The indie survival game Grounded is performing exceptionally well on Steam after only one day of its early-access release to the public and currently remains in first place of the Top Sellers list, surpassing the recently released Destroy All Humans remake.
Grounded's premise is reminiscent of the classic science fiction film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The survival game developed by Obsidian Entertainment, known for making games "nothing like this one," according to the game's trailer, lets players team up with shrunken kids in a backyard, forcing them to survive against waves of bugs and manage resources. Set in the 90s, many insect and bug predators make an appearance in the game, including spiders, which inspired an Arachnophobia Mode for players sensitive to them.
Grounded seems to be doing particularly well for such a quirky game premise. Sitting at the top of the Top Sellers list only one day following its release, players have rewarded it with Mostly Positive reviews, honoring Grounded for supporting gameplay with friends and fun base-building mechanics. Though a few negative reviews note some important key features are either missing or difficult to access, other Steam users are quick to defend the game by noting that it's still in early access.
Obsidian Entertainment is known for its contribution to Fallout titles and Baldur's Gate dating before the official establishment of the studio. Grounded was developed by a small team of thirteen people inspired by A Bug's Life while simultaneously, other employees at Obsidian were busy working on The Outer Worlds. But the studio also announced the upcoming Avowed at the recent Xbox Games Showcase livestream event.
The gaming community was first introduced to the title back in November 2019, but a more in-depth look at Grounded was shown during the Xbox Games Showcase. Many players were excited for the level of comedy that the game would seemingly offer, thanks to references to Cyberpunk 2077 and past relationships with Bethesda by filling the game with bugs. Some fans that were excited by Grounded during the Showcase noted how titles like this tend to be overlooked pre-release, but end up having a cult-classic following after its release. So far, Grounded is holding up to be a popular indie game for PC and Xbox One users.
Grounded is still in early access on PC and Xbox One.