Both Grounded and Grounded 2 brought a novel idea to the beloved survival genre—the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! approach to survival mechanics in the backyard and Brookhollow Park—and that has, in turn, inspired another survival game on Steam. Of course, with the way iteration and innovation in the gaming industry work, this is not particularly surprising. The approach of this new Steam game, on the other hand, kind of is.
As players know, the Grounded franchise (developed by Fallout: New Vegas, Avowed studio Obsidian Entertainment) shrinks kids down to survive in a massive sandbox, but players are still humans. They have just been shrunken down to bug size, and while a survival game based on bugs growing to human size could certainly be an interesting angle, this new survival game on Steam flips the script by making players simply be bugs in the backyard, as opposed to humans.
The Undergrowth is a Survival MMO About A Bug’s Life
Check Out The Undergrowth on Steam
In the new survival game, The Undergrowth, players become the bugs with some unique and added features thrown into the mix. Players start life as juvenile bugs and must slowly become the Apex Predator (as far as bugs go), where they must manage their vulnerabilities and survival features: hunt, scavenge, take shelter, manage hunger and thirst, and overall survive long enough to make it to the next stage of life. That way, there’s more of a progression system compared to the bugs of Grounded 2 and more unique goals tied to every bug’s stages of life.
Scratch & Peek
Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as
possible.
As Juveniles, for example, stealth is required to survive from those who would kill such a little defenseless bug. The Undergrowth players can then become Adolescents who are capable of competing with other bugs for food and territory, throwing some combat into the mix. As they mature into Adults, they have to manage stats like strength, speed, and intelligence to prove they run things. The world has a more expansive scope than Grounded 2, as it promises dense forests, underground tunnels, wetlands, cliffs, rivers, and hidden nests, and that’s partially because of the MMO-like elements of this survival game.
The Undergrowth has a heavy PvP focus, which is another Uno reverse card for the game. Grounded 2‘s co-op is to help each other; The Undergrowth‘s multiplayer can create competition. Players can enjoy PvE and PvP combat over territory, food sources, nests, and other important resources, ensuring that the survival aspect carries an appropriate amount of in-game tension. The results of The Undergrowth‘s multiplayer include, but are not limited to, overhunting harming prey populations in key territories, territorial creatures (including other players) attacking and taking regions from the player, and shifting migration and nesting patterns based on how players approach wildlife.
The Undergrowth also lets players customize their creatures with different colors, markings, patterns, and other visual traits, to make sure death befits a survival game. Between player-controlled bugs, cooperation is never guaranteed (but can save lives). In that sense, the game takes the survival formula behind Grounded 2 and flips its perspective completely: instead of surviving the backyard full of bugs, it’s every bug for themselves in The Undergrowth.
