In a delightful surprise for Grounded fans, Obsidian took to the stage at the Xbox Games Showcase last weekend to reveal an unexpected sequel simply dubbed Grounded 2.
Obsidian has shared that Grounded 2 will take cues from its predecessor by similarly launching into early access and growing over time with the support and feedback of the community. That early access launch is soon, too; next month, to be exact. I got a chance to play a little bit of what players will be shrinking into next month at the Xbox Games Showcase in Los Angeles over the weekend. And my overall impression, which I say as a full-throated compliment, is that yup, that’s a little bit bigger Grounded all right!
It’s admitedly hard for me to say much about the ways in which Grounded 2 differs from the first Grounded just based on the small, small snippet I played. I was given the option to jump into a later section of the game, but I opted for the tutorial to refresh my Grounded skills, which have gotten a little rusty.
Thus, much of what I saw through that tutorial was, pleasantly, more Grounded. It’s the same kids (albeit two years older now) shrunk down to ant size thanks to the shady dealings of a company called Ominent. Once shrunk, they suffer from a touch of amnesia that leaves them with little memory of what they were doing pre-shrinking, but luckily, our teens do remember the gist of their last tiny backyard adventure, even if they must reacquire many of the skills they developed the first time around. Crafting, for instance – you’ll still be analyzing every item you come across, learning new crafting recipes, and slowly building new pieces of armor, weapons, tools, and other items to help you survive. Or you’ll be scrounging around the early areas for food (mushrooms, in my case) and drink (dewdrops) so you don’t starve to death. Or maybe you’ll be fighting bugs or other critters, poking at them nervously with a crudely-made stick spear. All the fundamentals are still in Grounded, familiar and waiting for everyone who just wanted more of what the original was selling.
What’s new here was a little less obvious in a short, early-game sample, but I did get a taste of some of it. You’ll get a new Omni-tool, for instance, that combines all of your tools into one for easy use without taking up inventory space. I didn’t get to experiment with its myriad uses much, but I did use it to hack away at some enormous grass blades in place of an axe. Another new mechanic is the addition of a dodge button in combat, which fit in so smoothly I briefly forgot dodging wasn’t a part of the first game. Both of these examples are relatively small quality-of-life features, but they seem poised to smooth out some of the wrinkles in the overall experience long-term. It’s wild that the first Grounded didn’t have a dodge button before now!
The biggest new piece of Grounded 2 that I actually got some decent hands-on time with was the Buggy system – essentially mounts. I was able to ride proudly astride a big ol’ ant. It…kinda ruled? It’s fun to ride a big bug? Galloping around on my ant steed aside, the Buggy actually comes with quite a few other interesting features packed in. You can sprint, or you can swap to a much slower gathering mode that will have your Buggy collect any resources it runs into as you pass them, eliminating the need for time-consuming harvesting. Buggies can also fight on your behalf, or chomp down on blades of grass or other choppable items to hack them down. At one point, I skittered through a nest of mites, gripping a glowing mushroom torch and letting my ant do the dirty work of munching away every mite that threw itself at me.
I was told in an interview after our preview session that it’s these Buggy mounts that essentially necessitated Grounded 2, albeit alongside other factors. The first Grounded was never designed for the speed at which mounts can cover ground. As a result, the map was too small for Obsidian to ever implement Buggies as a real, useful feature for anyone. The only way to get the oft-requested rideable bugs into the game was to make the game much, much bigger.
And that’s what I’m told has happened here. Grounded 2 takes place not in a backyard, but in Brookhollow Park, which Obsidian says is roughly three times the size of the backyard from the first game. I think I saw, like, maybe the teensiest, tiniest, earliest-gamest corner of that park – the nice, easygoing space that’s intended to acclimate both new and returning players to the world of Grounded before sending them off on an ant-riding adventure into the unknown.
I still have a lot more questions about what Grounded 2 is bringing to the picnic table that will justify an entirely new game as opposed to just expanding the existing Grounded. Mechanically, I’m not fully sure rideable bugs is going to sell me on it. Then again, Grounded is heavily story-focused, and Grounded 2 opens the gate to a brand new story. It lets Obsidian age up its protagonists, progress Ominent’s nefarious nonsense, and expand the world. And it remains true that the first Grounded was pretty dang fun just as it was. So sure. I’ll take more of it, plus bug riding. Ride like the wind, bugs-eye.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
