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What's Xbox Game 'Keeper' About?
Up to this point, Double Fine has been very shy on details about Keeper, and for good reason! In a recent blog post, the team said "we've gone to great lengths to preserve as much of the mysteries within as possible", adding that "Keeper is a game with discovery and the unexpected at its heart".
What we do know is that the game is described as a "surreal third-person, atmospheric, puzzle adventure", and that Keeper will provide "a story without words" across its runtime. This is all still a bit vague, so we'll chuck the game's official setup down below as well, alongside a link to some proper gameplay ahead of launch:
"On an island in a long-lost sea, a forgotten lighthouse stands dormant in the shadow of a distant mountain peak. As withering tendrils spread and coalesce, it awakens. Taken with a mysterious sense of purpose and joined by a spirited seabird, it embarks upon a heartening tale of unlikely companionship, an odyssey of mystifying metamorphosis, and an unexpected journey towards the center of the island, into realms beyond understanding."
Excited for Keeper! Talk to us about Double Fine's latest down in the comments!
Is Keeper On Xbox Game Pass?
Yes, Keeper is indeed on Xbox Game Pass! This is an Xbox Game Studios release from Double Fine, so it'll be available in the Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass libraries from day one.
If you want to buy the game separately, it'll cost $30 or your regional equivalent.
Game Title: Keeper
Platforms:
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PC (Oct 17, 2025)
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Xbox Series X/S (Oct 17, 2025)
Trailer:
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Keeper - Official Announce Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2025
Developer: Double Fine Productions
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 81 average - 78% recommended - 72 reviews
Critic Reviews
ACG - Recommended
Video Review - Quote not available
AltChar - Asmir Kovacevic - 70 / 100
Keeper is a visually stunning and emotionally charged game that tells its story without saying a single word. While its art and sound design are truly captivating, gameplay flaws prevent it from reaching its full potential.
Andrenoob - Relict King - Spanish - 9 / 10
Keeper is a short, peaceful, and beautiful journey that combines a moving story with creative landscapes. Its simple gameplay and unique art style create an enjoyable experience from start to finish. Although Xbox didn't promote it as much as it deserved, its quality speaks for itself.
Atarita - İdil Barbaros - Turkish - 77 / 100
Keeper delivers a visually stunning and atmospheric experience that feels more like interactive art than a traditional game. While its mechanics are simple and pacing uneven, its rich design and emotional tone make it a short yet memorable journey.
But Why Tho? - Mick Abrahamson - 9 / 10
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.
CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 9 / 10
Keeper takes a straightforward puzzle-based walking sim and elevates it tenfold with an unbelievable level of interactive storytelling.
COGconnected - Mark Steighner - 70 / 100
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.
Cloud Dosage - Jon Scarr - 4.5 / 5
Keeper delivers a calm, reflective journey built around light, movement, and quiet discovery. Its wordless storytelling and thoughtful pacing create something personal and memorable. The puzzles stay simple, but the atmosphere, visuals, and sense of growth make up for it.
Comunidad Xbox - Ignacio Ortigosa - Spanish - 96 / 100
This growth is not just history. What the Keeper team achieves is to bring together all the concepts that make up a video game and turn them into one.
Console Creatures - David Pietrangelo - 9 / 10
With impeccable art and sound design, great music, and a wonderfully realized and strange world, Keeper is in fact a keeper. It's an eccentric title that feels like it can only come from the creativity that Double Fine is known for. With its shorter play time and touching story, along with numerous surprises, this makes for an easy recommendation.
Console-Tribe - Luca Saati - Italian - 90 / 100
Keeper is a small yet grand work of video game poetry. Double Fine once again manages to surprise with an intensely emotional artistic vision that speaks through light, gestures, and silence. It’s a journey that leaves a deep mark, capable of making you reflect without ever raising its voice. Despite its short length (though fitting for the kind of experience) and a somewhat underwhelming soundtrack, Keeper stands as one of the most delicate and deeply human experiences to appear on Xbox in recent years — one that absolutely shouldn’t be missed.
Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 5 / 5
Part of the fun in realising why Double Fine’s latest is so special is due to the sheer element of surprise, where you slowly start to work out what style of game it is you’re actually playing. For the most part, Keeper is an amazing puzzle-fuelled adventure with a simple yet heartfelt story to tell, and it pulls out all the stops doing so. In every sense, Keeper is an artistic achievement.
Daily Star - Tom Hutchison - 3.5 / 5
Overall, this is a lovely, calm exploration game that’s all about the journey and little to do with a definitive end state.
Destructoid - Scott Duwe - 6.5 / 10
Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy them a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.
Digitale Anime - Raouf Belhamra - Arabic - 8.5 / 10
"A silent journey pulsating with light" Keeper is not just a game; it's a spiritual, sensory experience that redefines stillness and beauty in video games. It's an adventure that speaks with silence, narrates with light, and touches with feelings rather than words. Its stunning art style and deeply emotional music cast make it one of Double Fine's most mature and inspiring experiences. It may not be for every gamer, but it will certainly stay with everyone who experiences it to the end.
Digitec Magazine - Philipp Rüegg - German - 5 / 5
Keeper plays like a dream come true. The scenario, featuring a walking lighthouse that embarks on a fantastic journey with a bird, is wonderfully fresh. Add to that a pinch of friendship and melancholy, and you have a feast that will keep me satisfied for a long time to come.
DualShockers - Ethan Krieger - 8.5 / 10
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.
Eurogamer - Matt Wales - 5 / 5
Psychonauts studio Double Fine returns with a surprising, shapeshifting adventure of captivating wonder and beauty.
Everyeye.it - Giuseppe Carrabba - Italian - 7.2 / 10
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Final Weapon - Jordan Brown - 3 / 5
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.
GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 80%
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GRYOnline.pl - Anna Garas - Polish - 8 / 10
Keeper is a perfect game for a chilly autumn. It’s short, condensed, original, weird, colorful, and strangely relaxing. This is a game that is build 100% on vibes. If you like these kinds of adventures, give it a chance.
Game Rant - Cameron Swan - 6 / 10
Keeper is an absolutely gorgeous game, but in terms of gameplay, it might be the most bland entry in Double Fine's catalogue yet.
Game8 - Allisandra Reyes - 80 / 100
Keeper is a gentle, contemplative journey that may start slow but soon unfolds into something deeply moving. It’s a game that embraces simplicity, weaving emotion through its world, puzzles, and breathtaking artistry. While a few aspects could shine brighter, what it delivers is far more lasting: a meditative experience that rewards curiosity, reflection, and heart. It’s a strange, beautiful adventure about connection and metamorphosis.
GameSpew - Kim Snaith - 8 / 10
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.
GameSpot - Steve Watts - 9 / 10
Keeper is Double Fine at its most confident, presenting a visual feast and a heartfelt tale in a detailed, complex natural world.
Gamersky - Chinese - 7.5 / 10
For veterans of classic adventure games, Keeper will undoubtedly evoke a strong sense of nostalgia. Its loop of exploring fantastical, varied worlds while solving puzzles is a clear homage to a bygone era. However, some of its more deeply retro design philosophies may no longer be as universally appealing in this day and age.
GamesRadar+ - Sam Loveridge - 4.5 / 5
The charm of just tottering along on unfamiliar legs through the world is initially enough to keep pushing you forward.
Gaming Boulevard - Lander Van der Biest - 9 / 10
Keeper is a game about finding light in ruin. About learning to move again after everything has fallen apart. It’s intimate, strange, and quietly devastating, exactly the kind of game only Double Fine could make. It’s short, yes, but meaningful from the first frame to the last. And when it’s over, it lingers. The kind of game that doesn’t just end, it stays with you.
GamingBolt - Ravi Sinha - 8 / 10
Keeper is another unique Double Fine creation, excellently executed with incredible art direction and fun puzzles, even if it doesn't push the envelope.
Generación Xbox - Spanish - 85 / 100
DoubleFine has done it again, and I can't wait to see what they're up to next, which I have no doubt will be nothing short of brilliant.
