History VideoGame / Grounded

* AbandonedLaboratory: The Various Labs scattered across the map feature angry robots and destroyed science equipment. [[spoiler: Though the Undershed lab may not be so abandoned as one might assume..]]

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: There are the standard violations of the SquareCubeLaw usually found in MouseWorld settings, but in particular the concept of chopping grass with an axe. Even if we assume the shrunken humans could still put enough force behind their chop, grass and weed stems are simply too flexible to be chopped in the same way that a tree trunk is chopped. A slicing implement like a knife would be far more useful. Of note, the koi pond update added a slicing tool in the form of the dagger... that also is animated with ''chopping'' motions.

* AbandonedLaboratory: The Oak Tree Lab features angry robots and destroyed science equipment.
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: The "Mithridatism" mutation gained by killing wolf spiders reduces the damage spider venom does to you.

** [[AnAxeToGrind Axes]] are required for chopping down grass, but can be thrown as a last ditch effort.

** Exploring the Haze Lab reveals that[[spoiler:Dr. Tully had the area drenched in the weed killer due to an experiment with raw science and ''Cordyceps'' that [[GoneHorriblyWrong went very wrong]] and the resulting mutation broke out, forcing Dr. Tully to [[GodzillaThreshold break a hole in the weed killer tank]] to contain the fungus]]

** [[BittersweetEnding Ending 1: Grew Big and Went Home.]] [[spoiler: If you complete the main story without curing Dr. Tully of his Raisining, the Teens and Tully in his support pod Embiggen themselves using the SPAC.R. Without any proof of Ominent's action, the Teen’s claims that the company kidnapped them and were responsible for their disappearance go unheard, allowing Ominent's O.R.C project to be shown to the military, which drives up their stock prices. The Teens become friends, and Tully is reunited with his family, albeit while still Raisined in his pod, leaving him stuck as a shriveled head his children are terrified of for the remainder of his life... however long that be.]]
** [[GoldenEnding Ending 2: Ominent Shmominent.]] [[spoiler: If you find Director Shmecktor’s hidden outpost, defeat his armored security drone, then find the cure for Dr Tully’s Raisining, The Teens and a restored Dr Tully then Embiggen themselves in the SPAC.R. Armed with files upon files of hidden plans, Ominent’s involvement with the town’s recent teen disappearances is discovered, resulting in their stocks tanking, and Shmecktor being arrested. Dr. Tully is finally credited for his achievements, the Teens become lifelong friends and join the Robotics club (and they even made Burg.l the mascot!), and while Dr Tully still hasn’t found his newest breakthrough, he’s perfectly fine with that, so long as he has his (now happily reunited) family.]]

* AppliedPhlebotinum: Raw Science, a physical manifestation of scientific research, is awarded for analyzing crafting materials and finding rare pickups in the overworld, and is currently used as currency to trade with BURG.L for crafting recipes, mutations and upgrades to your equipment.

* BodyHorror: In the Haze section of the yard, you can find and fight insects that are infected with some sort of [[FesteringFungus parasitic fungus]], likely based on
[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps ''Cordyceps'']]. These insects have MindControlEyes and their bodies are grotesquely covered in fungal growths. It's unclear whether the Haze (which is actually pesticide being sprayed from a bug bomb in the yard) is supposed to be killing the plagued insects... or if it's somehow ''causing'' the spread of infection.

** [[BittersweetEnding Ending 1: Grew Big and Went Home.]] [[spoiler: If you complete the main story without curing Dr Tully, the Teens and Tully in his support pod embiggen themselves using the SPAC.R. Without any proof, The Teen’s claims that ominent kidnapped them and were responsible for their dissapearence go unheard, allowing their O.R.C project to be shown to the military, which drives up their stock prices…The teens become friends, and Tully is reunited with his family…while raisined in his pod, stuck as a shriveled head his children are terrified of, for the remainder of his life..however long that be.]]
** [[GoldenEnding Ending 2: Ominent Shmominent.]] [[spoiler: If you find Director Shmecktor’s hidden outpost, defeat his armored security drone, then found the cure for Dr Tully’s Raisining, The Teens and a Restored Dr Tully Embiggen themselves in the SPAC.R. Armed with files upon files of hidden plans, Ominent’s involvement with The town’s recent disappearing teens is discovered, resulting in their stocks tanking, and shmecktor being arrested. Dr Tully is credited with his actual achievements,The Teens become life long friends and join the robotics club (and they even made Burg.l the mascot!) and Dr Tully still hasn’t found his newest breakthrough..which he’s perfectly fine with, so long as he has his (now happily reunited) family.]]

