Keeper is an adventure traversal game where you play an anthropomorphic lighthouse and its seabird companion, exploring a crumbling post-human world. As the lighthouse, you run and jump through sprawling environments, aiming your lamp to interact with its flora and fauna; as the seabird, you solve tactile mechanical puzzles that forge the path ahead. It’s a tale of two unconventional protagonists, made all the more poignant by its wordless storytelling, which leaves the backstory of both the world and these two friends open to interpretation.
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As the lighthouse, you awaken from an ancient slumber on an island under invasion by an evil, creeping presence with an inexplicable sense of purpose, and team up with a fleeing seabird. Though at first you can barely walk on your newly sprouted tendril-like legs, together you venture towards the mountainous centre of the island, gradually growing stronger. Eventually, you learn to work together with the bird to jump and even glide through more challenging traversal sections.
As you progress, you learn that your lamp beam is somehow an antidote to the spreading evil, carefully aiming it to restore life and solve light-based puzzles. The seabird is also crucial to master, interacting with ancient levers and contraptions to unlock the increasingly surreal path towards the heart of the island.
The result is an atmospheric game that tells a story with its quirky characters, world, music and interactions rather than words. Even with such odd main characters, it manages a surprising level of empathy as the unlikely friendship builds to carry themes of hope, solitude and companionship.
