Grounded 2 Preview (Xbox Series X/S & PC)

Obsidian Entertainment has been real busy. Avowed just recently launched in February 2025. And they’ve got The Outer Worlds 2 in the pipeline, slated for release in October 2025. It’s come as a surprise, therefore, that Grounded 2 is on the horizon. And not far from now, precisely July 29, 2025. Now, this won’t be the final launch. Following in the footsteps of the original, Grounded 2 will release into Early Access for an undetermined period of time. The first version of Early Access will include a significant portion of the new Brookhollow Park open-world, alongside the first act, which will be a self-contained chapter of the game.

Apparently, Brookhollow Park will be three times the size of the original game’s backyard setting. Moreover, fans can look forward to bigger and better content, from rideable mounts to an overhauled combat and crafting system. Otherwise, if you’ve played the original game, you should feel well at home in the sequel. Stepping into Brookhollow Park should feel like returning to a familiar setting, albeit bigger and better. Newcomers, on the other hand, need not worry about getting left behind. You’ll still undergo a training tutorial, inducting you into both old and new gameplay mechanics. 

Grounded has been a pretty big success, and much of it is owed to the relentless effort Obsidian put into integrating and incorporating player feedback. They truly listen to ideas and suggestions, taking about two years to fully bring the game to completion. So, deciding to launch Grounded 2 into Early Access isn’t entirely for naught, especially since the preview is already shaping up to introduce some pretty cool concepts and quality of life features. Let’s take a deep dive into all you can expect in our Grounded 2 preview below.

Something Old, Something New

Not much is known about the upcoming Grounded 2. However, as the Early Access release date draws near, certain facts have become official. You’ll still embark on solo or co-op multiplayer adventures with friends. Up to three friends can join you in your exploration and survival feats. Once you boot up the game, you’re given the option of choosing between four playable characters: Pete, Max, Willow, and Hoops. Each will be familiar from the first game, albeit two years older. 

Further, each character has distinct abilities. Pete, for instance, is the scout, thriving in crafting but struggling in resource gathering. Max is the “class clown,” who will put a smile on your face. He’s stronger and thrives on melee combat. Willow is sarcastic but empathetic. She’s faster and takes less damage. Then there’s Hoops, cheerful with more health, but slower food and water consumption. It’s likely the returning characters will retain the same quirks about them. However, their abilities will likely be enhanced, allowing for more survival strategies and play styles. 

Ominent Shrunk the Kids Again

The overall story structure follows a similar trajectory as well. The shady company, Ominent, shrinks the kids again. However, this time, they’re taken to a park, more expansive than the backyard from the first game. Being potentially three times bigger, it’ll likely cover bigger distances, and harbor more diverse secrets and discoveries. Obsidian hints at a mysterious entity or phenomenon hidden deeper into the ground. 

On Steam, the game description reads: “The threat is always there—watching, learning, waiting. You don’t know where it’s coming from, only that it never leaves. The deeper you dig, the closer it gets. Some mysteries should stay buried, but it’s too late now. It knows you’re looking. And it’s ready.”

What’s New?

Obsidian confirms that Grounded 2 will tell a brand new story. So, as much as you’ll be controlling the same characters and exploring a familiar setting, you can look forward to new, fresh, and hopefully, engaging story arcs. I’m certain Brookhollow Park will be more invigorating to explore, given the sheer thrill of navigating the backyard in the original game. Every venture under the thick layer of grass revealed tons of secrets, valuable items, and potential arachnids you could eat alive or kill. Brookhollow Park aims to introduce even more things to do, whether it’s out-of-the-box items, new enemies, secrets, or more. 

In the marketing material, an ice cream cone lies haphazardly on the ground. But from an ant-sized perspective, it might as well look like a whimsical dream castle I can’t wait to explore. The same goes for the creepy crawlies you’re likely to run into. Sure, the first game featured its fair share of spiders and bees. However, Grounded 2 promises to add more insect and arachnid species. You’ll run into scorpions and caterpillars. Remember, Grounded 2 is launching into Early Access. And so there’s so much more Obsidian could be exploring. Some fun ideas might be adding frogs, snails, and even turtles. Brookhollow Park’s bigger open world can certainly handle it. 

Buggy Hunting

Speaking of a bigger open world, the biggest new feature that has fans most excited is the addition of mounts, which, from marketing material, features spiders and ants, and likely other insects. You can harvest, rear, tame, and mount them, essentially, your pets turned allies. Obsidian playfully refers to them as “buggies,” whose benefits extend beyond traversal. They can help you collect resources and craft them. They can fend off enemies. Apparently, they’ll have their own personalities, too. With extensive abilities, attacks, and moves, you’re likely to spend a considerable amount of time exploring their different types and gravitating to favorites. And yes, you can pet them, too. 

Rideable mounts are one of the most requested features. So, it’s grand that Obsidian is delivering, and at an equally grand scale. You’ll still have traversal features from the first game. You can still zipline across the ant territories. With the bigger open world, though, which might have downward verticality as well, I suspect rideable mounts will come more in handy. Notably, though, Obsidian isn’t including ziplines in the first version of Early Access. That way, players can get used to the buggies, exploring all of the clever ways you can use them in combat, crafting, and adventuring. 

Dodge Out of the Way

But that’s not all. Obsidian also includes a combat overhaul. While the specifics aren’t clear yet, you can look forward to the addition of a dodge mechanic. I know, dodging wasn’t possible in Grounded. With the mechanic in place, though, enemy encounters can get more interesting, keeping in mind that your mounts also serve as an extension of you during combat. It’ll be interesting to see how the new combat changes elevate the experience, as the first game’s strengths didn’t exactly lie in combat. Swinging your fibbly makeshift spear felt odd and unsatisfying. With more abilities, though, it might warrant more thought into your actions and resultant reward. 

A special mention: The Omni-Tool. I’m not sure I’ve seen this in another game before, where you only unlock one all-in-one tool. It serves as your hammer, axe, shovel, and wrench, capable of performing all of the resource-gathering, building, and crafting needs you might have. While it might sound bland, it helps save inventory space. Meanwhile, you might revel in the fact that you upgrade each item separately. That way, you can specialize in a chosen progression path that best suits your play style. Grounded 2 is shaping up to take all that worked in the first game, and refresh and rework it into a bigger and better sequel. 

Verdict

Overall, Grounded 2 looks good, largely the same as the first game, but more vibrant and colorful. It definitely looks like a harmless world. But Obsidian interestingly hints at a darker tone, since the characters will be two years older, and thus more vicious and capable of taking on bigger threats. In any case, Grounded was such a blast, far more than anyone expected it to be. Kids shrunk to ant size isn’t exactly a premise that will appeal to hardened survival adventurers. But Obsidian found a creative way of designing a deceptively harmless world. You venture into a seemingly normal backyard, only to be bombarded with all sorts of deadly creatures. 

In fact, the arachnophobia was so intense that the developer had to tone down the “scare factor” of some of the creatures. And from what I gather, Grounded 2 will also have an “arachnophobia mode,” for gamers who can’t stand spiders. I’m curious to see how Obsidian elevates combat, arguably the first game’s weakest point. Fashioning a spear out of twigs and pebbles, and swinging it haphazardly at hostile bugs hardly counts as fun for true combat warriors. Not to mention, it felt wonky, and the impact lacked any satisfying punch. Given the kids are much older, perhaps they’ll be more brutal in combat. But then again, this is a survival action-adventure game whose joy comes from rewarding exploration, resourceful crafting, and occasionally, hardcore survival.