The new PS5 console exclusive game is getting great reviews

New PlayStation 5 Console exclusive Kern Having debuted to great reviews, its massive level of critical acclaim makes it currently the highest rated 2026 game on any platform. While it's also available on PC, its initial commercial momentum appears to be largely driven by PS5 owners, based on some circumstantial evidence.

Eighth title from French indie studio The Game Bakers – known for fury, Havenand The squids odyssey–Kern It's a survival game that offers stunning vistas and unforgiving challenges. Set in the fictional Mount Kami, it tasks players with planning routes and managing resources while navigating increasingly dangerous terrain. Kern It was released via the PlayStation Store and Steam on Thursday, January 29, Day of the Devs 2024, the 18-month anniversary of its original announcement.

Cairn debuts to rave reviews

The Kern The review ban was lifted just ahead of the game's global release, which took place at noon ET / 6pm CET. Within four hours of The Game Bakers lifting its review restrictions, the game accumulated 40 professional reviews tracked by OpenCritic, with an average score of 87 and a 90% recommendation rate. Aside from earning the elusive “Powerful” status on this platform, these impressive metrics officially Kern Highest scoring 2026 title ever. While the year is still in its early days, this overwhelmingly positive reception only strengthens KernAn early established reputation as one of January's most exciting new titles.

Cairn Review Roundup

Open Critic: 87 average score, 90% recommendation rate
PS Store: 4.64-star player rating
Steam: No user ratings yet

Looking beyond initial, arbitrary out-of-reference numbers Kern Reviews are almost unanimous in their praise for the game's art style, which mixes minimalism with strong natural effects, but both are heavily stylized while guided by colorimetry and many other principles. This approach is aligned with the portfolio of Mathieu Bablet, a long-time French comedian who served as art director and writer. Kern. Bablet is known for many colorful illustrations and effective compositions, often framing scenarios in highly dramatic ways—all techniques evident throughout the game.

Top 10 highest-rated games of 2026 (January) according to OpenCritic

#	the game	Platform(s)	average score	% recommended
1	Kern	PC, PS5	87	90%
2	Cult of the Sheep: Woolhaven	PC, PS4/5, XSXS, Switch 1/2	86	100%
3	Avoid the Ever After	PC, Switch, XB1, XBXS, PS5	84	91%
4	Temirana: Fortunate Princesses and Tragic Knights	Switch on	83	100%
5	The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon	PC, PS4/5, Switch 1/2	83	91%
6	TR-49	pc	83	100%
7	MIO: Memories in class	PC, PS5, XSXS, Switch 1/2	83	82%
8	Pathologic 3	PC, PS5, Xbox One	81	82%
9	Arknights: Endfield	PC, PS5	80	83%
10	Earth must die	pc	79	67%

While it is too early for official sales figures, Kern Already accumulating thousands of user reviews on the PlayStation Store is an encouraging sign. Review-to-purchase ratios vary widely by genre, developer, region and other factors, but they are generally low — often requiring hundreds or thousands of purchases per single user-submitted rating. As such, an indie title generating around 3,500 PS Store player reviews within hours of release is a circumstantial but meaningful indicator. Kern January could emerge as the strongest commercial performer of 2026, despite starting late in the month.

Cairn is currently available at a small launch discount of 10%, bringing its price down to $26.99 on both Steam and the PS Store as of February 12th.

Going by the same metric, Kern Steam seems to have had a more modest launch, with over 100 user reviews just three hours after launch. These initial impressions are consistent with its critical reception, as Valve's system labels them “very positive”. According to more specific data from the Steam API, more than 82.6% of the current Kern The reviews on the platform – few as they may be – are positive. Its enthusiastic debut adds to the mini-boom of traversal-focused games, Death Stranding who Baby steps.