Why Xbox's 'Grounded' might be the best survival game in years (video)

Grounded Yard
Grounded Yard (Image credit: Windows Central)

What would happen if a game like Conan Exiles or ARK: Survival Evolved clashed with the world of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? Grounded is your answer.

Grounded is an upcoming survival game from Obsidian, known for recent titles like The Outer Worlds and Pillars of Eternity. Microsoft picked up Obsidian to grow Xbox Game Studios a while ago, and despite Grounded's relatively smaller dev team, it's already showing some incredible promise.

Set in a back yard, you've been shrunk to the size of an ant, and must figure out what went wrong. Grounded has a story quest chain, but also a robust sandbox experience with crafting, settlement building, and armor and weapon tiers that must be researched and built, using parts from various creepy crawlies that inhabit the grounds. You and up to three additional friends will work your way up from aphid-munching scavenger to back yard overlord, clad in armor crafted from the spoils of vanquished wolf spiders and other predatory bugs.

See the video above for some of our early impressions on Grounded, and find out why we think this could be the best survival game in a long time. We'll also have a more detailed written preview up shortly, so stay tuned!

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Jez Corden
Executive Editor

Jez Corden is the Executive Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter (X) and Threads, and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!