KEEPER

Keep On, Keepin' On

- By Jordan Biordi

Developer: Double Fine Productions Publisher: Double Fine ESRB Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) Release Date: 10/17/2025 Played On: PC (Microsoft Windows) Reviewed By: Jordan Biordi

When I first saw Keeper at the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase, I wasn't all that impressed by it. If you're familiar with their work, putting up a Double Fine logo before footage of a sentient Lighthouse crawling around on spider legs only to be joined by a strange-looking bird is only going to invoke a "Yeah...that tracks" response.

Keeper didn't stick with me when I saw it, but I stuck with Keeper once I started playing it. Jokes aside, its immediate sense of creativity was always going to draw me to it, as I am to examples of video games as art.

But Keeper is a game that, despite its bizarre trappings, uses a simple style that is unbelievably charming and incredibly captivating.

Keeper's story is as matter-of-fact as it is imaginative. A strange land is gripped by something called The Withering—separating much of the land and seemingly causing its death. Suddenly, a lone lighthouse springs to life, as if possessed by some ancient magic and is shown a vision of a mountain. As it begins its journey towards this place, it's joined by a strange bird named Twig, and together the two must work to reach the peak and maybe end the Withering.