Four teenagers — Max, Willow, Pete and Hoops — have been shrunk to the size of an ant and abandoned in a suburban backyard. The lawnmower is a skyscraper. A pebble is a boulder. A wolf spider is an apex predator. And somewhere in the backyard is the science lab responsible for what happened to them — and the way home.

Grounded is a first and third-person survival crafting game that reframes a familiar suburban backyard as a vast, hostile wilderness. Every blade of grass, acorn cap, clover leaf and pebble is a building material. Every insect is a creature with its own behaviour, territory and threat level — from the relatively harmless aphids to the deeply alarming orb weaver spider. Up to four players can survive together online, gathering resources, constructing bases and pushing through a fully voiced story campaign. The game attracted 5 million players in its first six months of early access, 10 million by February 2022, and over 20 million total — largely driven by Xbox Game Pass. Sequel Grounded 2 launched in Early Access on 29. 7. 2025 with Eidos-Montréal co-developing.

Key Features: • Shrunk-to-ant-size backyard world — every object reimagined as terrain, resource or shelter • 1–4 player online co-op • Fully voiced story campaign with four playable protagonists • Deep base building from organic materials • Insect ecosystem with distinct AI behaviours • Arachnophobia Safe Mode — adjusts spider appearance for players affected by arachnophobia