Grounded Update To Add Koi Pond, Terrifying Swimming Spiders

Developer Obsidian's sandbox survival game, Grounded, is still in early access, but it's continuing to build the world with new environments and features. With the next update, that world will include underwater exploration, with the new addition of a backyard koi pond.

The koi pond update adds an area teeming with new wildlife, including non-hostile creatures like the tadpole, water boatman, and water flea. All of those help build out the biodiversity of the new area, but lest you get too comfortable in the water, the update also adds a new breed of spider. A spider that swims. And not only does the diving bell spider swim, it will follow you underwater. Also, the new koi fish can just swallow you whole. Pleasant dreams!

The update adds a few new crafting recipes to help you deal with the underwater world, like flippers, a diving mask, and koi scale armor. The studio noted that bigger weapons aren't as effective underwater, so you'll probably have to rely more on smaller ones like daggers.

As you get more comfortable in the water, you can also make use of new base-building tools. A floating foundation will let you build your base right atop the water, and you can build buoys to scatter around the pond. This update also opens the third secret lab.

The koi pond update is coming in November, but you can try a public test build on PC and Xbox One. In the future, Obsidian plans to build in another tier of base-building, flying creatures, and pets. It's all centered around building toward the first act of the story. For more details, check out our interview with Grounded creative director Adam Brennecke.