Watching the announcement trailer for Obsidian Entertainment's next game, Grounded, the first though that popped into my head was - "Damn, after all these years Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is getting the videogame it deserves". This departure for the studio is essentially a Szalinski and Thompson kid simulator if instead of trying to go home, they ended up building a miniature life and future for themselves.

Check it out.

Grounded provides a mix of environmental and narrative driven story telling. Set in a versatile, handcrafted sandbox structure it allows players to create their own experience from the ground up. Tasks that may seem approachable when human-sized become a challenge in this dangerous backyard landscape. This familiar yet fantastical world can be navigated solo or in four-person co-operative multiplayer, where players work together to complete missions or explore the intricately detailed world.

A clear departure from the RPGs that Obsidian is known for - including the excellent and still very fresh in our minds The Outer Worlds - Grounded looks to be an interesting take on the survival game genre. A genre which we're not exactly huge fans of, but the premise of this one looks like it could be a lot of fun. According to the information provided Grounded is being put together by a small team at Obsidian - so it shouldn't be considered the next and only game in development at the studio. Also, development began before Microsoft's acquisition last year.

And to quash the knee-jerk reactionary types out there, Microsoft notes, "RPGs like The Outer Worlds will always be in Obsidian’s DNA, but from time to time we want to stretch our creative muscles and try things that might be a little different."

Obsidian and Microsoft plan to launch Grounded in Early Access (ie. Xbox Game Preview) form in the first half of 2020 - with the development team planning to work alongside the community to shape and fine-tune its design ala Ark: Survival Evolved and Conan Exiles. No doubt the survival game genre is a somewhat crowded one, but adding a dose of Honey has us pretty excited to check this out.