rangy fingers to snapping point. With more frequency than I care to admit, I’ve caused this hell-bent climber to tumble down the same part of rock face over and over again, saved only by a piton. At other times, lacking such safety measures, she has bounced all the way down to Kami’s base off jagged, life-ending shards of rock. I curse the game, mountain, and myself with each major and minor tumble, every lost metre and handful of minutes. Read more Source<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1489193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[259,15399,17779,617,75,59,45,54,3987],"class_list":["post-1489192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eurogamer","tag-action-adventure","tag-baby-steps","tag-cairn","tag-devolver-digital","tag-indie","tag-pc","tag-ps5","tag-single-player","tag-third-person"],"yoast_head":"\nDifficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn. The onerous journey has\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn. The onerous journey has\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-07T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-07T10:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":139,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Action-Adventure\",\"Baby Steps\",\"Cairn\",\"Devolver Digital\",\"indie\",\"PC\",\"PS5\",\"single-player\",\"Third Person\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Eurogamer\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/\",\"name\":\"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-07T10:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn. The onerous journey has\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore | Arcader News","description":"For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn. The onerous journey has","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore | Arcader News","og_description":"For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn. The onerous journey has","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-02-07T10:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore","datePublished":"2026-02-07T10:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/"},"wordCount":139,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg","keywords":["Action-Adventure","Baby Steps","Cairn","Devolver Digital","indie","PC","PS5","single-player","Third Person"],"articleSection":["Eurogamer"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/","name":"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-07T10:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"For the past week, instead of actually relaxing in the evenings, I have been ascending the gnarled brute of a mountain in Cairn. The onerous journey has","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/difficulty-done-differently-cairn-and-baby-steps-deliver-kinder-more-generous-masocore\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Difficulty done differently: Cairn and Baby Steps deliver kinder, more generous masocore"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1489192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1489192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1489193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1489192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1489192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1489192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}