Guardian - Lewis Gordon - 3 / 5
This whimsical action-adventure game sees you stomping through nature as a life-giving lighthouse – and it only gets weirder from there
HCL.hr - Daniel Gluhak - Unknown - 70 / 100
Keeper is a calm, contemplative adventure where players take on the role of a walking lighthouse, using light to navigate and interact with an surreal world. The game delivers a polished and cohesive experience, but its mechanics and puzzles are familiar and straightforward, offering little innovation or challenge. While charming and serene, it ultimately struggles to stand out in a crowded market and does not fully realize its potential, making it feel safe and predictable compared to other notable titles in the genre.
Hobby Consolas - Spanish - 71 / 100
Keeper is original, technically sound, and presents a stimulating, organic narrative. The problem is that coming from Double Fine doesn't prevent it from having to compete with so many other prestigious indie projects. It's clearly a very personal project, but that very quality could cause it to go unnoticed.
IGN - Sarah Thwaites - 9 / 10
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.
IGN Italy - Arturo Perrotta - Italian - 8 / 10
Keeper is an experience that goes beyond the traditional concept of a video game. It is an inner journey disguised as an adventure, a silent story that speaks through gestures, light, and the breath of the environments. Double Fine, once again, proves itself to be a studio capable of bending the language of video games to a rare authorial sensibility.
IGN Spain - Rafa Del Río - Spanish - 9 / 10
Lee Petty has created his best work yet with Keeper. This constantly evolving platform game takes us on a journey with the lighthouse keeper and his feathered friend through a decaying world full of mysteries and surprises. Its exquisite level design offers a mini adventure in each of its 39 chapters, including new mechanics, movements, and strategies at every step of our odyssey. With no combat, no text, and no dialogue, Keeper manages to make itself understood through its silences and melodies, much better than other works riddled with words and violence.
Just Play it - Braham Aimen Rayan - Arabic - 9 / 10
We lived through a captivating artistic experience with Keeper, one that blends puzzles and platforming elements within a world brimming with beauty and symbolism. It’s a silent journey told through light rather than words, with a musical atmosphere that breathes life into every scene. And despite its occasionally calm pace, it remains a profound and detail-rich adventure, proving that beauty and creativity can often be found in simplicity and the clever use of ideas.
Life is Xbox - Colombo - 90 / 100
I only expected Keeper to be a good and simple game, but it went well beyond my expectations, surprising me with its mechanics, visuals, and a Soundtrack that enhances the already prestigious reputation of Double Fine Productions. A very well-crafted journey through a mysterious world, with lots of wonderful surprises along the way.
Loot Level Chill - Chris White - 9 / 10
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.
Metro GameCentral - Game Central - 7 / 10
A laudable achievement in terms of visual design and general ambience but the complete lack of challenge, and short length, reduces its overall impact.
MondoXbox - Matteo Merlano - Italian - 8.5 / 10
With Keeper, Xbox Game Studios adds another standout to its diverse and artistically driven lineup. While its relaxed, “chill” gameplay may not satisfy those seeking challenge or intensity, it offers everyone else a visually stunning, heartwarming experience brimming with positivity and surprises - one of the year’s most delightful and memorable adventures.
Multiplayer.it - Fabio Di Felice - Italian - 7 / 10
Keeper begins as a sensory experience of immense artistic value. An adventure that's more about feasting your eyes on beauty (and strangeness) than it is about fulfilling your purpose. The walks are—precisely—just that, the puzzles are simple, but they seem to be building something more complex for the adventure's future. It's a shame that the climax of this construction arrives after just an hour and a half of gameplay, with a very challenging section that never returns, as Keeper is eager to transform. At that point, Double Fine's title pursues a different goal: to surprise the player. A candy with a filling, containing many different flavors. The surprise element is always nice in a video game, but what follows must be more stimulating than what we left behind; otherwise, as in this case, we arrive at the end with a bitter taste in our mouths.
NextGen Player - Paul Hunter - 9 / 10
Keeper delivers a focused six-hour journey built on movement, light, and confident pacing. Puzzles are fun to complete, and curiosity is rewarded with nice secrets. Presentation stands out with a hand-painted look, lively wildlife, thoughtful camera work, and a score that swells at the right moments. For narrative-first adventures, it’s an easy recommendation.
NoobFeed - Nusrat Choity - 70 / 100
Keeper isn't just another independent experiment; it's a "meditation on existence." It's about what's left over when everything else is gone. The lighthouse and the bird's journey show how we long for meaning and fight to move forward even when things are unstable.
