Underroot

Underroot is an idle survival-digger. A creature called the Maw is coming from the east, devouring everything in its way — it can't be killed, only slowed. Alone with a shovel, you begin digging down through shifting layers of rock, smelting what you find into better tools and machines. As you forage for food, water, fulfil villager tasks and build a stronger wall to stop the Maw, your village grows from a mere 47 souls to a mighty fortress! But beware, the Maw grows hungrier by the day, learning from what it consumes… What materials will you create, what mysteries will you uncover, and how long will you last?

Every layer buys time.

⛏ Dig & refine

Carve down through stone, coal, iron, copper and quartz — and rarer veins still. Fuel drills and excavators on coal, oil or ethanol, and smelt raw ore into bars, alloys, glass and cement. Keep an eye out for glowing tiles — water pockets, gold caches, fossils, and the exotic materials the deep keeps hidden.

🏘 Raise a village

Turn ore into a home. Keep food and water flowing — wells, pumps, and caches against the drain — while your elders assess food, shelter, and safety each morning. Keep them happy, and people arrive; every 50 souls is a milestone, grow your village enough, and they will sing of your greatness! The Village scout will visit to trade, deal in gold, and wager on rare finds.

🦷 Hold back the Maw

You can't kill the Maw — only slow it. It chews faster every day and learns the walls you raise, so stack and mix your defences, from dirt and stone up to steel, glass and vault block. Strange roots are said to also have mystical effects. And should your digger die, your bloodline can dig on — generation after generation.

Weather storms, discover an ancient machine to reseed the world with exotic materials at a terrible price, and pick up right where you left off.

Play

🌐 Plays free in your browser — no download, no account. Desktop builds below.

📊 Share your run and climb the community boards — see the Longest Lineages leaderboard and The Maw's Ledger, a community tally of how everyone's village rose and fell, at underroot.se

🔗 More at underroot.se

A Swavvy AB game · © 2026 Swavvy AB