When starting up a new session ofGrounded, the game asks players to choose a few settings. Most of them are self-evident, such as selecting a difficutly level, or asking whether they wantto useGrounded’s arachnophobia mode. But there’s one choice that, at a glance, isn’t so clear-cut.
Groundedis an interactive send-up to the classic 90s Disney filmHoney, I Shrunk The Kids. As such, it features a playable cast of four insect-sized teens with colorful and period-appropriate designs: Max, Willow, Pete, and Hoops.
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Before starting, the game asks which character the player would like to use. What it doesn’t explain, however, is what the differences between them are. Are some characters more useful than others? This guide will reveal all.
Character Choice in Grounded
Players don’t have to agonize too hard over this decision. All the teens play the same, andnone of them have different stats or behaviors. Rather,Groundedrelies on armor and equipmentto differentiate player abilities, and those can be found and equipped by all characters with no inherent restrictions.
The choice is instead mostly cosmetic: what the player’s character looks like and what their voice sounds like. In single-player, this doesn’t amount to much,but inGrounded’s multiplayer, it’s a slightly more meaningful change.
When going through the yard with a co-op partner, the game won’t allow both players to choose the same teen. This isn’t just a gameplay feature; it’s meant to keep players easily distinguishable. When playing with friends, the characters will sometimes talk with each other, with different combinations leading to different lines. It won’t change the trajectory of the story, but a group’s character choices will shed more light on each teen’s personality and their group dynamics.
It’s not surprising that this is the full extent of the teens' character differences. Most survival titles don’t offer character choice at all, and keeping everyone even is a good way to keep the co-op well-balanced. But it’s still nice to see the little differences that are there. It both gives the game a bit more charm and shows that Obsidian is willing to bring its RPG character writing chops to other genres.
Groundedis available now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Grounded is also available on Microsoft’s subscription services, Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
