It will be releasing its 1.0 iteration in September, but there is plenty to play and discover before then. Grounded has been in early access for two years, keeping players involved with the updates and improvements along the way.

So much so that Grounded comes with an arachnophobia setting to make the spiders less horrific. Let’s face it, spiders are already terrifying enough, but even more so when you are about the size of a flea. Unfortunately, being tiny also puts you in a decidedly different position on the food chain. You will be hunting down littered juice boxes to unlock perks, and collecting sap to put together questionable armor. We’ve all punched a tree in a game to get wood, but have we punched a blade of grass taller than our house? Being tiny makes the banal backyard a wonderland of exploration. Grounded is a fresh take on the survival genre. This survival game has you shrunk to the size of insects and repeating the familiar gameplay loop of ‘explore, build, survive’, in what is now your deadly back garden. Obsidian Entertainment are proving to be one of the best acquisitions Xbox Gaming Studios made, having already delivered the hit Outer Worlds - this smaller title combines the ridiculous of Honey I Shrunk the Kids and the whimsy of The Borrowers. You'll find yourself wishing the checkpoints were a little more forgiving, but trust us - the story and the atmosphere of this game are worth it. The sequel has a lot more storytelling and dialogue with side characters than the former game, and this raises the stakes and feeling of urgency to the task at hand. The magical forest land of Niwen has succumbed to decay and rot which also affects the inhabitants, as Ori is a spirit he alone is the only one who can return the forest to its former glory. You'll need to solve puzzles, complete some challenging platforming areas and fight both new and returning bosses from the franchise. You play as a spirit, Ori - on a mission to save your owlet buddy, Ku. It builds on everything great about the Blind Forest and adds new mechanics without losing the magic formula that makes the Ori games so spellbinding. A direct sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest, it is grander in scope than its predecessor and brings more combat-focused gameplay to its 2D world. Ori and the Will of the Wisps is without a doubt a must-play if you want to see the best of Xbox Game Studios.

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