I threw a spear at the first person to harm an ant. They were warned. But the lag meant I kept missing and it just got a bit embarassing, so we retrieved the spears and went back to scouting for dewdrops.

Grounded‘s multiplayer has captured something special. Even after several hours (which flew by for all of us), we found it hard to pin down exactly what about it was so… likeable. In its current state of development, I can’t quite recommend it as wholeheartedly as I want to. We had too many technical problems. But if it can overcome those during its early access period, it may well be game of the year material.

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Ants are a strong contender for the most fascinating creature on the planet. Arguably the most successful animal (discounting micro-organisms, those smug jerks), even. I was fascinated by them as a kid. There’s an ant with only one pair of chromosomes. There are ants that transform themselves into food storage units. There are kamikaze ants that defend their nest by exploding. Blind ants. Ants that form nests, bridges and even boats out of their own bodies. Ants that go to war, ants that farm, herd animals, spy on other colonies, take slaves.

In Grounded, Obsidian’s new mini-sized survival game, it doesn’t even take any of that to secure my undying love. When an ant sees you for the first time, it chirrups curiously, and tilts its head like a dog.

I love them. I will never harm them. If I ever play with another person and they attack an ant, I will fight them to the death. (more…)

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to become a very tiny child forced to survive in the jungle that is your own back garden, well, today is your day. Obsidian’s Honey I Shrunk The Kids-like, Grounded, releases in early access at around 6pm BST, inviting you to make spears out of twigs and create armour from the carcasses of your buggy foes. I mean buggy as in, you will have to fight bugs – though it is in early access, so I suppose you could be fighting the other kinds of bugs, too.

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Obsidian Entertainment tonight announced an early access launch date of July 28th for Grounded, their craft-o-survival game about teenagers shrunk down smaller than ants and turned loose in a back garden. If I’ve learned anything from the oeuvre of Rick Moranis, is that those kids are in for a tough time. It’s a surprising game to see coming from a studio known for RPGs including The Outer Worlds, South Park: The Stick Of Truth, and Pillars Of Eternity, but who are you to pigeonhole them? While we’ve mostly heard about the four-player co-op so far, tonight’s new look focused on the singleplayer side. Observe!

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