Often, when a chook finds an deserted lighthouse, it sits down, relaxes a bit, perhaps leaves a quantity two, after which flies off. Not so in Keeper, an upcoming third-person puzzle journey sport developed by Double Wonderful Productions; right here, the lighthouse grows little legs, turns into BFFs with the chook, then units off on an bold hike.
Though an unique Keeper preview at Gamescom answered some of my questions, it additionally instilled a want to study extra about this absurdist lighthouse-meets-bird story, so I sat down with Lee Petty, artistic director of Keeper, to shine a light-weight on his staff’s colourful creation.
Whereas essentially constructed as an journey sport, Petty tells me that Keeper is meant to offer a novel expertise by a mix of a surreal visible fashion, the thriller of its world, the accessibility of puzzles, and, most notably, the absence of phrases. He calls the sport a “palate cleanser,” a brief journey in contrast to those you’ve performed earlier than.
“Keeper communicates lower than a typical sport,” he says. “It was necessary for us to let the participant calm down a bit and never fear about messing up; simply take a second to try to embrace the weirdness.”
Consequently, Keeper isn’t only a sequence of challenges, neither is its exploration very goal-oriented. Set in a post-apocalyptic realm with out people, you’ll discover the world as a dwelling lighthouse accompanied by a chook sidekick named Twig, however you may’t die, there are not any talent bushes, and also you’ll by no means should grind for gadgets.
“After we got down to design the puzzles, we wished to create puzzles that felt very built-in into the world and the characters there. In a typical journey sport, you may discover an issue first,” Petty explains. “You are like, oh, I can not get on this door, and also you normally perceive that, as a result of there are individuals there telling you so with dialogue.”
“However in our sport, we wished to essentially create this sense of an uncommon, evocative world and never let you know precisely what it is about. Our puzzles work a little bit in a different way, so that you usually type of wander into them with out understanding what you are purported to be doing.”
To provide the sport a “handmade” really feel, Keeper avoids utilizing many variations of the identical idea. “We do this to some extent, as it is not like all the pieces is finished precisely as soon as and thrown away,” Petty explains, “however there may be plenty of distinctive setup. Each brief distance away, you see one thing very completely different from the remainder of the sport.”
I level out that it could be more durable to maintain the participant’s consideration within the absence of failure and clear aims, however Petty is adamant: “I feel we captivate the participant’s consideration by the surprising. You are probably not positive what is going on to occur round every nook.”
This curated method can be noticeable in Keeper’s restricted set of interactions. To seek out your manner by its surrealist world, you don’t want quite a lot of buttons, because the lighthouse’s major manner of interacting with the world is thru its headlight, which has a default mode and a centered mode. For instance, you may intention it at crops to make them develop, shine towards a creature to make it squint, and use it to uncover secrets and techniques and clear up puzzles.
Twig, the lighthouse’s trusty chook companion, is normally perched on the lighthouse, from the place he’ll often fly off to point out the trail ahead or set off secrets and techniques. Aside from these computerized actions, the lighthouse may also direct the chook to do issues like lifting objects, pulling levers, or — maybe probably the most attention-grabbing one — attaching itself to creatures.
The latter is a good instance of how Keeper’s minimalistic method to the management system nonetheless provides all kinds of gameplay mechanics. The varied environments, gadgets, and creatures open the best way to distinctive interactions, and particularly metamorphosis.
“For instance, there is a second the place a form of pink pollen, which seems like cotton sweet, will get caught to the lighthouse, making it lighter. For that section of the sport, the lighthouse can bounce, float, and transfer round,” Petty says. “A breath of contemporary air from being caught to the bottom. So we attempt to differ the tempo up in plenty of alternative ways.”
However hopping round and fidgeting with their environment isn’t the one activity bestowed upon the lighthouse and its chook; they have to additionally convey a narrative of friendship, companionship, and overcoming obstacles collectively as they journey towards an impressive mountain peak. To make issues extra difficult, they have to accomplish that with out utilizing phrases — and with out the kind of gestures and facial expressions a human character may’ve relied upon.
