Grounded 2 (Early Access)

In a surprise announcement during the recent Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft unveiled the sequel to Obsidian Entertainment’s larger-than-life survival game: Grounded 2. The first title’s cast of teenage characters returns, but they’re no longer stuck in the backyard. Instead, they wake up in a city park seemingly as employees of the evil tech company responsible for shrinking them in the original game. Of course, the previous game is full of mystery, so things likely aren’t exactly as they appear.

Grounded 2 tasks players with uncovering the wilds again by mastering exploration, crafting, survival, and base-building systems. While the sequel’s focus hasn’t drastically changed, its scope has. The environment, roughly three times the size of the backyard, features more verticality and ample biome diversity, though only one-third of the map is available at early access launch. Notably, the sequel introduces Buggies, various mounts players may hatch to assist traversal, combat, and resource gathering. Obsidian cites its decision to leave old Xbox consoles behind as the primary reason for the sequel’s noticeable expansion.