It’s dark outside and I’m scared. I hide behind a small box and a rock. Around me are a few thin walls made of leaves. Outside those walls I hear it: a giant, angry spider. I can’t see it directly, but I can see the massive leaves and tall blades of grass moving around my little shelter as it searches for me. Above us a large mosquito flies by; a few yards behind him, an ant darts over a fallen branch. I hate bugs and bugs, and I’m starting to regret playing grounded.
Although it’s been in early access for about two years now, grounded finally version 1.0 this week via a major update for PC and Xbox. Developed by Obsidian, grounded is a survival game in the same spirit as Minecraft. Yes, you hit things with bricks to get other things to make better things to hit bigger things to get more things. It’s one of those games.
But grounded has two major advantages over so many of the survival games that have followed Minecraftis awake. First, it has a really interesting story about scientists with secrets. And two, it takes place in the backyard where you play as a young child who has become so small that ants, spiders, coins and soda cans tower above you. Maybe you’ve seen the movie Baby I shrunk the kids? We will, grounded but with more violence and resource management. And way too many bugs.
Still, even with all the pesky critters, it’s really exciting to explore a handcrafted world – no procedural generation here! – like a little little survivor. Hiding in huge soda cans or collecting huge blades of grass is something I’ve never done in a survival game. It also made the exploration more interesting. What random everyday object, now made huge, would I come across next in the new deadly backyard?
In the basic gameplay loop of the game, you build up your camp using resources that you get from the backyard. As you get stronger, you can find new parts of the world that contain new bits of knowledge to discover and missions to complete. Completing these quests will help you in your ultimate goal of returning to your normal size and escaping safely from the reign of spiders and mosquitoes.
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I will fully admit that I almost activated the games anti spin mode before starting grounded. (It changes what the game’s spiders look like in an effort to make it easier for people with arachnophobia to enjoy the game.) But I decided against it, partly because I wanted to fully experience the game, and also because all other bugs in grounded, such as larvae and fleas, would not be adapted at all. So I realized I was going to freak out anyway, so why not just go for the full spin-filled experience.
No story spoilers here, but groundedis writing is solid, and I found myself getting more and more intrigued by why my character had shrunk and what was going on in the backyard before I arrived. This story will help you stay on your feet when things get into a rut. You know those moments in any survival game when you have to spend an hour moving your base, or gathering resources to build better gear? You still have to do all that in groundedbut on the other side of it all, at least there’s a new beat to the story or a bit of knowledge to enjoy.
Another reason why I kept playing groundedEven when I was slowly paralyzed with fear of all the damn critters was how good it felt. Navigating menus, using your inventory, crafting items, and building bases all feel great. And even better, it’s all very easy and spicy. Especially building is easy, but not easy. You can create some big, complex, detailed structures, but the blueprint system keeps things organized. I imagine spending a year in early access, letting players help with feedback and testing is probably a big reason grounded feels more polished than so many other survival games.
grounded might be the perfect game for people who find it boring to smash trees and make axes. Yes, you do something about that grounded, at. But on a very different scale. You don’t cut down trees, but blades of grass and sprouts. It’s a refreshing twist on a genre that has gotten a little stale for me in recent years. And the story and well-designed gameplay systems help keep me going, even if the moment-to-moment gets a little too survival game-esque.
If you have the Game Pass from Microsoft I would definitely give it a try grounded on Xbox or PC. And if you want to play with a friend, it also supports co-op! Let them know in advance that there are many insects in this game. Please.
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