Underkeep Brings Classic Grid-Based Dungeon Crawling to PC

Underkeep, the new first-person dungeon crawler from Rake in Grass, is now available for PC through Steam and GOG. Built around the traditions of grid-based exploration and party-driven survival, the game heads underground with a deliberate pace: each step into a corridor can reveal a hidden route, a strange resident, an ancient mechanism, or an encounter that punishes an unprepared group.

The release arrives for players with a fondness for dungeon-crawling landmarks such as Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, and Ishar. Underkeep clearly works within that lineage, using first-person navigation through hand-built labyrinths and placing an emphasis on tactical decision-making. At the same time, Rake in Grass is positioning the game as a more approachable modern take on the formula, with responsive controls, readable visuals, a designed-for-purpose interface, and conveniences intended to reduce some of the genre's historical friction.

A Deliberate Return to the Dungeon

First-person dungeon crawlers are defined as much by their atmosphere as by their mechanics. The player does not simply run through a sequence of combat arenas. Instead, they map spaces in their mind, consider supplies and party composition, test suspicious walls, and try to decide whether the sounds or clues ahead are a warning or an invitation. Underkeep embraces that slower, more cautious rhythm through grid movement and a focus on tension inside enclosed, handcrafted locations.

The dungeon itself is presented as a place with history rather than a series of interchangeable rooms. Its corridors and chambers include lingering spirits, abandoned camps, mysterious symbols, hidden passages, and puzzles connected to older secrets. That framing should give exploration a stronger narrative purpose, encouraging players to examine their environment rather than simply move from one battle to the next.

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Rake in Grass' stated approach is not to remove the elements that made older crawlers compelling. Planning, observation, and bravery remain core to surviving the descent. The goal instead is to make those strengths easier to appreciate without requiring players to wrestle with cumbersome controls or opaque presentation. For a genre often celebrated for depth but remembered for its rough edges, that is a meaningful balance to attempt.

Build a Party Around Strengths and Flaws

Underkeep features multiple adventurers, and their individual advantages and shortcomings are intended to shape how a run through the dungeons unfolds. Party selection has always been central to the classic crawler format: a capable group needs offense, resilience, utility, and a way to respond when a carefully planned expedition goes wrong. The available adventurers in Underkeep continue that idea, making the makeup of the party part of the overall survival strategy.

This also means that combat is not presented as a simple test of reflexes. Encounters are tactical, asking players to think about their position, their resources, their chosen companions, and the risks of pushing forward. A party that is well suited to one problem may struggle with another, particularly when exploration leads to secrets, hostile creatures, or puzzles that demand attention beyond brute force.

The appeal of this structure is its potential for meaningful choices before and during an expedition. A player may decide which adventurers can best cover a weakness, whether a suspicious route is worth investigating, or if retreat is smarter than spending more valuable resources. Those decisions are a major part of what distinguishes a traditional dungeon crawler from a faster action game, and Underkeep places them at the center of its identity.

Handmade Spaces, Puzzles, and Peculiar Locals

The adventure's dungeons are handmade rather than described as randomly generated, which suggests an emphasis on authored layouts and intentionally placed discoveries. Players can expect corridors and rooms with clues to their former inhabitants, including abandoned camps and cryptic details that may point toward deeper mysteries. Hidden passages are also part of the experience, rewarding careful investigation and the willingness to question whether the obvious path is the only path.

Puzzles form another key element of Underkeep's exploration. Ancient mechanisms and symbols can turn a room into more than a stop between battles, while the game's secrets promise additional reasons to inspect the walls and interact with the environment. In the best dungeon crawlers, a locked door or unexplained object is not merely a delay; it becomes a question players carry with them as they explore elsewhere. Underkeep appears designed to cultivate that kind of curiosity.

Not every interaction happens with enemies or objects. The game also includes NPCs described as peculiar locals, giving players characters to speak with amid the underground journey. Their presence can help make the setting feel inhabited, even when much of the dungeon is marked by abandonment and spirits. The mention of choices that echo deeper than expected further suggests that conversations and discoveries may have consequences beyond an immediate reward.

Modern Conveniences Without Losing the Old-School Mood

One of Underkeep's most notable promises is its effort to update a classic structure without discarding its character. Older dungeon crawlers can be wonderfully immersive, but they can also ask players to tolerate confusing interfaces, clumsy input, and limited in-game tools. Underkeep includes an automap, a streamlined UI, and modern controls, all of which should make navigation and party management more comfortable.

The automap is particularly significant for a game centered on maze-like environments. Mapping has long been a defining ritual for fans of the genre, whether it means drawing routes manually or relying on a game's internal systems. An automap can reduce the risk of losing progress to simple disorientation while still allowing the dungeon's layout, secrets, and environmental storytelling to remain important. It is a quality-of-life feature that supports exploration rather than replacing it.

Clear visuals and responsive controls serve a similar purpose. The player can focus on reading the space, evaluating a threat, or piecing together a puzzle instead of fighting the interface. That does not make the journey automatically easy. Underkeep's tension is intended to come from the dungeons, party limitations, combat situations, and uncertain choices--not from avoidable usability frustrations.

Who Underkeep Is For

Underkeep should be of immediate interest to PC players who miss the methodical pace of first-person grid crawlers. Its inspirations point toward an experience where taking one more step can be a serious decision, where finding a concealed route feels valuable, and where a party's abilities matter as much as a player's determination. The mix of tactical combat, handcrafted environments, NPC interactions, puzzles, and hidden secrets gives it a broad foundation for fans of the format.

It may also be a useful entry point for players curious about a genre they know mostly through its influential classics. The game's quality-of-life additions are aimed at preserving the atmosphere of older dungeon adventures while making the fundamentals more immediately legible. Players who enjoy carefully designed maps, deliberate exploration, and systems that reward patience may find plenty to investigate below ground.

For veterans, the attraction is the chance to revisit familiar principles through a newly built world. Underkeep does not appear interested in turning dungeon crawling into a rapid-fire action spectacle. Its pitch is instead rooted in the pleasures that have kept the genre alive: gathering a party, venturing into unknown halls, speaking to unusual inhabitants, deciphering what the dungeon is trying to tell you, and surviving long enough to learn what lies behind the next sealed door.

Underkeep Is Available Now on PC

Underkeep has launched on PC and can be obtained through Steam and GOG. With its grid-based movement, party-focused tactical combat, handmade dungeons, automap, puzzles, secrets, and NPC encounters, Rake in Grass' latest release offers a contemporary route into a distinctly old-school style of fantasy exploration.

For anyone ready to trade open-world waypoints for shadowy corridors and deliberate choices, the descent into Underkeep is now open.