In Grounded, you are shrunk to the size of an ant and must survive in the beautiful yet perilous micro-world of a suburban backyard. This harsh and dangerous landscape can be navigated solo or with up to three additional players in co-operative multiplayer, as you work together to progress through thrilling story-based missions or explore the farthest reaches of the intricately detailed game world.

You hear the voice of a mysterious robot named BURG.L. He seems to know what’s going on and lets you know that the machine to turn you back to normal size is currently out of order. For now, everything in the backyard is trying to kill you and it’s up to you – and up to three friends, if you’re playing co-operative multiplayer – to survive the perilous landscape.

The backyard is rife with different kinds of ants, flying insects, and spiders. You must gather, craft, and build bases from scavenged items found in the backyard, searching for life-saving resources such as the dew off grass to quench your thirst or transforming an acorn shell into body armor to defend against a host of unpredictable creatures. Can you thrive against the hordes of giant insects, fighting to survive the perils of the backyard?

Grounded players have encountered enemies such as annoying mosquitos, diving bell spiders who really do live in the water, and deadly bosses such as the glorious Broodmother. They’ve crafted armor set after armor set to keep improving their survivability, customized their weapons to fit their play style, and used their base-building skills to defend against the swarms of bugs tired of the players’ antics. These achievements have been remarkable, and all that playtime has led to some incredible community feedback which will make Grounded’s official release this September that much better.

The full release will include all 12 updates already released during Game Preview/Early Access development, but now players will be able to unravel the entire mysterious story behind Grounded and their shrunken-ness. Find out how the teens got into the yard and the mad scientist behind it in the fully playable campaign — all of which can be experienced alone or with a group of friends.

The full release, Version 1.0, will also open an entirely new part of the Grounded world — the upper yard. This new section includes a ton more of the backyard to explore along with new armor recipes, new weapon recipes, and some secrets that we just can’t bring ourselves to spoil for you all. Nah, we will spoil something! The Mantis, an insect consistently requested by our incredible community. Finding its way into the yard as a new boss, it may be players’ undoing.

To summarize, you want to: Go Big Or Never Go Home.

Available through Xbox Game Preview with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Steam Early Access, Grounded is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC in September 2022 at $39.99.