In Grounded, utilities can help players survive and build better bases and equipment in the beautiful but bug-infested world where a threat lurks around nearly every leaf. There are many storage and utility recipes to unlock. These items include meal prep, traps, production, and all kinds of functions as players build brain power and explore all the backyard offers.
It undoubtedly takes time for players to progress and learn the ropes of Grounded, know what each utility does, and how to craft them to survive and progress. This list focuses on storage and utilities with tier 1 and 2 functionality to aid progression, rather than utilities for higher-tier items and scenarios. However, there are some utilities that new players, who are less than 20 in-game days into the game, may want to prioritize over others beyond the essential basics of a Lean-To and Workbench.
10 Roasting Spit
The Roasting Spit is one of the first items for beginners or new players to craft, but it's still useful for more advanced players. Light it and leave it to cook up to three lumps of raw bug meat while out exploring, and return to top-up hunger. The Roasting Spit also acts as a handy light source for players who haven't yet crafted any lamps for their base.
To craft a Roasting Spit, players only need 4 peblets, 4 sprigs, and 3 dry grass chunks. All these materials are located within easy distance of the first Resource Analyzer.
9 Storage Chests & Baskets
A group of Storage Chests or Baskets are an ongoing necessity as players discover more items and recipes, as they maximize the number of objects they can carry or possess. Each Chest has 40 item slots, compared to 30 items in the player's backpack and the smaller 20-slot capacity of the Basket.
To make a Basket, players only need 4 strands of crude rope and 4 clover leaves. When players travel to the Oak Lab or Beacon, they can pick up 4 sap pieces, 4 acorn shells, and 2 clover leaves to craft the bigger Chest. Storage is customizable with icons for improved organization, which is a nice touch.
8 Garden Patch
The Garden Patch is a super handy meal-prep utility to place near a player's base to replenish hunger until players possess the Cookery. The Garden Patch minimizes time spent foraging for food. Players can collect and plant their own mushrooms in the Patch, which takes around 50 real-life minutes to become harvest-ready. It's also possible to add growth cells and optional fertilizer to modify growth.
To craft a Garden Patch, players only need 8 pieces of crude rope, 6 weed stems, 1 acorn top, and 1 piece of spoiled meat.
7 Water Container
Drinking clean water in Grounded is essential for survival. The Water Container is helpful, as it can store up to 6 drops of liquid, including water, soda, and juice. However, players have to transfer liquid to it using a canteen made from 3 grub hides and 2 strands of crude rope. It's useful to do this before nightfall, so players don't need to go searching for hydration sources.
To make a Water Container, players need 3 acorn shells, 1 clover leaf, and 2 pieces of crude rope. Players can find the acorn shells near the base of the Oak Lab tree.
6 Plank Pallets
Pallets are essential for good base organization, and players can craft grass and stem pallets with minimal supplies. To save space, they are best stored outside or underneath the base, depending upon the construction. They can only stack a limited supply, but players can craft as many as they like.
Making pallets is pretty straightforward. For grass pallets, players only need 3 pieces of dry grass, 5 pebblets, and 5 strands of crude rope. Stem pallets require 4 sprigs, 4 pieces of crude rope, 2 pebblets, and 3 chunks of dry grass. Dry grass can be found in most areas, but it's quickest to head to dry grass areas, where players can also stock up on thistle needles.
5 Smoothie Station
Players can use the Smoothie Station to whip up various smoothie concoctions for stats benefits or health restoration using different bases, such as Boost Juice and Green Machine. To craft a Smoothie Station, players need 1 acorn top, 4 sprigs, and 5 grub sludge.
To harvest grub sludge, players need to make an acorn shovel to dig up and kill grubs. Players can find grubs burrowing underground all over the yard but are most likely to find them in ant tunnels, caves, and around the oak tree.
4 Spinning Wheel
Spinning Wheels aren't too difficult to obtain, and are used to craft various strings like crude rope and silk rope. It's important to prioritize, as analyzing silk ropes unlocks the Dew Collector recipe. The wheel even turns during operation, and it can make up to 5 silk ropes at a time, with each taking about 1 hour of in-game time to complete.
To make it, players will need to hunt red ants for 4 red ant parts, plus uncover clay near ponds for 4 chunks. This is combined with 2 acorn tops, 3 pieces of sap, and 4 strands of crude rope.
3 Dew Collector
The Dew Collector is a handy base staple as it self-collects around 4 droplets of water at a time, so players need not worry about finding water supplies when returning from their adventures. Players also only need to sip the amount they need. It does take time to collect the drops, but it's usually almost full again within a day's game time.
It's something that's best to make when players are ready to battle spiders. To make a Dew Collector players need 5 strands of silk rope sourced from Web Fiber and crafted using the Spinning Wheel. They will also need 6 weed stems, 8 peblets, and 5 pieces of crude rope.
2 Trail Marker
One of the most useful items and easiest to craft for new players is a Trail Marker, craftable using 2 sprigs, 2 plant fiber, and 1 clover leaf. Although players can set a waypoint on the map, Trail Markers allow players to place multiple markers throughout the yard and customize the icon in a way that makes sense to them.
It's a good idea to craft a Trail Marker for the base and assign the home icon. This makes it easier to navigate home, especially at night when it's easy to get lost. Each time players discover a location they want to return to later, they can place a Trail Marker, so it's easy to find again.
1 Jerky Rack
Although making a Jerky Rack requires fighting and killing tough Bombadier Beetles, it's worth prioritizing, so players can open up recipes to better food resources and utilities. The Jerky Rack dries out insect meat, grass, and even insects like aphids. It only requires 5 Bombadier parts and 6 strands of crude rope to make.
Players can consume the bugs directly, although the drying process reduces hydration levels. Alternatively, once they have visited the Oak Tree Lab and spoken to BURG.L, they can purchase more recipes with Raw Science from any Field Station. This includes the Cookery Utility, which uses dried ingredients to construct awesome food supplies like Miteloaf that fully restores hunger.
Grounded is available to play on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and is free to play on Xbox Game Pass.