One More Game - 8 / 10
Keeper is a wordless journey that trusts players to uncover meaning through exploration. Its psychedelic visuals, minimalist storytelling, and gentle puzzle design create a relaxing time that, although brief, is a joy to experience.
PC Gamer - Tyler Colp - 90 / 100
Keeper is a gorgeous little package of tightly designed puzzles and cerebral platforming that showcases what makes Double Fine's games so uniquely special.
PPE.pl - Igor Chrzanowski - Polish - 8.5 / 10
Double Fine has once again delivered a beautiful, unique, and moving adventure. Keeper is a game with soul, the kind that is sadly becoming increasingly rare these days. Grab it and play it, because it's pure gold!
Pizza Fria - Carlos Humberto Maestre Dutra - Portuguese - 7.8 / 10
I wouldn't recommend Keeper to most people without knowing them very well. This isn't to say the game is a bad thing—other than the demanding performance on the computer before release—but Keeper is certainly less palatable for a wider audience.
PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - 8 / 10
For a cosy game to play, cuddled up on the couch and to unwind after a long day, look no further than Keeper.
Quest Daily - Julian Price - 9 / 10
Keeper is one of the most enlightening games I’ve played this year. A lighthouse sprouts tendril-like legs, learns to walk and travels through an artistically inspired and mysterious world. It's a wild concept, but it works so wonderfully. The game also features an incredible gameplay flip that left me in awe.
SECTOR.sk - Matúš Štrba - Slovak - 9.5 / 10
Keeper from Double Fine is a visually stunning and deeply atmospheric journey about companionship and renewal in a ruined world. Its ever-changing puzzles, intuitive design, and heartfelt tone create a unique experience that's as touching as it is imaginative. Minor camera quirks aside, it stands out as one of the year's most distinctive games.
Screen Rant - Chris Carter - 7 / 10
Double Fine is back, and this time they're putting you in control of a sentient lighthouse.
Seasoned Gaming - Peter Aitken - 8 / 10
A beautiful game that has that Double Fine magic and is a worthy addition to their portfolio.
Shacknews - Ozzie Mejia - 8 / 10
If you're in the kind of mood to think about the nature of the universe, Keeper is the story to check out. It's hard to imagine a living lighthouse is capable of bringing out emotion in people, but that's what makes this game a Keeper.
Slant Magazine - 4 / 5
Keeper is, ultimately, just a long, linear walk, banking on its meticulously bizarre game world to enthrall players to keep stepping forward, and it’s very much successful at that. It’s time well spent—if you can remember what time even is in an altered state.
SmashPad - Andrew Farrell - 4.5 / 5
I don’t know if the game will be able to find that much of an audience, as it’s very much an artistic game and favors visuals and vibes over complex game systems and an extended playtime. But this is a game that truly feels special, as its incredible art direction, clever game design, and sublime pacing make for a very unique few hours.
Spaziogames - Italian - 8 / 10
Keeper is a story of courage and perseverance, a tribute to resilience and friendship in its purest form. A small project with a huge heart, yet one that must contend with certain limitations - a rollercoaster of emotions that reflects both its narrative and gameplay. A unique adventure in its genre, which, despite some linearity and simplicity, manages to convey and leave a lasting impression on players willing to look beyond its initial appearances.
SteamDeckHQ - Noah Kupetsky - 4 / 5
Keeper is one of those experiences that grew on me the more I played. While the visuals blew me away immediately, I didn't start enjoying the story and experience until I let go and just stopped trying to make sense of what was going on. From there, I could just let myself get sucked into the beauty of rebirth and companionship that I fell in love with. The puzzles we will encounter are interesting and have some cool mechanics, but some overstayed their welcome more than I would have liked. Still, the good heavily outweighs the bad, and I highly recommend playing through this magical experience.
The Games Machine - Alessandro Alosi - Italian - 8 / 10
With no text or death, no challenging challenges or elaborate puzzles, Keeper focuses entirely on atmosphere, metamorphosis, and visual appeal. Creatively speaking, it's the intersection of art and video games. It doesn't speak, leaving the player to figure out its meaning. It's not for everyone, but rather for those seeking a strange and chill experience, not action or challenge.
