In an unlikely announcement last year, prominent RPG-maker Obsidian Entertainment revealed that it was developing Grounded, a multiplayer survival game. Sticking to the schedule - and following a great appearance at the Xbox Games Showcase -, the title has now entered its early access phase on Xbox platforms and Steam.
As with other survival games, Grounded has players building bases, acquiring food and water, crafting items, and fighting monsters. However, it is the setting that makes the title stand out, with players taking the role of miniaturized kids the size of ants, who are stuck in a backyard. The main objective is to find out why this has happened.
Thanks to the size, blades of grass become early building materials, while things like acorn shells or insect parts are now body armor. Players will face hostile and indifferent variants of critters in this form, such as ants, spiders, bees, ladybugs, and more. Moreover, there is a handy Arachnophobia Mode available that alters the appearance and sound effects of spiders to make it easier for those disturbed by the many-legged fiends.
The four-player cooperative title intends to launch out of the preview state sometime in 2021. Here are the PC version"s minimum requirements as listed on Steam:
- OS: Windows 7 (SP1) 64bit
- Processor: Intel Core i3-3225
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GTX 650 Ti
- Storage: 8 GB available space
Grounded is now available to purchase for $29.99 via the Microsoft Store for the Xbox One family of consoles and Windows 10, as well as through Steam. The price will gradually increase as more content and features get implemented. The title is also a part of the Xbox Game Pass subscriptions on both Xbox One and PC.