I am an old school gamer, both computer and console even the elusive early handhelds, I was addicted to gaming early on. One genre that caught my attention, particularly on computers was the dungeon crawler. First person, single character affairs, those were my jams. I would take a party based challenge too but much preferred single character challenges. From Alternate Reality: The Dungeon to Wizardry and eventually Dungeon Master, I was into them all – even Swords and Serpents on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Well, if you are anything like me, you are going to be excited to learn about Underkeep, an upcoming dungeon crawler for PCs.
Just Like the Old Days
Any fan of dungeon crawlers knows there are limitations in the genre that are hard to get away from and still be considered “old school”. First, single square movement, 90 degree turns, etc. Those are all pretty much required if you want your game to be “old school” in the dungeon crawler genre.
Underkeep has that and so much more. I remember the first time I loaded up Eye of the Beholder and the uptick in graphics was almost mind blowing for me. I was coming off of the Commodore 64 and NES dungeon crawlers, so it was quite an improvement.
Underkeep gives me that same feeling when seeing it in action in the video embedded below.
Improving What You Can
As mentioned already, there is not a lot that can be changed in this genre unless you want to alienate your audience. Graphics and sounds are definitely in the “up for grabs” category for improvement.
Underkeep has improved both. I am sure more improvements are coming as well. You are managing a group of four adventurers here, you are not alone on this journey.
According to Time Extension, Underkeep is tentatively scheduled for Q1 2026 release so not much longer if they are going to hit that target.