Grounded

Obsidian shrinks survival in an insect adventure that gives a new meaning to ‘downsizing’

- Dave Meikleham

Small really is the name of the game for Obsidian’s left-field survival sim. For a game that revolves around four tiny teens who’d have to get on their tippy-toes to look an ant in the eye, the fact Grounded is being made by a team of just 13 people feels apt.

Speaking to our colleagues at GamesRadar, game director Adam Brennecke isn’t shy admitting this cartoony survivor is essentially Honey, I Shrunk The Kids: The 30-Year-Late Tie-In. “I’m a child of the ‘80s, so I grew up with [those movies]... If you go back to The Goonies, for example, that sense of adventure, all the way to Stranger Things more recently, there’s the idea of being a kid again and exploring a strange new place. It’s still familiar to everyone.” Not that mini Sean Astin, Mouth, Data and co ever had to contend with homicidal spiders the size of a huge African elephant.