First-person dungeon crawlers were all the rage at one point, thanks to the popularity of games like Ultima, Wizardry, Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore.
The move to full-3D pushed this particular sub-genre into the shadows, but it reemerged in 2012 with the excellent Legend of Grimrock.
Now, over a decade later, we've got another tribute to the glory days of dungeon crawlers in the form of Underkeep (thanks, Indie Retro News).
"Underkeep brings back the spirit of classic dungeon crawlers: grid movement, slow tension and tactical combat," says the game's Steam page.
"At the same time, it plays clean and responsive thanks to modern controls, clear visuals and thoughtful conveniences that remove the old frustrations without losing the heart. Gather your party, venture into hand-built dungeons, speak with peculiar locals, discover hidden passages, solve ancient puzzles and face encounters where planning matters as much as courage."
Underkeep was supposed to launch last year, but developer Rake in Grass decided to hold it back to ensure it's as polished as possible.
"The unofficial internal target remains Q1 2026, but we won’t promise anything until the whole team is certain," says the team.