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Typically, if a bird discovers an deserted lighthouse, it might perch, relax briefly, make a deposit, and fly away. Not so in Keeper, an upcoming over-the-shoulder puzzle adventure game developed by the development studio; in this world, the lighthouse sprouts tiny limbs, forms a friendship with the bird, and embarks on an daring hike.

Although a recent sneak peek at the gaming convention answered some questions, it also sparked a desire to learn more about this surreal lighthouse-meets-bird tale. Thus, we sat down with the creative director, the visionary lead behind Keeper, to illuminate on his team's colorful creation.

An Unconventional Journey Experience

Although fundamentally built as an exploration title, Petty states that Keeper aims to provide a distinctive experience through a blend of dreamlike graphics, enigmatic setting, accessible puzzles, and, most notably, the absence of words. He calls the game a “refreshing break,” a short adventure different from any title you’ve played before.

“Keeper conveys less than a typical game,” he says. “It was important for us to let the player unwind and not worry about making mistakes; just take a moment to attempt and embrace the weirdness.”

Consequently, Keeper isn’t just a sequence of challenges, nor is its exploration very objective-driven. Set in a post-civilization realm devoid of humans, players traverse the world as a living lighthouse accompanied by a bird sidekick named Twig, but there is no death, the game lacks skill trees, and you’ll never have to farm for items.

Puzzle Design and Environmental Interaction

“When we set out to create the puzzles, we wanted to craft puzzles that felt deeply woven into the world and the characters there. In a standard adventure game, you might encounter a problem first,” Petty clarifies. “You're like, oh, I cannot enter through this door, and you usually grasp that, since there are characters there telling you so with dialogue.”

“But in our game, we wanted to truly establish this sense of an unusual, evocative world and not reveal exactly what it's about. Our puzzles function a bit uniquely, so you often kind of stumble upon them without knowing what you need to be doing.”

Artisanal Feel and Minimalist Interactions

To give the game a “handmade” feel, Keeper steers clear of using many variations of the same concept. “We implement that to some extent, as it's not like each element is created only one time and thrown away,” Petty explains, “but there is a great deal of unique setup. Every short distance away, you encounter something very different from the rest of the game.”

When asked about sustaining player’s interest in the absence of failure and defined objectives, Petty is adamant: “I think we engage the player's attention through the surprising. You're not really sure what's going to happen around each corner.”

This curated approach is additionally noticeable in Keeper’s restricted set of interactions. To navigate through its dreamlike world, you don’t need more than a handful of buttons, as the lighthouse’s primary way of interacting with the world is through its beacon, which has a default 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 uncover secrets and tackle puzzles.

Partner Dynamics and Diverse Interactions

Twig, the lighthouse’s trusty bird friend, is typically sitting on the lighthouse, from where it will occasionally fly off to show the path forward or trigger secrets. Apart from these automatic movements, the lighthouse can also direct the bird to perform things like raising objects, pulling levers, or — maybe the most interesting one — connecting itself to creatures.

The last example is a prime example of how Keeper’s streamlined approach to the control system still offers a wide variety of interactive features. The diverse environments, items, and creatures open the way to distinctive interactions, and especially metamorphosis.

“For instance, there's a moment where a type of rosy dust, which resembles cotton candy, gets attached to the lighthouse, rendering it less heavy. For that portion of the game, the lighthouse can leap, float, and navigate,” Petty says. “A welcome change from being stuck to the ground. So we aim to vary the rhythm up in a many different ways.”

Storytelling Devoid of Words

But exploring and fiddling with their environment isn’t the only task bestowed upon the lighthouse and its bird; they must also convey a story of friendship, companionship, and surmounting obstacles together as they travel toward a magnificent mountain peak. To make matters more complicated, they must do so without using words — and without the type of gestures and facial expressions a person could have relied upon.

While Petty confirms that gamers will experience more expression than might expect from a lighthouse, it’s the bird, specifically, who plays a major role in expressing emotions. “When the bird is perched on the lighthouse, you actually have a dedicated 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 kind of unsettling or darker area, the bird will crouch and curl around the top of the lighthouse. And if you press the emote button, instead of a cheerful tweet or guiding you, it'll sort of glance about and duck down.”

Threats and Benevolent Creatures

By “darker area,” Petty is referring to the threat that stems from something called the “Wither,” a hostile ecosystem. As the lighthouse and Twig continue their journey, they encounter increasing amounts of this purple, corrosive substance, which may occasionally appear as of brambles, creepers, and bugs. “It's what Twig is flying away from,” Petty explains.

Unlike the Wither, the majority of creatures in Keeper are in fact friendly. When Twig emotes at one of the peculiar critters, for instance, it might emote back and possibly create an ambient noise — in the absence of words, sound effects and music are another tool used to tell Keeper’s story.

Story Conclusion and Influences

This method of non-verbal storytelling makes me wonder if Keeper’s narrative ends in a cryptic ending, but Petty assures that there will be a balance. “It's not a total mystery, but because it's wordless, it's inherently subject to interpretation. We purposely want to leave some room for that as that's my most loved thing about art; the conversations that occur once people play something,” he says, “But we include 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 primary influences for this human-less adventure. As Petty tells, the scenery is not only inspired by ordinary locations: “I live in California and there's a plenty of amazing mountains around here,” he explains. “Near where I live, there's an abandoned Mercury mine that was abandoned like a century ago, and it has been converted into walking paths; that's one of my big inspirations. It's nothing super remarkable, but what makes it interesting is the numerous hills, and as you're climbing up, you occasionally come across old pieces of machinery that you're not even sure what they were for.”

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

Metaphorical Significance and Closing Thoughts

Although Petty humorously refers to the lighthouse protagonist