* AdjustableCensorship: Hate spiders? The developers were nice enough to put in an Arachnaphobe Safe Mode setting as a slider to make the spiders less like spiders. At its maximum setting, the spiders appear as grey orbs. They'll still try to eat your face.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: There are the standard violations of the SquareCubeLaw usually found in MouseWorld settings, but in particular the concept of chopping grass with an axe. Even if we assume the shrunken humans could still put enough force behind their chop, grass and weed stems are simply too flexible to be chopped in the same way that a tree trunk is chopped. A slicing implement like a knife would be far more useful. Of note, the koi pond update added a slicing tool in the form of the dagger... but it's also animated as ''chopping''.

* BodyHorror: In the Haze section of the yard, you can find and fight insects that are infected with some sort of [[FesteringFungus parasitic fungus]], likely based on cordyceps. These insects have MindControlEyes and their bodies are grotesquely covered in fungal growths. It's unclear whether the Haze (which is actually pesticide being sprayed from a bug bomb in the yard) is supposed to be killing the plagued insects... or if it's somehow causing them.
** Exploring the Haze Lab reveals [[spoiler:that Dr. Tully had the area drenched in the weed killer due to an experiment with raw science and cordyceps that [[GoneHorriblyWrong went very wrong]] and broke out, forcing Dr. Tully to [[GodzillaThreshold break a hole in the weed killer tank]] to allow the weed killer to contain the fungus]]
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Infected ladybugs and weevils. The regular ones are passive bugs who won't hurt you unless you attack them first (weevils won't hurt you at all, running away if you strike them). Infected ones have the same [[MindControlEyes purple, swirly eyes]] as all other infected creatures, and also like them will attack on sight.

** One section of the backyard (Known as [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace The Haze]]) is covered in yellow-tinged weed killer, which will sap your life unless you craft and equip a gas mask. [[spoiler: You can get rid of the haze by plugging the hole at the top of the container with gum.]]

* DeathWorld: You're the size of an ant and have no natural protection from the many nasty critters out for your blood. An ordinary backyard becomes a hostile, predator-filled landscape.

* FesteringFungus: Bugs in the Haze are infected by a mutated strain of parasitic fungus that heavily resembles (or maybe even ''is'') cordyceps. [[spoiler:The Haze's infection is contained by Dr. Tully's experimental weed killer, but turning it off would let the fungal infestation spread all over the yard.]]

* InUniverseGameClock: There is a day/night cycle, and players can build shelters/beds to sleep through the night, but you can only sleep if your tired, and if you attempt to sleep at a time where you’ll wake up between 11pm and 5am (ie: while it’s still dark out) the game will warn you of the fact.

* {{Planimal}}: Muscle sprouts, one of the inventions of Dr. Tully, is a brussel sprout crossbred with meat fibers. Apparently it tastes like beef liver and goes great with onions. It’s used to make stronger potions, or as food in an emergency.

* RobotBuddy: B.U.R.G.L, a repurposed burger-flipping robot, is found by the players, and in the demo he vows to help the players return to normal.
* SanitySlippage: Between his family leaving him, losing his job and multiple failed experiments at both normal and shrunken size, Dr. Wendell Tully's audio logs suggest he's been going through quite a lot of this.

** Wolf spider bites poison the player, which is one of the most deadly things about them, since poison damage ignores defense. After killing one, the player can poison their arrows, allowing them to poison foes... [[HoistByHisOwnPetard including wolf spiders]]. Killing five wolf spiders unlocks the Mithridatism mutation, which grants poison immunity (and makes the Broodmother fight much easier).
* SurpriseCreepy: The game is a bright, colorful MouseWorld survival game with absolutely no bloody violence. [[spoiler:Then you find the camp of another survivor who died long enough ago that nothing is left but his skeleton, along with a dozen or so ant heads mounted on toothpicks and a macabre effigy crafted from ant torsos and the bones of another human being.]]
* UndergroundMonkey: As of the Hot and Hazy update, there are two varieties of ant, red and black. The latter are exclusive to the westernmost parts of the map, and have more health and deal more damage than their red counterparts.

