The Best Xbox Game Every Year 2001 - 2024

Grounded was exciting right from the off. Developed by reliable RPG hands Obsidian Entertainment, the game entered early access in 2020 with a campaign that was about 20% complete. In the two years between this and the full release, the company were praised for using feedback from their audience to shape the game which, at one stage whilst still in early access, got to a whopping player base of 5 million.

The result of this was the best Xbox game in 2022 - a "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" inspired adventure where players are reduced to the size of an ant, dropped in a backyard which now feels like a jungle, and tasked with protecting themselves from terrifying insects, crafting themselves into a formidable survivalist and trying to escape.

Aside from its brilliantly realised setting, this was what made Grounded great: it was a rare survival game that had an end goal. Rather than just crafting more and more until you were unstoppable, players knew that their ultimate destination was to finish the story and leave the backyard for good. This really helped drive both solo players and groups forward rather than drop off early, all assisted by an addictive gameplay loop which was expertly paced, with meaty quests and satisfying character growth.

In a genre swimming with some pretty half-assed attempts to cash in on the survival craze, Grounded proved that good things can come in small packages.