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Typically, when a bird stumbles upon an abandoned lighthouse, it might land, relax momentarily, make a deposit, and fly away. Not so in Keeper, an upcoming over-the-shoulder puzzle adventure game developed by the development studio; here, the lighthouse grows tiny limbs, becomes BFFs with the bird, and sets off on an daring hike.

Although a recent preview at Gamescom clarified some questions, it also ignited a curiosity to discover additional details about this surreal lighthouse-meets-bird tale. Thus, we sat down with the creative director, the visionary lead behind Keeper, to shed light on his team's colorful creation.

A Unique Adventure Gameplay

Although at its core designed as an adventure game, Petty states that Keeper aims to provide a unique experience through a blend of surreal graphics, enigmatic setting, approachable puzzles, and, importantly, the lack of words. He calls the game a “refreshing break,” a brief adventure unlike anything gamers have experienced before.

“Keeper communicates less than a standard game,” he notes. “It was essential for us to let the player relax and not worry about messing up; just take a moment to try and accept the weirdness.”

As a result, Keeper is not merely a series of challenges, nor is its exploration very objective-driven. Taking place in a post-civilization world devoid of humans, players traverse the world as a living lighthouse joined by a bird sidekick named Twig, but there is no death, the game lacks skill trees, and you’ll never have to grind for items.

Puzzle Design and Environmental Interaction

“When we set out to create the puzzles, we aimed to develop puzzles that felt deeply woven into the world and the inhabitants there. In a typical adventure game, you may encounter a problem first,” Petty explains. “For instance, oh, I cannot enter through this door, and you usually understand that, because there are characters there explaining so with dialogue.”

“But in our game, we aimed to really create this feeling of an unusual, atmospheric world and not reveal exactly what it's about. Our puzzles function a little differently, so you frequently sort of stumble upon them without understanding what you're supposed to be doing.”

Artisanal Feel and Minimalist Interactions

To give the game a “crafted” atmosphere, Keeper avoids using numerous variations of the same concept. “We implement that to some extent, as it's not like everything is done exactly once and discarded,” Petty explains, “but there is a lot of distinct setup. Every few steps away, you see something distinctly new from the remainder of the game.”

When asked about maintaining player’s interest without of failure and clear objectives, Petty is adamant: “I think we engage the player's attention through the unexpected. Players aren’t entirely sure what's going to happen around each corner.”

This thoughtfully designed method is also noticeable in Keeper’s restricted set of interactions. To find your way through its surrealist world, you don’t need more than a few buttons, as the lighthouse’s primary way of engaging with the world is through its beacon, which has a default mode and a concentrated mode. For instance, you can direct it at plants to make them flourish, beam toward a creature to make it squint, and use it to reveal secrets and solve puzzles.

Partner Dynamics and Diverse Interactions

Twig, the lighthouse’s reliable bird companion, is usually perched on the lighthouse, from where it will occasionally take flight to show the path forward or trigger secrets. Apart from these scripted movements, the lighthouse can also direct the bird to perform things like raising objects, operating levers, or — perhaps the intriguing one — connecting itself to creatures.

The last example is a great example of how Keeper’s streamlined approach to the input scheme still offers a broad range of interactive features. The various environments, items, and creatures pave the path to unique interactions, and particularly metamorphosis.

“For example, there's a moment where a type of rosy dust, which looks like fairy floss, gets stuck to the lighthouse, rendering it lighter. For that segment of the game, the lighthouse can jump, float, and navigate,” Petty explains. “A welcome change from being anchored to the ground. So we aim to vary the rhythm up in a lot of various ways.”

Narrative Without Words

But exploring and interacting with their surroundings isn’t the only task assigned upon the lighthouse and its bird; they must additionally convey a story of companionship, bonding, and overcoming obstacles together as they journey toward a breathtaking mountain peak. To make matters more complicated, they must do so without using words — and without the type of expressions and facial expressions a person might’ve relied upon.

Although Petty assures that players will get to sense greater emotion than one would expect from a lighthouse, it’s the bird, in particular, who plays a major role in conveying emotions. “When they're riding along on the lighthouse, you actually have a whole button dedicated to just emoting with the bird, and often it will reflect the mood of that location,” he says.

“For instance, when you get in a somewhat unsettling or darker area, the bird will hunker down and coil around the top of the lighthouse. And if you hit the expression button, instead of a playful chirp or directing you, it will kind of look around and duck down.”

Threats and Friendly Creatures

By “gloomy zone,” Petty is referring to the threat that derives from something called the “Wither,” a malevolent ecosystem. As the lighthouse and Twig proceed on their journey, they encounter more and more of this violet, corrosive substance, which sometimes take the form of brambles, vines, and insects. “It's what Twig is flying away from,” Petty clarifies.

Unlike the Wither, the majority of creatures in Keeper are in fact friendly. When Twig emotes at one of the odd critters, for example, it may emote back and perhaps create an background sound — in the absence of words, sound effects and music are another tool used to tell Keeper’s story.

Story Closure and Inspiration

This method of non-verbal storytelling raises the question if Keeper’s narrative concludes in a cryptic conclusion, but Petty reassures that there will be a balance. “It's not a complete mystery, but because it's without dialogue, it's inherently open to interpretation. We did intentionally want to allow space for that because that's my favorite thing about art; the conversations that occur once people play something,” he says, “But we do provide specific narrative arcs and closure.”

A quick look at Keeper’s snowy mountaintops, intricate cave systems, and unusual rock formations will tell you that natural scenery served as one of the main inspirations for this people-free tale. As Petty tells, the scenery isn’t just based on ordinary locations: “I live in California and there's a lot of really cool mountains around here,” he says. “Close to where I live, there's an old Mercury mine that was left like a hundred years ago, and it has been converted into walking paths; that's one of my big inspirations. It's not anything extraordinary, but what makes it interesting is the many hills, and as you ascend, you occasionally come across remnants of machinery that you can’t identify what they were for.”

“They sort of look like weird monuments, just sitting among nature, with nature reclaiming 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.”

Metaphorical Significance and Final Reflections

Although Petty jokingly calls the lighthouse main character