Obsidian Entertainment has given us the first good look at Grounded, their mysterious new game that shrinks a bunch of kids to the size of an ant. This kicked off April 7's Inside Xbox presentation with a bit of a splash.
Let's get the gameplay bits out of the way: Grounded is going to be a survival crafting game. This isn't the sort of thing where you get shrunk for a level or two and return to a bigger size later. Instead, you're stuck as very tiny people and need to stick it out in the backyard for the long term.
Check out the Grounded Story trailer to see some of this gameplay in action:
Some kind of weird scientific device has shrunk you down to a very tiny size and, well... you're kind of stuck. You're going to have to do everything you can to survive, and that's going to involve a fair bit of crafting and exploring.
Although the players are small, they're much more ingenious than the natural wildlife. This means that you'll be able to build bases which will include:
- Defensive emplacements
- Water catchers
- Buildings
- Weapons
- Armor
- Jump Pads
Are You Alone in Grounded?
Yes, there will be a single-player aspect, but you won't be alone. BURG.L is a robot buddy that helps you figure things out if you get lost or need help with the game.
Multiplayer will definitely be a part of the game, of course. The devs say that you can definitely adventure in this world alone, but why not bring along a few friends for the ride? You certainly could use the numbers — I wouldn't want to face a horde of oncoming ants by myself if I could avoid it.
Based on what we can see, it looks like people will be able to work together cooperatively when it comes to building and survival, much like Rust, 7 Days to Die, and similar games. The one thing that's unclear is if there will be any kind of PvP, but I have my doubts.
A Greater Mystery
So you're small — now what? In Grounded, getting shrunk down by a wacky machine isn't the end of things.
We see what is supposedly the machine that made you small, but there's a lot more to it than that. The trailer shows off strange purple goo at a few locations and what looks like some kind of miniature bunker complex under the ground.
The nature of these facilities is a mystery, mind. The story is not even finished! The developers will work with the community to see what direction things will take in terms of the narrative (and, of course, the gameplay), so this will very much be a living game — at least in the beginning.
We'll all be able to play Grounded when it comes to Game Preview on Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass on PC and Console, and Steam Early Access on July 28, 2020. In the meantime, we can look forward to an extended stream with the developers later today after the Inside Xbox show. Don't forget that you can get early access to the game via the Xbox Insider Program!
What do you think of Obsidian's latest game? Does the idea of very tiny survival crafting appeal to you or are you tired of the genre? Let us know in the comments below!
