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Usually, if a bird discovers an abandoned lighthouse, it may perch, rest momentarily, leave a mess, and take off. That's not the case in Keeper, an upcoming third-person adventure puzzle game created by the development studio; here, the lighthouse sprouts tiny limbs, forms a friendship with the bird, and embarks on an ambitious hike.

Although a latest preview at Gamescom answered some questions, it also sparked a desire to learn more about this absurdist lighthouse-meets-bird story. Therefore, we sat down with the creative director, the visionary lead behind Keeper, to shed light on his team's vibrant creation.

A Unique Adventure Gameplay

While at its core designed as an adventure game, Petty explains that Keeper aims to deliver a distinctive experience through a blend of surreal graphics, enigmatic setting, accessible puzzles, and, importantly, the absence of words. He calls the game a “palate cleanser,” a short adventure different from anything you’ve played before.

“Keeper conveys less than a typical game,” he notes. “It was essential for us to let the player relax and not worry about making mistakes; just pause to attempt and accept the weirdness.”

Consequently, Keeper isn’t just a series of challenges, nor is its exploration very goal-oriented. Set in a post-apocalyptic realm without humans, you will explore the world as a living lighthouse accompanied by a bird sidekick named Twig, but there is no death, there are no skill trees, and you’ll never have to grind for items.

Puzzle Design and Environmental Interaction

“When we began to create the puzzles, we aimed to develop puzzles that felt deeply integrated into the world and the inhabitants there. In a typical adventure game, you might find a obstacle first,” Petty explains. “You're like, oh, I can't get through this door, and you usually grasp that, because there are people there telling you so with dialogue.”

“But in our game, we wanted to truly create this sense of an peculiar, atmospheric world and not tell you exactly what it's about. Our puzzles function a little differently, so you frequently sort of wander into them without understanding what you need to be doing.”

Artisanal Feel and Minimalist Interactions

To impart the game a “handmade” atmosphere, Keeper steers clear of using numerous variations of the same concept. “We implement that to a degree, as it's not like everything is created only one time and thrown away,” Petty elaborates, “but there is a great deal of distinct setup. Every few steps away, you see something very different from the rest of the game.”

In response about sustaining player’s attention in the absence of failure and defined objectives, Petty stands firm: “I believe we captivate the player's attention through the surprising. Players aren’t entirely sure what's going to happen around each corner.”

This thoughtfully designed method is also evident in Keeper’s limited set of interactions. To find your way through its dreamlike world, players require more than a handful of buttons, as the lighthouse’s primary way of interacting with the world is through its headlight, which has a standard mode and a focused mode. For instance, you can aim it at plants to make them flourish, shine toward a creature to make it squint, and use it to reveal secrets and solve puzzles.

Companion Mechanics and Gameplay Variety

Twig, the lighthouse’s trusty bird friend, is typically perched on the lighthouse, from where it will occasionally take flight to indicate the path forward or activate secrets. In addition to these automatic movements, the lighthouse can also command the bird to perform actions like raising objects, pulling levers, or — perhaps the most interesting one — connecting itself to creatures.

The latter is a prime illustration of how Keeper’s minimalistic approach to the control system still provides a broad range of interactive features. The diverse environments, items, and creatures open the way to unique interactions, and particularly metamorphosis.

“For example, there's a moment where a sort of rosy dust, which resembles cotton candy, gets stuck to the lighthouse, rendering it less heavy. For that portion of the game, the lighthouse can leap, hover, and navigate,” Petty says. “A breath of fresh air from being anchored to the ground. So we try to change the pace up in a many various ways.”

Narrative Without Words

But hopping around and interacting with their surroundings isn’t the only task bestowed upon the lighthouse and its bird; they must additionally convey a story of companionship, bonding, and overcoming obstacles together as they journey toward a magnificent mountain peak. To make matters more complicated, they must accomplish this without using words — and without the type of expressions and facial expressions a human character could have used.

While Petty assures that players will get to sense greater emotion than might expect from a lighthouse, it’s the bird, in particular, who plays a major role in expressing emotions. “When they're riding along on the lighthouse, you actually have a dedicated button dedicated to just expressing with the bird, and a lot of times it will mirror the mood of that area,” he states.

“For example, when you get in a somewhat unsettling or gloomier area, the bird will hunker down and curl around the top of the lighthouse. And if you press the expression button, rather than a playful chirp or guiding you, it will kind of glance about and hide.”

Threats and Benevolent Creatures

By “darker area,” Petty is talking about the threat that derives from something called the “Wither,” a malevolent ecosystem. As the lighthouse and Twig continue their journey, they’ll see more and more of this purple, corrosive substance, which may occasionally take the form of thorns, creepers, and insects. “It's what Twig is escaping,” Petty clarifies.

Unlike the Wither, the majority of creatures in Keeper are actually friendly. When Twig expresses at one of the peculiar critters, for instance, it may emote back and perhaps create an ambient noise — without of words, sound effects and music are an additional tool used to tell Keeper’s story.

Story Conclusion and Influences

This method of non-verbal storytelling makes me wonder if Keeper’s narrative concludes in a ambiguous ending, but Petty reassures that there will be a middle ground. “It's not a complete mystery, but because it's without dialogue, it's inherently subject to interpretation. We purposely aim to leave some room for that as that's my most loved thing about art; the conversations that occur after people play something,” he notes, “But we do provide defined narrative arcs and closure.”

One glance at Keeper’s icy mountaintops, intricate cave systems, and odd rock formations will reveal that the outdoors served as one of the main inspirations for this people-free adventure. As Petty tells, the scenery is not only inspired by any old place: “I reside in California and there's a lot of amazing mountains in this region,” he says. “Close to where I live, there's an old Mercury mine that was left like a hundred years ago, and they've turned it into hiking trails; that's one of my major inspirations. It's nothing extraordinary, but what adds intrigue is the numerous hills, and as you're climbing up, you occasionally discover old pieces of machinery that you're not even sure what they were for.”

“They kind of look like strange monuments, just resting among nature, with nature taking back the space. When I look back at the game and the artifacts of humanity in there, I can see the clear connection to me hiking around all that stuff.”

Symbolic Significance and Closing Reflections

Although Petty humorously calls the lighthouse main character