Grounded vs Grounded 2

Picture fighting a spider the size of a van with a spear made out of twigs, or living as a tiny ant and a blade of grass is a towering skyscraper. Grounded has gamers play as the size of a sugar grain, and survival means navigating an entire backyard as if it were a continent. Grounded 2, on the other hand, takes players diving headfirst into the tall grass. But this time, the world’s bigger, the bugs hit harder, and now you can ride your own pet beetle into battle. In this article, we compare Grounded vs. Grounded 2 and give our verdict on which game truly comes out on top.

What is Grounded?

In the original Grounded, you’re one of four teens who wake up tiny with no memory and confused in some guy’s backyard. No explanation. Just you, a soda can taller than the Eiffel Tower, and a lot of very aggressive insects. Turns out a scientist named Dr. Wendell Tully built a shrink machine called the SPAC.R, and you’re one of his experiments. The villain is a shady corporation called Ominent. 

Your goal is not to die and maybe figure out how to get back to normal size. Every clue, every bug fight, and every soda straw you build into a base gets you closer to escaping that garden of doom. Picture the show Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, but now a game that can be played solo or with pals. Additionally, you are in Dr. Wendell’s backyard.

What is Grounded 2?

Grounded 2, the highly anticipated sequel, jumps forward to 1992. The four teenage kids from the first game are still missing. And Ominent is still shady and back to their old tricks. However, this time, the backyard has been swapped for Brookhollow Park, a new oversized playground with wild zones, such as an overturned ice cream cart and a massive anthill that even echoes sounds. You’re still dealing with survival, but the threats have multiplied, the map’s stretched out, and now it feels more like a full-on tiny apocalypse. And yes, you still can’t trust anything with more than four legs.

Gameplay

The original Grounded is a full-on classic survival game mode. Scavenge resources, weapons, and junk, and craft bug armor, and pray the sun doesn’t go down while you’re low on water. You manage hunger, thirst, and every bug you meet either wants to kill you, run from you, or feed you. Ladybugs are helpful in that they can lead you to food, aphids are snacks and can be cooked, and spiders are basically horror movie villains with extra legs. There’s even an arachnophobia slider in the settings to make them less nightmare-inducing. Whether you’re solo or with up to three friends, it’s all about building up and staying alive.

In Grounded 2, the survival formula stays: scavenging, base-building, and combat against giant bugs. But now you can dash through danger and even ride into battle on bug mounts called buggies. Cockroaches join the enemy lineup. They are big, armored, and nasty. Combat’s more aggressive, traversal is faster, and base-building has to keep up with bigger threats and more vertical terrain. With a public roadmap announced, Obsidian is clearly building this one with community feedback in mind. Players can expect frequent and substantial updates.

Game Modes

Solo or Squad, You’re Still Small. Grounded lets you solo the whole thing, but where it shines is co-op with up to three friends. Sharing a base, planning ambushes on spiders, or screaming collectively when a stink bug ruins everything, it’s chaotic in the best way. Story mode works in both solo and group play, so whether you’re lone-wolfing it or pulling friends into the ant-infested madness, you’re covered. Grounded 2 hasn’t spilled everything yet about new modes, but the multiplayer mode is confirmed. Given how successful central co-op was in the first game, expect even more features that make surviving with friends smoother, faster, and deadlier, especially with bigger biomes and group mount rides likely in the mix. 

Features

Grounded vs Grounded 2 is a story of scale, then and now. The biggest selling point of Grounded was always its perspective. Every leaf felt like a jungle, every twig a towering structure. The dynamic ecosystem brought the backyard to life, with insects behaving realistically, some as aggressive predators, others as crucial resources. Layered into that natural chaos was a compelling narrative that slowly unraveled as you explored deeper into the yard’s secrets.

Grounded 2 builds upon that foundation and amplifies it. The new zones aren’t just bigger; they’re richer and more interactive. An overturned ice cream cart isn’t just scenery; it’s a multi-level playground, a hiding spot, and probably home to a dozen things that want to eat you. Traversal has evolved, too. With the introduction of buggies, you’re no longer just walking; you’re cruising through the chaos. Dash mechanics also add a whole new layer to combat and escape, making every encounter faster and more intense.

Platforms

So the platform access, from Backyard to the Big Screen. Grounded started small, with early access on Xbox One and Windows PC. Then it later hit full release and spread to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 in April 2024. Everyone eventually got a piece of the pie, and it became a surprise hit across platforms. Grounded 2 launches into Xbox Game Preview and Steam Early Access on July 29, 2025. Xbox Series X/S and PC get it first, but considering the first game’s rollout, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch players probably won’t be locked out forever. If you’re not in the Xbox camp, keep your eyes open. The backyard might be coming to your console soon.

Verdict

Grounded vs. Grounded 2 is the perfect showdown of small-scale survival done right. The original Grounded nailed the survival vibe: tiny tools, big threats, and a backyard teeming with chaos. Whether you played solo or with friends, exploring, building, and panicking together never got old. Grounded 2, though, is cranking everything up a notch. It brings bigger maps, smoother movement, and way more madness, think buggies, dash mechanics, and creepy new zones. It’s shaping up to be a massive glow-up built on everything the first game did right. With its expanded features and wild new content, Grounded 2 promises even more fun, thrills, and backyard danger than ever before.