All Articles: Grounded

Microsoft and Obsidian are continuing to play up the similarities between the upcoming Grounded and Disney’s Honey I Shrunk the Kids in the game’s latest trailer.

Delving slightly deeper into the mysteries of the game’s shrinking technology, this Story Trailer introduces prospective players to BURG.L, a robot that will help you navigate the treacherous backyard arena:

In Grounded, you wake up in a suburban backyard, shrunk to the size of an ant. You hear the voice of a mysterious robot named BURG.L. He seems to know what’s going on and lets you know that the machine to turn you back to normal size is currently out of order. For now, everything in the backyard is trying to kill you and it’s up to you – and up to three friends, if you’re playing co-operative multiplayer – to survive the perilous landscape.

The short clip also includes several thrilling battles between ants, bees, and spiders, as well as a glimpse at some of the crafting and building options that Grounded will have.

Grounded will be available to download as an Early Access/Game Preview title for the PC and Xbox One on July 28.

For those of us of a certain age, the pint-sized dangers of Honey I Shrunk the Kids will always stick with us. In the movie, a small group of kids are forced to fend for themselves against a giant scorpion, a swarm of bees, and a super-powerful lawnmower after they’re accidentally shrunk down to microscopic size by Rick Moranis. There was also a heroic ant named Antie who saved the day years before Paul Rudd joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you’re a Disney Plus subscriber, you should absolutely check it out.

This is all just my way of preparing you for Grounded, a new game from Microsoft and Obsidian that is basically “Honey I Shrunk the Kids: The Game.”

According to Xbox Wire, players will be “shrunken to the size of an ant” and dropped into a suburban background teeming with life. They’ll need to survive by scavenging “everybody objects” that have been lost among the grass, and up to four players will be able to undergo missions together:

In Grounded, players are shrunken to the size of an ant and tasked with surviving in the unique micro-world of a suburban backyard. Players must gather, craft and build bases with everyday objects found within the yard, searching for life-saving resources and living alongside giant, peaceful insects while fighting to survive massive hostile inhabitants.

Grounded provides a mix of environmental and narrative driven story telling. Set in a versatile, handcrafted sandbox structure it allows players to create their own experience from the ground up. Tasks that may seem approachable when human-sized become a challenge in this dangerous backyard landscape. This familiar yet fantastical world can be navigated solo or in four-person co-operative multiplayer, where players work together to complete missions or explore the intricately detailed world.

Grounded will be available to download in Game Preview/Early Access for the Xbox One and PC in Spring 2020.