Grounded

Grounded is a first-person survival adventure from Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios, set in a suburban backyard where ordinary insects become major threats. The PC storefront name remains Grounded on Steam and Xbox PC, while Fully Yoked is the branding for the complete content edition associated with the game's major 1.4 update, including New Game+, Ant Queens, expanded equipment, and Playgrounds.

A Survival Loop Built Around Scale

Grounded starts with four teenagers reduced to insect size and stranded in a dangerous backyard. The main loop is direct: gather plant fibers, grass planks, pebbles, sap, food, and water; analyze materials; unlock recipes; craft better equipment; then push into more hostile parts of the yard.

The setting gives familiar survival systems a clear purpose. A blade of grass becomes a construction material, a soda can becomes shelter, and a fallen leaf can hide an aggressive creature. Exploration is not just about finding resources. It also reveals labs, story clues, shortcuts, crafting materials, and new threats that change how safely you can travel.

Grounded supports both first-person and third-person play, letting PC players choose between closer combat visibility and a wider view of their customized character. The perspective can be changed during play, which is useful when building, exploring narrow spaces, or fighting large insects.

Combat, Gear, and Character Builds

Combat is more deliberate than a simple gear-check system. Enemy attacks have readable patterns, blocking and parrying matter, and different weapons reward different ranges. Spears and swords suit direct engagements, bows create distance, shields improve defense, and specialized damage types help against particular creatures.

Character development comes through Mutations, Milk Molars, armor bonuses, weapon upgrades, trinkets, and meal effects. Mutations let players shape a preferred role, while equipment choices can emphasize defense, stamina, ranged attacks, elemental damage, or creature-specific advantages.

Hostile insects are not interchangeable targets. Ants behave differently from spiders, bombardier beetles, mosquitoes, mantises, and other major creatures. Some enemies have exploitable weak points, and learning attack timing is often more valuable than simply collecting higher-tier materials.

Base Building With a Practical Purpose

Base construction is one of Grounded's strongest systems because it connects creativity with progression. Players can place floors, walls, roofs, doors, stairs, storage, crafting stations, decorations, zipline anchors, and defensive structures across the backyard.

A base can be a compact shelter near useful resources or a large multi-level compound built around a landmark. Building integrity, resource hauling, storage organization, and protection from creature attacks all influence where a permanent home makes sense. The Handy Gnat can also assist with construction when enabled through the appropriate game settings.

Creature aggression creates another layer of planning. Attacking certain species and interfering with their territory can increase the chance of retaliation, while devices such as the Waft Emitter can deliberately attract hostile insects for base-defense encounters and resource gathering.

Fully Yoked Content and Game Structure

The current PC experience includes the complete story, the expanded backyard, the major content updates, Playgrounds, and the Fully Yoked additions. Grounded is not divided into a base game plus a catalog of paid gameplay expansions. Steam lists the separate official soundtrack as paid supplementary content, but the playable backyard systems are part of the main game experience.

New Game+ remixes the backyard after specific progression milestones, adding stronger threats, altered encounters, new rewards, and additional equipment. It is designed for players who have already learned the standard map and want a more demanding mastery loop rather than a separate campaign.

Playgrounds adds a creator-focused mode with Design Mode, Play Mode, publishable creations, and a blank Grassbox map. Players can build obstacle courses, boss arenas, escape rooms, scavenger hunts, and other custom scenarios using creatures, items, buildings, triggers, timers, switches, logic tools, and interactive props.

Solo, Co-op, and Shared Worlds

Grounded works as a solo survival game, but its systems are clearly built for groups. Online co-op supports the host plus up to three friends, allowing players to divide gathering, scouting, construction, combat, and resource management across the same backyard.

Shared Worlds let eligible players continue a persistent world even when the original owner is offline. This is more flexible than ordinary host-based co-op, although shared-world, cross-platform multiplayer, and Playgrounds require a Microsoft account connection.

Standard Steam multiplayer has a useful distinction: Steam players can use the native Steam state to host or join sessions with Steam friends without signing into a Microsoft account. Crossplay and the broader shared-world features still require the Microsoft account connection, so the chosen multiplayer state matters when organizing a group.

PC Features, Controls, and Localization

The Steam version supports keyboard and mouse play, full controller support with Xbox controllers, Steam Cloud, Steam Achievements, Steam Trading Cards, Family Sharing, Remote Play on Tablet, and Steam Deck Verified compatibility.

Grounded is available on PC through Steam and the Xbox app for Windows, including PC Game Pass access. The Xbox PC route uses the Xbox ecosystem, while Steam provides its own storefront integration. No dedicated-server tool or mod-support system is advertised as a standard PC feature, so players should treat the game as a curated survival sandbox rather than a server-modding platform.

The storefront lists 16 supported languages for interface and subtitles. English has full audio, and Japanese also has full voice-over support; the remaining listed languages are primarily text localization. Accessibility options include text narration, large text, subtitle controls, reticle adjustments, toggle settings, vibration controls, and an arachnophobia-focused visual option.

Who Should Play Grounded?

Grounded is a strong fit for players who want a story-led survival sandbox with structured objectives, tactical creature combat, flexible construction, and co-op progression. It is also a good choice for groups that prefer a shared world with meaningful jobs for every player instead of a purely combat-focused multiplayer campaign.

It may be a weaker match for players who dislike gathering, inventory management, repeated resource runs, or enemies that can interrupt construction and exploration. The game gives builders substantial freedom, but survival progression still expects regular crafting, equipment maintenance, food and water management, and deliberate exploration.

For a harsher fantasy survival structure with procedural worlds, third-person combat, and long-term server play, open-world Viking survival games such as Valheim are a natural comparison. Players more interested in solitary discovery, environmental mystery, and equipment-gated exploration may prefer first-person underwater survival adventures like Subnautica, which place less emphasis on co-op combat and insect behavior.

Grounded FAQ

Is Grounded now called Grounded: Fully Yoked Edition on PC?

Steam and Xbox PC continue to use Grounded as the storefront title. Fully Yoked refers to the complete content experience associated with the major 1.4 update, not a separate PC rebrand that replaces the Grounded listing.

Does Grounded include paid gameplay DLC?

The PC game includes its story, backyard content, Playgrounds, New Game+, Ant Queens, equipment, and major updates in the main experience. Steam lists the official soundtrack as a separate paid product, but no paid gameplay expansion catalog is required for the playable content.

How many players can play Grounded together?

Grounded supports solo play and online co-op with up to three other players. Shared Worlds allow participating players to continue the same world without depending entirely on the original host being online.

Does Grounded support crossplay on PC?

Yes. Crossplay connects supported PC and console versions, but the cross-platform features require a Microsoft account connection. Steam's native multiplayer state is separate and is intended for Steam-friend sessions without crossplay.

Does Grounded have New Game+?

Yes. Fully Yoked includes New Game+, which remixes the backyard, increases the challenge, changes encounters and rewards, and adds progression aimed at players who have completed the standard game structure.

What languages are supported on PC?

The PC storefront lists 16 interface and subtitle languages. English and Japanese have full voice audio, while the other listed languages provide text localization rather than complete voice-over.