* TheWorfEffect: In the Broodmother's lair, as players progress through to the boss room, they'll encounter numerous corpses of the various insects that have been kicking their asses all game, trussed up in the web walls; the Broodmother is so big and tough that she preys on things that can tear a player to shreds.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Granola Bars refill your hunger ''and'' heal a substantial amount of health instantly. However, they are found in ''very'' finite supply throughout the yard, mostly in the lab dungeons, so they usually go uneaten in favor of other food items.

* MagicAmpersand: A game of "Minotaurs & Myrmidons" is set up on the picnic table. A sourcebook serves as a ramp to reach the top of the table, and the game board has a maze that the player must navigate to find the Minotaur Key.

* SanitySlippage: Between implied divorce, losing his job and multiple failed experiments at both normal and shrunken size, Dr. Wendell Tully's audio logs suggest he's been going through quite a lot of this.

* ShrinkRay: The actual shrinking device itself isn't too far from the player's starting point in the Demo version. Getting it to actually, legitimately ''function'' long enough to re-size the players, however, is an ''entirely'' different kettle of fish, and much harder to boot.

However, as the players explore the backyard, they soon discover that they may not be the first ones reduced in size...

* ArtificialBrilliance: While their pathfinding leaves a little to be desired overall, if a harmless non-flying insect cannot reach you, it will attempt to run away from you if you try and shoot it with arrows from a distance. If a ''hostile'' non-flying insect cannot reach you, and they have enough room to do so, they will attempt to jump to your position, preventing easy kills with the bow and arrow

''Grounded'' is a survival game developed by {{Creator/Obsidian Entertainment}} for PC and Xbox One, released in Early Access on June 28, 2020.

* MainliningTheMonster: Many crafting and construction recipes utilize insect parts for their MundaneUtility. For instance, bombardier beetle legs are sturdy and have conveniently-sized segments, and are often used to provide structural integrity. Gnat, mite, and bee fuzz can be used as stuffing for plush toys.

* BodyHorror: In the Haze section of the yard, you can find and fight insects that are infected with some sort of parasitic fungus, likely based on cordyceps. These insects have MindControlEyes and their bodies are grotesquely covered in fungal growths. It's unclear whether the Haze (which is actually pesticide being sprayed from a bug bomb in the yard) is supposed to be killing the plagued insects... or if it's somehow causing them.
** Exploring the Haze Lab reveals [[spoiler: that Dr Tully had the area drenched in the weed killer due to an experiment with raw science and cordyceps that [[GoneHorriblyWrong went very wrong]] and broke out, forcing Dr Tully to [[GodzillaThreshold break a hole in the weed killer tank]] to allow the weed killer to contain the fungus]]

* GottaCatchEmAll: Collecting all the scattered B.U.R.G.L. chips is the primary reason to exlore the yard. Each one restores crafting and building recipes to his memory, which he will then sell you.

* ArtificialBrilliance: While their pathfinding leaves a little to be desired overall, if a harmless non-flying insect cannot reach you, it will attempt to run away from you if you try to shoot it from arrows from a distance. If a ''hostile'' non-flying insect cannot reach you, and they have enough room to do so, they will attempt to jump to your position, preventing easy kills with the bow and arrow

* ArtificialBrilliance: While their pathfinding leaves a little to be desired overall, if a hostile non-flying insect cannot reach you, it will attempt to run away from you if you try to shoot it from arrows from a distance. If a ''hostile'' non-flying insect cannot reach you, and they have enough room to do so, they will attempt to jump to your position, preventing easy kills with the bow and arrow

* InUniverseGameClock: There is a day/night cycle, and players can build shelters/beds to sleep through the night, but sleeping is only permitted between 20:00 and 6:00.

** One section of the backyard (Known as [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace The Haze]]) is covered in yellow-tinged weed killer, which will sap your life unless you craft and equip a gas mask.

* ArtificialBrilliance: While their pathfinding leaves a little to be desired overall, if a hostile non-flying insect cannot reach you, it will attempt to run away from you if you try to shoot it from arrows from a distance.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: The "Mithridatism" mutation gained by battling spiders prevents spider venom from affecting you.

** Ally's last name is Hoops, a play on the phrase "allie-oop". [[{{Tomboy}} She's also the sporty one.]]