Update from March 2nd: Developer Obsidian has shown 15 minutes of gameplay from his extraordinary new game Grounded. As part of PAX East 2020, the developers also answered live questions from fans. We have summarized the most important news about Obsidian's Shrink Survival game.
- Grounded will come in an 80s / 90s charm because it is loosely inspired by the classic film "Darling, I shrunk the kids"
- This decade will also be reflected in the soundtrack by composer Justin Bell. He already designed the soundtrack for Pillars of Eternity and The Outer Worlds for Obsidian
- Crossplay has been announced for Grounded from day 1
- Resources like grass, which we harvest in the game world and use for crafting, will grow dynamically
- After early access, it will also rain in the game world, which will also affect gameplay
- Grounded will bring an arachnophobia mode in which players can play without spinning if they wish. This mode is limited to the respective player and has no effect on the game representation of our co-op comrades
- Weapons will wear out over time
- Part of the roadmap is taming insects and possibly being able to ride them
- There will be no story limits. Crafting stairs, for example, will allow players to advance into certain areas earlier than planned. The developers speak of "soft gates" and want to encourage players to take creative and unforeseen paths
Original message from February 24th: Obsidian is already sending its new game Grounded in spring 2020 Early Access on Steam, The project was presented by Microsoft at the X019 at the end of last year, where the publisher also revealed a first trailer.
There you could already see Grounded's special twist: we play as tiny shrunken characters in an actually everyday environment in which nothing is everyday anymore:
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Grounded Trailer – Obsidian enters the survival genre very small
Early access until 2021
On the Steam page on Grounded, the developers provide some information about the early access phase. Accordingly, this is expected to continue until 2021. Early access already includes basic mechanics such as crafting and basic construction, three different climate zones, 20 percent of the storyline and a handful of insect species and enemy types. Extensive additions to this content as well as Steam achievements and maps are planned for the complete release.
The developer Obsidian calls for diligent feedback from the community. On Steam it says:
"We want to create as many opportunities as possible for the community to be able to participate in the development process and provide feedback. Whether in the form of developer blogs, our Discord server or monthly developer diaries, we will be from start to finish listen to the feedback from the players, keep in touch with them and let their feedback flow into the game. "
In addition, as progress progresses, Grounded will gradually become more expensive. This should make it attractive for players to participate in early access early on and to share feedback with Obsidian.
With matches against insects
Obisidan's first title since the Microsoft takeover is slightly different than you would expect from the role-playing experts known for games like The Outer Worlds and Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. Because in Grounded everything is about Co-op and survival,
With a group of up to four players, we plunge into a miniature adventure in the middle of a suburban garden. But since we have all shrunk to the size of beetles, mushrooms become shelters, insects become dangerous opponents and toys lying around become insurmountable obstacles.
The mechanics are based on first-person perspective, fighting, crafting and basic building on well-known survival games. The special trick, however, is that our bases and weapons here consist of things like matches and toy parts.
On one point, Obsidian remains true to his DNA: Grounded should go with it a gripping story linked, which tells of the characters' way back home.
Are you going to watch the Grounded shrink survival adventure? Are you waiting for the release or are you plunging straight into early access? Let us know in the comments.
