Underkeep Village Guide: How to Get Past the Guard and Finish Its Quests

Reaching the Underkeep Village is the first real milestone in Underkeep, Rake in Grass's turn-based tribute to 90s dungeon crawlers that launched on November 5, 2026. The Underkeep Village does not come cheap: you have to survive the Fangroot Forest, drop into the Hollowgrave Tunnels, clear a rat nest, storm an orc fortress, and then talk your way past a guard who wants either 30 gold or a pile of dead Burrowers. Below is the full route, the gatekeeper decision, and the quests waiting on the far side — including a mushroom dilemma whose consequences the developer says surface later.

Everything here comes from a published Part 1 walkthrough of the game and from player reports on the Steam community hub, so expect light spoilers covering the opening hours.

How to Reach the Underkeep Village

The village sits west of the Fangroot Forest, but the forest does not let you stroll there. Both of the only westward paths hide a ditch that drops your party into the Hollowgrave Tunnels, and the village only opens up once you finish that dungeon chapter and come back out the other side.

Fangroot Forest: gather before you fall

Click on anything that looks interactive — mushrooms, flowers, fruit trees. Food matters because resting to restore health and mana consumes it, so every spare berry is free recovery later. A shrine near the start can resurrect fallen party members for gold, and a full party wipe is a game over, so log its position on your map before you head west.

Hollowgrave Tunnels: pickaxe, spider, and stone switches

Zombies past the first gate punish head-on fights, so pull them back toward the spot where you dropped in, kill one or two, and rest. Deeper inside, a pickaxe sitting on a stone shelf lets you clear rockfalls by clicking them, while breakable spires and cobwebs give way to melee attacks. Avoid the blue pond of strange water; it applies a temporary debuff. A switch in a side room summons Arachneira, a poisoning spider, so rest and top off before flipping anything.

Rat Nest and Orc Fortress: the Silver Key loop

The Rat Nest north of the spider's junction is the first genuine loot stop, packed with chests plus keys that drop from rats to open them. South of the spider sits the Orc Fortress, guarded by a warehouse keeper and a chieftain who shows up near the chest. That chest holds a gem and the Silver Key — the item that unlocks the silver keyhole in the tunnels and grants access to the western half of the forest.

Western Fangroot Forest: the last stretch

Back outside, a cottage offers the side quest Troubles at the Shack, which openly points you toward the Underkeep Village, so accept it now and save yourself a return trip. Keep pushing west and you will run into the guard standing between you and the settlement.

The Gatekeeper: Pay 30 Gold or Clear the Burrowers

The guard outside the Underkeep Village offers two ways through. Take his quest and he asks you to wipe out the Burrowers south of his position; ask for another option and he names his price at 30 gold coins. Either route works, and the walkthrough author chose to fight.

• Burrowers hide underground. While submerged there is nothing to hit, so skip your turns and wait for them to surface.
• Waves keep coming. Push further south from the guard and more Burrowers appear. When they stop, walk back and report in.
• Potions are free actions. Drinking from your bag mid-fight does not consume a turn, which makes it the best panic button in the early game.
• The portal is right ahead. Once the guard marks the quest complete, step into the portal and you arrive in the Underkeep Village.

If your party is still fragile, the gold option is the cheaper risk — 30 coins versus a multi-wave fight you can lose.

Prep Checklist Before You Enter the Underkeep Village

Treat the gate as a checkpoint rather than a formality. A few minutes of housekeeping makes the transition far smoother.

• Rest first. Top off health and mana with food before talking to the guard; you cannot rest mid-fight.
• Stock consumables. Potions carried in the bag are usable without spending a turn.
• Mark your map. The automap supports custom notes, so flag the silver keyhole, locked doors, and the nearest shrine.
• Know your escape. Shrines resurrect fallen adventurers for gold, but a total wipe still ends the run.
• Carry a spare 30 gold if you would rather skip the Burrower waves entirely.

Quests Inside the Underkeep Village

The most-discussed Underkeep Village encounter is the mushroom quest handed out by a sketchy shopkeeper. He wants shroomlings collected, and the game then gives you two ways to close the job: hand them back to him, or return them to the large mushroom that wants them back. The writing leans hard on guilt, with crying shroomlings and a dark cell where you can reportedly hear whimpering afterward.

That is not the only reason to walk through the gate, though. Troubles at the Shack, picked up at the cottage in the western forest, also requires you to reach the Underkeep Village, which makes the settlement a natural quest hub for the middle stretch of the game. Player reports suggest the village is where several early threads converge rather than a pure shop stop.

The Mushroom Bond: What the Choice Actually Does

Community testing has mapped both endings of the quest fairly clearly. Rewards below come from player experience in the Steam discussion thread, not from an official strategy guide.

The key detail: the choice is not cosmetic. A developer replying in the thread confirmed that "there are different outcomes later in the game based on this decision," so the mushroom bond is a flag the game remembers.

Players disagree about how disruptive the bond is. One reported characters sprouting into mushrooms several times within an hour of play, another saw it only once across six hours of combat, and most describe it as a single lost turn during exploration rather than a death sentence. Others note the bond appears to help with a later quest, and one community member points to a "lead mushroom folk in a rebellion" achievement that may require it. A few veterans of the demo recall the mushroom path once being a game over — that is reportedly not the case in the full release.

Final Tips for Your Underkeep Village Run

Save before you speak to the guard, since the Burrower fight starts almost immediately if you accept the quest. Once you are inside, talk to every NPC before you leave; the village's quests chain outward into the rest of the game, and the mushroom decision is the one most likely to be referenced later.

For context on the game itself: as of November 6, 2026, the official Underkeep Steam page listed the game at $22.95 with a 15% introductory discount bringing it to $19.50 (offer ending November 19), alongside a Very Positive rating from 319 user reviews. Early-access coverage also notes controller support and Steam Deck playability, which matters if you plan to explore the tunnels on a handheld.

Keep your map annotated, bank food for resting, and do not drink the blue water. For a full step-by-step breakdown of the forest and tunnels, the Into Indie Games walkthrough of the Fangroot Forest covers each gate and switch in order.

FAQ

How do you get into the Underkeep Village? Clear the Hollowgrave Tunnels, beat the Orc Fortress for the Silver Key, unlock the western Fangroot Forest, then satisfy the guard outside the Underkeep Village by clearing the Burrowers or paying him 30 gold. The portal just past him leads inside.

Can you skip the Burrower fight outside the Underkeep Village? Yes. Asking the guard for another way through costs 30 gold coins, which skips the multi-wave Burrower battle entirely. It is a fair trade if your party is under-leveled or low on potions.

Is the mushroom bond in the Underkeep Village a trap? Community reports say no. The bond occasionally turns a character into a mushroom for a single turn, mostly while exploring, and the developer confirmed it changes outcomes later rather than ending your run.

Should you finish Troubles at the Shack before entering the Underkeep Village? Pick it up at the cottage in the western forest before the gate, since the quest sends you to the Underkeep Village anyway. Bundling both objectives saves a walk back through the forest.