Grounded

  • Genres: Role-playing (RPG), Adventure
  • Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
  • Studios: Xbox Game Studios, Obsidian Entertainment
  • Release Date: 07/27/2020

Discover what it’s like to fight for survival when you're the size of an ant in this epic multiplayer, survival-adventure game. Spoiler alert: It’s hilariously terrifying.

Welcome, Intrepid Minuscule Micro-Explorers, to the wild and wacky expanse of your suburban backyard - which just might as well be the Amazon rainforest now that you're ant-sized! Let's lace up our itty-bitty boots and embark on a journey through the jungle of grass blades, a land where the sprinklers are tsunamis and the earthworms could be part of the next monster movie.

Imagine this: You’re just chilling in your room when – BAM – you're hit by a shrink ray and find yourself eyeball-to-eyeball with an ant. No, this isn’t a wacky dream after eating too much cheese; you’re actually living the Adventures in Lilliput. In this radical twist of fate, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to navigate the treacherous terrain of your own backyard, a place where survival is the name of the game and bugs are the bosses!

First things first, you'll need to craft a shelter that's not just a glorified dollhouse. I mean, talk about an extreme home makeover: Ant Edition. You'll scramble for resources like pebbles that now feel like boulders and twigs that resemble fallen logs. Build your fortress among the roots and under leaves and hope it stands up to the nightly dew, which here feels more like a flood from the heavens.

Oh, but the real estate challenges are just the beginning! Ever seen a ladybug the size of a bulldozer? Buckle up, because now they're your next-door neighbors. Cute as a button, but wouldn’t hesitate to steamroll you flat to get to those tasty aphids your garden is hosting. Speaking of neighbors, let’s not forget about the spiders, and I don't mean the Halloween decoration kind. These eight-legged freaks are now the size of a small car, and they're not looking to carpool; they're looking for their next entrée (i.e., you).

Teamwork here is key - much like real ants, it turns out. You'll need all the help you can get, so gather your friends, because it’s going to take all four of your two-millimeter-high heads to weather the storms - quite literally - that this shrunken world will throw at you. Pool your resources, combine your brain cells, and turn this Lilliputian nightmare into a cooperative paradise where even the mighty roly-poly is just part of the wildlife.

You also got to eat, right? Scavenge for crumbs that now look like giant loaves of bread and gather dewdrops that feel like watermelons. You’ll soon find out that aphids are the new cattle of this micro-kingdom, and trust me, you’ll work up quite the appetite trying to escape from being a tick’s lunch special.

But it's not all bug-eat-bug in the great outdoors! Engage in the fine art of science as you work to reverse your teeny-tiny predicament. Unravel the mystery behind your sudden size slump and fend off the local fauna, which, by the way, could give the chompers in ‘Jaws’ a run for their money.

Crafting is the bread and butter of micro-survival. You'll arm yourself with spears fashioned from thorns and wear armor cobbled together from beetle shells and stinkbug plating. Let's face it - if haute couture ever hits the insect world, you'll be the trendsetter with the most formidable exoskeleton ensemble.

As you venture forth, slicing through grass like it's the thickest Amazonian foliage, remember that knowledge is your most potent weapon. Learn which bugs are friendly freeloaders and which treat you like the buffet of the century. And when the night falls, and the fireflies light up the sky like your own personal starry dome, you'll experience the serene beauty of this wild, miniature world.

Yet, fear not, oh diminutive adventurers, for even the smallest of creatures can make the biggest of differences. In this grand slam of a game, you'll redefine the scale of epic battles and prove that a tiny size doesn't mean you can't live life large - even if it's one awfully grand adventure trying not to be devoured by a praying mantis.

So remember, whether you’re tunneling under a tulip or outrunning a caterpillar, it's a bug's life, and in this backyard bonanza, you're either the exterminator or the exterminated. Stay sharp, stay small, and above all, stay laughing – because sometimes, the biggest laughs come from the smallest of places.