Whereas Petty assures me that I’ll get to sense extra expression than I would count on from a lighthouse, it’s the chook, specifically, who performs a serious function in conveying feelings. “After they’re driving alongside on the lighthouse, you even have an entire button devoted to only emoting with the chook, and plenty of occasions it should replicate the emotional tenor of that space,” he says.
“For instance, if you get in a type of tense or darker space, the chook will hunker down and curl across the high of the lighthouse. And in the event you hit the emote button, as a substitute of a playful chirp or directing you, it’s going to type of go searching and duck down.”
By “darker space,” Petty is referring to the menace that derives from one thing referred to as the “Wither,” a malevolent ecosystem. Because the lighthouse and Twig proceed their journey, they’ll see increasingly more of this purple, vitriolic substance, which can often take the type of brambles, vines, and bugs. “It is what Twig is flying away from,” Petty explains.
Not like the Wither, most creatures in Keeper are literally pleasant. When Twig emotes at one of many odd critters, for instance, it would emote again and probably create an ambient noise — within the absence of phrases, sound results and music are one other device used to inform Keeper’s story.
This fashion of non-verbal storytelling makes me marvel if Keeper’s narrative ends in a cryptic conclusion, however Petty assures me there shall be a stability. “It is not an entire thriller, however as a result of it is wordless, it is inherently open to interpretation. We did deliberately wish to depart some room for that as a result of that is my favourite factor about artwork; the discussions that occur after individuals expertise one thing,” he says, “However we do present particular narrative arcs and closure.”
One look at Keeper’s snowy mountaintops, elaborate cave methods, and odd rock formations will let you know that pure surroundings fashioned one of many essential inspirations for this human-less story. As Petty tells me, the surroundings isn’t simply impressed by any previous place: “I stay in California and there is plenty of actually cool mountains round right here,” he says. “Close to the place I stay, there’s an previous Mercury mine that was deserted like 100 years in the past, they usually’ve turned it into climbing trails; that is considered one of my huge inspirations. It is nothing tremendous exceptional, however what makes it attention-grabbing is the various hills, and as you are climbing up, you often come throughout previous items of equipment that you just’re not even positive what they had been for.”
“They form of appear like bizarre monuments, simply sitting amongst nature, with nature reclaiming the house. After I look again on the sport and the artifacts of humanity in there, I can see the direct connection to me climbing round all that stuff.”
Whereas Petty jokingly calls the lighthouse protagonist an “apparent alternative,” it does make plenty of sense. “There’s a side to this sport that is about change and overcoming your obstacles. Within the case of the lighthouse, within the context of our post-human sport, it is this leftover artifact of the previous world that not has a perform; there are not any ships coming in, so it is remained inert for a very long time,” he says.
“For me, that was a extremely cool metaphor. How has [the lighthouse] modified? Effectively, first it has to stroll, and now its lights are used for one thing completely completely different. Quite a lot of that’s about stimulating new development, however there are many different issues the sunshine can do over the course of the sport … I believed it would be fascinating to make use of gentle in an “aiming” form of manner, however it’s not a weapon, you are not taking pictures something. Apart from some apparent metaphors about bringing gentle to darkness, it’s additionally an uncommon option to try to make individuals care a couple of lighthouse.”
That brings me to my closing query, and arguably a very powerful one: If Lee Petty may go on a real-life hike as both the lighthouse or the chook, which might he decide?
“Effectively, I am going to reply this within the nerdiest manner doable, which is once I play Dungeons and Dragons or roleplay video games, I at all times play rogues and thieves. So, as agility and hiding in shadows are my core,” he says, “I’d play the chook as a result of the chook is far more agile and may escape hazard extra rapidly than the lighthouse, which I feel is healthier in the event you’re into taking part in tanks or stronger characters. It’s the chook for me.”
