Grounded Shroom And Doom Update Is Now Live, Adds A New Boss Battle, Pets, And More

Obsidian's Honey, I Shrunk The Kids simulator Grounded just received its biggest patch yet with the Shroom and Doom update, which includes new building items, the addition of pets, a completely reworked Broodmother boss battle, achievements, and more. Also, the ability to sit, which Obsidian swears has been a frequent request from the game's community.

As first revealed during the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase as part of E3 2021, there looks to be plenty for players to sink their teeth into with the Shroom and Doom update. For starters, players will be able to harvest mushrooms in the environment, and using new items like the grinder and oven, turn them into various new building materials, such as mushroom bricks. New building items like curved doors, pillars, spiral staircases, and more give players even more options when it comes to crafting fortifications.

But that's just the "shroom" part of the update. The "doom" comes in the form of a completely reworked boss battle against a gigantic spider, the Broodmother. As Obsidian explains in a new blog post about the update, the Broodmother was previously in the game when it launched into Game Preview, but was eventually removed because it didn't meet the team's expectations on what a boss battle should be. Now, the Broodmother is back in a multi-phased fight, with Obsidian saying she is by far the most challenging creature in the backyard. Defeating the Broodmother will score players the ability to craft a special new item.

The update also includes some fan-requested new features, like the addition of pets. Players will now be able to tame aphids or weevils as pets and then name them appropriately. Other heavily requested features now in the game is the ability for players to sit--"no really, people really have wanted to be able to sit," Obsidian says--as well as the addition of achievements.

Obsidian says the team is still looking for community feedback on Grounded as they continue to build out the game on the way to a 1.0 release. Grounded is available as part of the Xbox Game Preview Program on consoles, and is also available on Game Pass and on PC.