In between picking up every single plant fiber and sprig you can get your hands on and avoiding the terrifying spiders, you’ll be able to build a nice shelter to hide in. There’s a smaller shelter you can unlock before that, though, as well as leaving a breadcrumb trail of sorts to follow should you get a bit lost. There’s a Lean-To recipe you’ll learn early on that you can sleep in and set as a respawn point for when you inevitably die, as well as a Trail Marker you can place to easily find your way home, the analyzer and whatever else you find that’s useful. Once you’ve crafted an axe and hammer, you’ll be able to gather the likes of Grass Planks and Weed Stems which you can use to build walls, floors and doors. Utilities like storage, water-storing facilities and roasting pits will also become available, so let’s take a look at getting started with base building. If you’re still on the fence about whether to download Grounded or not, you can read Kirk’s preview here.
Grounded: Base Building tips
When building a base, there are a few things to consider before laying down some roots:
Proximity to an analyzer How far away you are from spider dens Resource availability
Once you’ve chosen a suitable location - I opted to build my base close to the mysterious machine - you can begin by crafting a Lean-To, which will act as a safe sleeping spot and a respawn location. When you first begin, it’s a good idea to pick up everything you can and analyze sprigs, plant fiber and pebblets to unlock basic tools. Eventually, you’ll unlock the Trail Marker, which you can use to identify the analyser, your sleeping spot and any other key areas you discover, like a good source of sap or water. You can set the icon to look like a wee house, so it’s best to choose that one for your main base and Lean-To locations, using separate colours to identify each.
Once you’ve crafted an axe and a hammer, you’ll have the two key tools you’ll need for base building. You can check out how to craft chopping tool and Tier 2 axe in our guide here. The other important resources are Woven Fiber and sap, which you should analyze. Analyzing the sap unlocks the Workbench, which is extremely useful for creating complex objects. If you press Tab and open up the menu, you’ll see a section for utilities and base building. You’ll need both to create a sustainable living environment for your character. You’ll also need access to food and water, and some utilities allow you to gather dew drops, store water and items and roast some food, like Gnats. There’s also a mushroom garden utility where you can grow your own crops.
The wall placement tool is incredibly janky at the moment, so don’t expect the walls to neatly line up like they would in The Sims. Still, with a bit of fiddling around, you’ll be able to build a nice shelter. You can place walls and flooring on the ground, but you won’t be able to construct them until you have the right resources. Until they are complete, they’ll glow blue, so walk up to them with the likes of Grass Planks and interact with them to finish construction.
Grounded: How to build floors
Once you complete the main story you’ll meet BURG.L the robot, who’ll sell you more base building items, such as stairs and floors. You’ll need to earn Raw Science Points to unlock these extra bits, which you can do by popping the floating pink bubbles around the lab and completing quests for BURG.L. You’ll be able to find a chip in the room he’s in, so look out for it and give it to him when you find it to unlock the extra choices.
Grounded: All the resources you’ll need for base building
We’ll be updating this list as we go, but here are all the base building elements we think you’ll need so far:
Grounded is out now on Xbox Game Pass and Steam.
