Keeper Reviews

Keeper is one of the most stand-out games of the year and its quirky premise really sets the stage for an unforgettable adventure so let's play.

Keeper is a fascinating tale full of moments that will make you think — not just about the game, but life and our place in the world. The visuals are intriguing, and the on-screen action is supported by a solid soundtrack. The mechanics are simple and can become a little monotonous at times, but there’s always something new around the next bend. While Keeper may not be a game that appeals to everyone, the nature of the story ensures that it’s certainly a game that’s for everyone.

Keeper and its endearing story of friendship and nature hits every artistic mark you would expect out of Double Fine, but its unengaging gameplay and lacking puzzles keep it from joining the studio’s top-shelf hits.

There will be those that aren't fans of its pace, but Keeper is a stunning game both visually and in the poignant story it tells.

The strange journey of light, loneliness, and rebirth in Double Fine's game is one of the most hauntingly beautiful of the year.

With superb art, sound design, memorable music, and a uniquely crafted, strange world, Keeper truly lives up to its name. Its eccentricity reflects the creativity typical of Double Fine.

Keeper is pure Double Fine brilliance. They don’t just convince you to care about a lighthouse, but their bird companion, too. While questions aren’t really answered, that ultimately doesn’t matter.

Psychonauts studio Double Fine returns with a surprising, shapeshifting adventure of captivating wonder and beauty.

Exploring Keeper’s surreal world is a feast for the senses, with every detail from its propulsive score to its Seussian flora and fauna pulling me deeper into its tale.

Surreal, surprising, and a bit silly are the best ways to describe Keeper, but with this being a game from Double Fine none of that is unexpected. Keeper is narrative puzzle experience, casting you as a lighthouse exploring a world that is in the grip of The Wither, accompanied by your bird friend Twig who is trying to get back to their family. None of this overtly explained, as there is no dialogue in Keeper with Double Fine trusting you to put some of the pieces together.

Keeper is a fabulous story-driven adventure with a beautiful art style that doesn't need words, a bloated open world, or trend chasing to weave a compelling narrative all its own.

Keeper is Double Fine at its absolute best; a breathtaking, wordless journey that proves emotion and artistry can speak louder than dialogue.

Keeper is a gorgeous little package of tightly designed puzzles and cerebral platforming that showcases what makes Double Fine's games so uniquely special.

Keeper is another unique Double Fine creation, excellently executed with incredible art direction and fun puzzles, even if it doesn't push the envelope.

A gorgeous adventure that is as surprising as it is beautiful, Keeper is far more than the game about a sentient lighthouse that it presents itself as. Filled with engaging puzzles, mesmerising scenery and a visual story to make you think, Keeper is well worth taking the time to complete.

It’s almost always a relief to play a game like Keeper, where there’s no carnage or frenetic energy, and where the pace and tone are understated. Keeper is colorful, and the makers have definitely succeeded in their stated goal of making a weird, chill game. It’s also kind of a dull experience, with too little player agency, some frustrating mechanics, and a sense of discovery muted by too many restrictions and guideposts. Keeper is a generally pleasant journey through a psychedelic landscape and it isn’t too thematically heavy handed. I just wish it was a little more fun to take the trip.

Keeper shows off Double Fine's beautiful art direction and creative minds, but fails to tell a compelling story despite its best efforts. Combine this with a largely uninteresting gameplay loop until the final hour and we have a rare misfire by one of the best studios working today. Hopefully, Double Fine returns to this world in another capacity at some point as there is a lot of potential here that could still be salvaged.

Keeper is absolutely worth playing, but not necessarily because of its gameplay. A frustrating fixed camera, a frequent sense of aimlessness, and a general lack of intention behind your actions all combine to diminish interactivity and engagement. At the same time, however, Keeper is an astonishingly beautiful visual experience, made all the more special by its unspoken narrative and wildly creative artistic presentation.

Storybook fables that teach grander lessons about life can come in many different forms. They can be stories about humans. They can be stories about animals with human qualities. They can be tales of friendship, maybe between humans or talking animals. It's not often that there's a poignant yarn about a lighthouse and a bird. The premise of Keeper, the latest puzzle-filled adventure game from Double Fine, suggests an oddball, almost wacky, kind of friendship story. It ends up being a grander tale of life, time, and nature, one that harbors a surprising amount of emotional depth for a story about a lighthouse.

Keeper is a refreshingly creative game out of Xbox-owned studio Double Fine Productions, where you take control of a sentient lighthouse to journey to the top of a mountain with the company of a bird friend. Simple puzzles, tight camera angles, and varied traversal keep the game ticking along, but a lack of extra depth to the world or the story made Keeper feel a little one-note and not as weird as it might think it is.

Keeper takes a straightforward puzzle-based walking sim and elevates it tenfold with an unbelievable level of interactive storytelling.

A long time ago, developers Double Fine burst onto the scene with the flop that was Psychonauts, following this up with the equally floppy Brütal Legend. Of course, Psychonauts became a cult classic, and I enjoyed Jack Black's Musical Strategy more than most. However, these efforts resulted in Double Fine spending a few years creating smaller titles before the massive Kickstarter success of Broken Age, followed by Psychonauts 2's success on the Fig crowdfunding network, and the acquisition by Microsoft. This brings us to Keeper, their first game in four years.

Keeper is Double Fine at its most confident, presenting a visual feast and a heartfelt tale in a detailed, complex natural world.

Keeper is a very slow burn, but ends up culminating in one of the coolest and most surprising third acts in recent memory. It does feel like more of an experience than a video game at times, but it's still absolutely a journey worth taking. Going into it completely blind is recommended, as the game is actually hiding way more beneath the surface than you'd ever expect. The puzzles are dead easy, and there are some camera/control/performance hiccups at times, but it's still a title that truly takes you places that will amaze you by the end if you're willing to stick with it.

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