Keeper wants you to love its colorful weirdness, but it's ultimately a little vanilla

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.

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  Gorgeous, artistic style

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  An interesting soundtrack

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  Keeps world traversal feeling fresh

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  Puzzles are too simple

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  Story lacks a strong theme or depth

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  Interactions are ultimately a little one-note

Taking control of a lighthouse wasn't on my video game bingo card for 2025, but that’s the thrust of Keeper, a puzzle adventure game from Double Fine Productions, with an emphasis on strange style and atmosphere over mind-warping challenges and obstacles.

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