TThe world of the Keeper flows from the screen like a vivid dream painted with psilocybin hues. It’s an intricate land filled with bubblegum blues, soft pinks, and bizarre glowing creatures, where evolution seems to happen in an instant. The stunning visuals evoke the charm of a 1980s fantasy film, complete with lovingly crafted practical effects. Keeper is the newest creation from Double Fine, known for their quirky platformer Psychonauts 2, the Kickstarter sensation Broken Age, and various other unique titles. This action-adventure game highlights the beauty of life’s imperfections, resembling a scene sculpted from papier-mâché instead of polished digital designs.

The main character is even more peculiar—the player embodies a lighthouse, illuminating this enchanting ecological landscape. Long shadows trail behind glowing objects, revealing the outlines of colossal plants and tiny creatures. Light projection serves as your means of interaction with the environment, often causing flora to sprout right before your eyes while some rare inhabitants stay nourished by it. As you explore serene lagoons or sunlit canyons dotted with cacti, you’ll find delight in simply observing, embracing the oddity, and nurturing it into even more extraordinary life.

Your role as a life-giving lighthouse develops when you find a companion—a bird named Twig with a driftwood beak. You assume dual responsibilities, having your feathered friend assist in various tasks (on this distant future Earth, the organic blends with the mechanical, reminiscent of a steampunk Henry David Thoreau). However, these puzzles fall short of matching the visual creativity and don’t resonate with the game’s biological themes; early on, you merely rotate the analog stick to align gears.

Often, puzzles feel like barriers to exploration rather than facilitators. Yet, gradually, Keeper embraces the surreal elements of its world to unveil surprises. At one point, a cotton candy-like substance envelops the lighthouse, rendering it weightless. Instead of stumbling awkwardly, it gracefully leaps, gliding through the air.

Soon, the Keeper taps into an evolutionary rhythm as the lighthouse transforms into a fish-inspired boat. The thrill of swaying and swirling in azure waters is delightful! However, the gameplay takes a darker, more abstract twist, as players become disks of red-hot metal, slicing through tangled underbrush like a primitive Sonic the Hedgehog.

Marketed as “a story told without words,” Keeper communicates most vividly through its expansive visuals. However, this claim is misleading. Throughout the game, button prompts intermittently appear, instructing players on actions like pressing X to “peck.” This clarity detracts from the world’s intended ambiguity.

A similar issue arises towards the game’s conclusion, albeit from a different perspective. Without revealing too much, players confront the profound and unfathomable essence of existence. How can we engage with such transcendental depth? Unfortunately, some puzzles rely on memorization of shapes, including a kaleidoscopic crystal and a black hole. In essence, Keeper struggles with a limited interactive vocabulary to fully harness the extraordinary imagery crafted with such vivid imagination.