It’s no secret that I loved the first Grounded game. That doesn’t change the simple fact that Grounded was despondently bare-bones when it first launched into early access.
The team at Obsidian Entertainment that made Grounded a reality was tiny, but it was passionate. Those developers took the idea they had nurtured and matured it with feedback from the community for over two years before the game was considered complete — and even then, Grounded continued to grow with post-launch updates.
Now that Grounded 2 has landed in early access just like its predecessor, I couldn’t help but wonder: would we be repeating the same journey again?
Fortunately, it’s clear that the growing team at Obsidian took every lesson it learned from its debut project and poured it into Grounded 2. This game isn’t a repeat of the first early access experiment, it’s a continuation, with the sequel already as big on day one as its predecessor was when finished.
From humble beginnings to a massive day one launch
If you look back at what Grounded was when it first entered early access, there was only the skeleton of a survival game there. Look even closer, and you could see the vision behind what Grounded could become — but only the studio’s commitment and the community’s passion made Grounded what it is today.
While Grounded gained an absurd amount of content over its two-year stint in early access, Obsidian also implemented countless points of feedback on quality-of-life and accessibility features, and massively enhanced the online co-op experience with the excellent "shared worlds."
Grounded became shockingly massive for a game set in a single backyard, and Grounded 2 is picking up where the first left off.
Grounded's ceaseless evolution persisted even until its launch on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, as the Fully Yoked update added even more endgame content. From New Game+ to a full-blown level editor in the Make It or Break It update, Grounded became shockingly massive for a game confined to a single suburban backyard.
Grounded 2 may be the beginning of a new adventure, but we won't be following the same path. Right now, this game feels as big as the first Grounded did when I reviewed it in 2022.
Parks are bigger than backyards, who knew?
It was revealed when Grounded 2 was announced that the new map is set to be around three times larger than the Backyard from the first game. When my colleague previewed the game, he learned that even the very first iteration of Brookhollow Community Park will be as large as the first Grounded.
Now that I've played Grounded 2 for myself, yeah. This map is already massive, with diverse biomes, unique locations and landmarks, and plenty of secrets to discover.
Grounded 2's map is already as big as the first game, and it also feels packed with content.
It's a far cry from the sparse Backyard that kicked Grounded off in 2020, and Obsidian has already promised that Grounded 2's early access updates will be larger and fuller on average.
It's not just about size, either. Grounded 2 already feels packed with content. We have bustling ecosystems of creatures, countless options for building bases, a vast array of gear, plenty of character upgrade opportunities and unique loadout options, fleshed out accessibility features (including the return of Grounded's Arachnophobia Mode), and even online shared worlds to make playing with your friends even easier (Minecraft could learn from Grounded, actually).
That's without even discussing what sets this sequel apart from Grounded, being a continuation of the story and new gameplay mechanics like buggies (rideable creatures!).
Obviously, Grounded 2 is basically missing most of the narrative and its entire endgame, with its early access tenure being focused on fleshing out the foundation and layering those features on top. There's no "end," no level editor, no rogue's gallery of secret bosses to challenge your skills.
Grounded 2 is missing basically its entire endgame, but that honestly makes me more excited — the sky's the limit.
That just makes me more excited, though. I honestly wasn't going to spend too much time playing Grounded 2, because I prefer to wait until games are finished before diving in, but there's already so much here that I've almost forgotten Grounded 2 is in early access.
Well, apart from the bugs. Not the bugs, I mean the bugs — Grounded 2 is still really rough around the edges, so save often if you dive in.
Grounded 2 is now available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC and Steam, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Xbox Game Pass in early access.
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