PAX EAST 2020: Grounded Panel Discloses Key Features

Imagine chilling in your backyard, doing some free build projects. You have to collect some resources from your yard in order to actually build, which may require you to look around to do so. Next thing you know, ants. The ants are now attacking you because you are taking resources that they also need. Did we forget to mention that you are shrunken to the size of a lady-bug? This is kind of the premise to Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming title Grounded.

Grounded was first announced at Xbox’s XO19 hosted in London, England. The game itself drew many comparisons to the 1989 classic Honey I Shrunk The Kids. In the game, you play as one of four teenagers that have been reduced to the size of a Polly Pocket and are set out to survive the wilds of your own backyard. Being a survival game it is akin to games such as Ark: Survival Evolved, Conan Exiles and The Forrest, only not quite as brutal given the cartoonish design.

During PAX East 2020, the developers had a live-streamed panel where they answered many questions about the game that fans and gamers were curious to know. So here are some keynotes about the upcoming title:

• Grounded will be a player hosted game without tethering. This means the game will allow your friends to join you like they can in a game like State of Decay 2, but unlike the comparison game, they will not be bound by a restrictive distance. This can prove to be a very beneficial idea as players may be working on different projects during the base build or quests that require adventuring to different areas.
• The game will allow you to build your base where you desire rather than preset and determined locations. This will allow players to be creative in Grounded when building their base. Personally, I find this an excellent decision especially when you want to call your base, your own build.
• Items will have durability and this should surprise no one. Grounded is a survival game so items themselves will have their own life. The developers have not mentioned if you would be able to repair your items, but hinted that it’s not something that will be really aggressive towards your play.
• There will be multiple ‘biomes’ in your backyard of Grounded. Each biome will feature homes to different insects as to offer a variety to the gameplay. This is definitely a key feature of most maps of survival games.
• There currently is no insect taming, however, never say never. When discussing the possibility to tame the wild creatures in Grounded the developer did state that this isn’t a current feature in the game. However, they did mention that it is a feature that they are eyeing and looking into how they can implement this into the game. So while you might not be saddling up Antie today, there’s a good chance an update will come in time.

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There were a lot more features that were discussed during the panel at PAX East 2020 and would definitely recommend giving it a watch or listen from a replay. Fans of survival game may find Grounded to be a treat, and I personally could not be more excited. There currently is not a release date, however, the developers plan to release the game in Game Preview on both Xbox and PC which will also feature cross-play. Grounded will also be in Game Pass for subscribers of that service.

Will you be giving Grounded a try? Let us know in the comment section below!