Games Like Underkeep (2026)
The studio and the press release name five older games as the lineage: Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, Wizardry, and Ishar. The comparisons below use those names plus two that players actually bring up.
| Game | Year | One-line difference that is on record |
|---|---|---|
| Dungeon Master | 1987, Atari ST | First-person, real-time, party of four. Underkeep waits for turns. |
| Eye of the Beholder | 1991 | Grid, first-person, AD&D rules. Underkeep does not claim those rules. |
| Lands of Lore | 1993 | First-person, point-and-click movement. |
| Wizardry | 1981 | First-person maze, party of six. Underkeep uses four. |
| Ishar | 1992 onward | First-person, party of five, choice of race and class. |
| Legend of Grimrock | 2012 | Grid and real-time. Both use a four-character party; Underkeep uses turns rather than real-time combat. |
| Undercroft | 2006 | Same studio, later associated with Jagex. A shared setting is not confirmed. |
What I will not conclude
The launch review reaches for Grimrock when it describes the feel. The checkable difference is tempo: Grimrock moves in real time, Underkeep ends a round after every hero acts, and both games use a party of four. “Better than Grimrock” is a mood, not a fact, so it is not a sentence on this page.
If you arrived from a search for old-school dungeon crawlers in general, the five names above are the ones the developer chose. This site does not split them into separate review pages. Undercroft’s place in the studio history is on the developer page.
Questions
What games inspired Underkeep?
The studio names Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, Lands of Lore, Wizardry, and Ishar.
Is Underkeep like Legend of Grimrock?
Both are grid dungeon crawlers. Grimrock is real-time. Underkeep is turn-based, with a party of four.
Is Undercroft the same game?
No. Undercroft is a 2006 game from the same studio. A shared story is not confirmed.
Sources
- Developer FAQ on Steam discussions — checked 2026-11-05
- Games Press release, 4 Nov 2026 — checked 2026-11-05
- Pro Game Guides review, 4 Nov 2026 — checked 2026-11-05
- Wikipedia, Rake in Grass — checked 2026-11-05