A new turn-based blobber in 2026? Please wake me, because I must be dreaming. As it seems, I’m not, and Underkeep is real. Now, this demo was a pure treat, as it’s a blobber without the dancing hell gameplay of Legend of Grimrock, being turn-based with combat more akin to the Wizardry series (but on a grid).
A looker
Visually, Underkeep reminds me of the classic Eye of the Beholder title, with bright expressive colors and the general UI layout. The style of the environment is very inviting, and the monsters look the part too. The graphics are undiluted candy for the eyes—overall, it’s all very pleasant. Beyond that, inventory management, looting, going over stats and leveling up are all very snappy and satisfactory to use. The only thing that I think must be improved is the amount of avatars, since you only have a few to pick from. And for some reason, you can’t name the heroes for yourself, just pick a random name. I just assume these things are limited for the demo.
The gameplay feels very typical for the genre, with the one main difference that it’s turn-based. It removes all the stress of having to click as fast as possible, while juggling menus looking for the correct spell to use in real-time. And thank the lord for that, as the static nature of the combat plays so much better than having to dance around on the grid to avoid damage. Some gamers enjoy that, but I have always hated it—each to his own, I guess, and well, I’m not great at dancing.
I found the gameplay excellent. The exploration and the battles played out great, with a nice high pacing for being turn-based. There are even secrets to find in the demo. The only thing that sucked is that it’s short, and now I’m doomed to wait for the full release, with no set release date. Let’s just hope it’s this year. If you like RPGs and specifically blobbers, this is a game you must try!
Thanks for reading.
– Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 