A survival game in your own backyard

Grounded is a premium adventure game for PC by developer Obsidian Entertainment. It’s a first-person survival title set in the vast and dangerous space of one’s own backyard. In it, players find themselves mysteriously shrunken down to the size of ants and must face the perils of insects all around.

Combining the beautiful art style of something like Kena: Bridge of Spirits with the high-stakes survival experience of The Forest, Grounded has managed to create a game that is both charming and scary at the same time. It can also be played solo or with others via online multiplayer.

A bug’s life

Grounded takes place in your typical cozy suburban home, complete with a backyard and white picket fence. However, everything becomes dangerous and life-threatening when you’re the size of an ant. In the game, you play as one of four kids that have mysteriously been shrunken down to minuscule proportions. You must fend for yourself inside The Backyard and find a way to return to normal size.

Those once tiny and seemingly harmless insects you see around are now dangerous predators, with you as their prey. Explore the lush and surprisingly large world of Grounded as you scavenge for food and resources to craft weapons and build a base. Combat is fairly straightforward, but its RPG-like approach makes it interesting. You will often have to experiment with various gear, upgrades, and skills to deal with enemies.

If things get a bit too tough, you can have friends join you in online multiplayer with up to four players. What’s more, any progress you make is carried over to your own single-player game save, which is a nice and thoughtful feature. While on the subject, you will need to have an Xbox Live subscription to play with others online, which some players will find an issue with.

Epic bite-sized adventure

All in all, Grounded is fun and charming, which is quite a surprise considering it’s a survival game battling spiders, bees, and whatnot. It’s that polarizing experience that makes it unique and helps it stand out from others in the genre. The decision to have multiplayer behind a subscription is an irksome choice, but aside from that one misstep, this one is worth checking out.