I have been playing Grounded on and off for a week now, with friends and alone. This week I am going to talk about the aspects of Grounded that I liked and disliked.

I’ll give it to you straight, reader, I am bored of the sandbox survival genre.

Grounded is a survival sandbox game from Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox Games Studios. The full game was released in September of last year for Xbox and PC and retails for $40 (free on Gamespass).

Likes:

• The game is absolutely beautiful even on my dogshit computer.
• The setting is something that pulled me in. It was attractive knowing that Honey I Shrunk the Kids was available in video game form.
• The variety of scary ground buggos and flying buggos that can kill me excite me.
  • The spiders aren’t that scary, it’s the mosquito that is the scariest of all insects.
• The gameplay is simple and rewards the player for venturing into areas that may seem off-limits.
• Base building is fun, so far.
• UI is easy to use and crafting items is easy.
• Combat is pretty standard, You have a block and a perfectly timed block can change the course of a fight in your favor.
• The game is incredibly fun with friends. I had a blast with the small amount of time that I played with my friendo.

Dislikes:

• The story is boring. Though the game looks attractive, the story is nothing to write home to. I don’t care about the super-smart guy, building a better world through shrinking.
  • I do not care.
• The survival sandbox genre is just boring. You spawn in the middle, and are told to go to the four corners of the map and get one corner for free. Next step, go to the next corner and get the item/information/researchable item that will allow you to get to the next area. RINSE AND REPEAT.
• I just want to quit after every time I die. I had not found the respawn point at the Hedge Lab yet and I died a few times, meaning I would trek back every time. Waste of my time. (I was told I could place a bed to hold as a respawn point, so I guess it’s okay, but I still hate not being able to fast travel to the labs.)
• Lots of grinding. There is always something to do, whether it be for the main story or for your own base, but it just requires so much.
• Weapon/armor durability. I hate it, and will always hate it.

SO FAR: 6/10 only because I didn’t have to pay for it.