The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9 / 10
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.
The Outerhaven Productions - James Clarkson - 5 / 5
Keeper is Double Fine at its absolute best; a breathtaking, wordless journey that proves emotion and artistry can speak louder than dialogue.
TheSixthAxis - Aran Suddi - 8 / 10
Keeper captures the essence of Double Fine, packaged in a heartfelt and surreal world where you never quite know what will happen next. The gameplay regularly surprises, but the lack of challenge in even the more elaborate puzzles is a bit of a drawback, along with not being able to control the camera.
TrueAchievements - Sean Carey - 7 / 10
Overall, Keeper is a pretty uneven experience. The first act doesn't offer much in terms of excitement beyond the initial wow factor of its gorgeous environments that are teeming with life and interesting vistas. Things pick up in the second and third acts, but Keeper takes a little too long to get to the good stuff. Outside of the basic puzzles and a short platforming section, the first few hours could have done with a little more to keep the player interested. That said, for those who do manage to stick with Keeper, you will be rewarded.
Uagna - Silvia Mannu - Italian - 8 / 10
Keeper is the latest original work from Double Fine, which this time takes us into surreal atmospheres reminiscent of Salvador Dalí's paintings. We couldn't play a more unusual protagonist: we are, in fact, a living lighthouse, and it will be up to us to explore a world in search of rebirth. Of course, Keeper suffers from a few technical issues, but it is an experience that will delight players who are looking for original and relaxing works.
VDGMS - Darren Andrew - 8.5 / 10
Keeper is an essential Double Fine adventure with its weird, unique, and wholesome nature. The odyssey of the lonely lighthouse felt like playing through the some of the greatest works of the singular Dr Seuss, which doesn’t get more wholesome, weird and unique than that.
Wccftech - Chris Wray - 6.5 / 10
Would I recommend giving it a go? For the art style alone, I probably would, yes. It's an absolutely gorgeous game, and there were moments that I genuinely had a smile on my face. It was a shame that there were other moments when I literally sighed and said, "I've had enough now," although this may not be the same for everybody.
WellPlayed - Adam Ryan - 7 / 10
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.
Worth Playing - Cody Medellin - 8.5 / 10
Keeper is a keeper. The story is good, but the method in which it is told is memorable because few other games try to do it effectively. The gameplay is simple to grasp, with only a few puzzles that are challenging and only a few instances when the camera is a hindrance. Fans of adventure games will enjoy this short experience with good pacing and a solid presentation.
XDA - Tomas Franzese - 9 / 10
While a game where you control a lighthouse and a bird might look extremely odd on the surface level, give Keeper a chance and you'll discover one of the most beautiful games I've played in years
XboxEra - Jon Clarke - 8.5 / 10
It's fair to say I really enjoyed Keeper. It stuck it's hooks into me and didn't let go, right up until the moment I rolled credits. I laughed, I gasped in shock, and I beamed as brilliantly as a lighthouse. Double Fine have made a lovely game here, one that throws in the sorts of surprises that only this medium can achieve.
ZdobywcyGier.eu - Paweł Bortkiewicz - Polish - 7.5 / 10
Keeper is an enjoyable adventure for evening gaming sessions. It presents a simple plot that can be interpreted in many different ways and does not give us a clear explanation. Combined with an atmospheric soundtrack, it could be one of the biggest surprises of the year, but this beautiful impression is unfortunately hampered by technical problems and issues with the controls and camera work. However, it is clear that Double Fine has not lost its unique spirit.
Keeper is a wonderful, beautiful game with a pretty good story and really fun mechanics. I'm seeing a lot of reviews on Xbox saying it's bad walking sim and just complaining about game pass prices these people are idiots game. Press prices doesn't affect the quality of this specific game. Just because you don't like game pass prices doesn't mean you need to lower the rating of this game. Yes, it is a walking SIM that is the whole point of the game. That's what people come to this game for if that is not for you, don't play this game, it is a very slow Pace walk in the park art style game rather than your classic action shooter. People are getting it. Bad reviews for not having enough action. It is not meant to have action.