Ever since Smalland was first released on PC, the game has garnered a lot of fame. Players have even begun comparing the game to Grounded — for obvious reasons. After all, both games have a lot in common. But do they have enough unique touch to the game to make each worthy of its name? Let’s find out.
Similarities between Smalland and Grounded
Both Smalland and Grounded have a similar concept. Your character is the size of an average insect and now has to team up with other players to survive the vast wilderness. Even in terms of graphics and environment, there are a lot of similarities. You have to survive in a larger-than-life-like environment, and you will have to defend yourself and your friends against colossal insects. You can also use your wits and crafts to survive against all odds. Even the crafting and the base building between the two games are quite similar.
You will need to build a strong base with walls and roofs to protect yourself against insect attacks. Both games allow you to play with your friends to work together and defeat your foes. But what if you are not much of a team player? What if you want to play as a solo king of the wild? Well, you can play solo as well in both games. If you look at it from the outside as a concept, both games will feel extremely similar, but dig a little deeper, and you will start to notice some big differences.
What’s unique in Grounded
Grounded follows the story of children who shrunk accidentally while messing with a gadget made by a certain scientist. Now, the game requires you to survive in your new life and environment as a tiny human creature and find more information about this scientific gadget to return to your normal life. The tone of the environment and characters follows a sci-fi tone as opposed to the fantasy theme of Smalland.
If you are a fan of Hollywood movies, then chances are you have seen the classic Honey, I Shrunk The Kids from 1989. If you have, then this game will feel quite familiar. The rules of the game and the mechanics are quite simple and don’t follow any weather effects that Smalland has. The game was first released in 2020 as early access, and now it’s available on many platforms, including PC, Xbox One Series, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X.
What’s unique in Smalland
While Smalland has a lot of similarities with Grounded, it has its own unique touch to the story, theme, and gameplay mechanics, to make it a worthy game of its own. Unlike Grounded, you can tame the insets to add it to your advantage. You can use mounts on them to ride the insect or animal, or just have it around as a pet. Now, that’s something that’s not possible on Grounded.
In the game, the story follows a tiny elf-like creature whose job is to gather resources that will allow him to make a cure for his queen, and you are in control of that character. The game has a fantasy story instead of Grounded’s sci-fi and realistic tone. Also, temperate and the day/night cycle plays a big role in the game. It will put a strain on your survivability because during nighttime, the average temperature will drop significantly, and you will be forced to find immediate shelter.
You will have to try and stay warm. You can craft a campfire for that. Not to mention, storms can also take place. So, whatever shelter you find, it will have to be strong to ensure it can withstand the storm. When it comes to availability, it is currently only playable as an early-access game on PC. It hasn’t been released on any other platform as of yet.
Smalland vs Grounded: Content
Since Grounded has been released for a while, the game has a lot of content and player count. It has gotten a lot of content in the game in the form of updates, and the game is still receiving regular updates. Smalland, on the other hand, is a new game that was recently launched as early access. Even for an early-access game, the game has a boatload of content, which can be further increased via future content drops.
It may not have as much content as Grounded, but it’s still a lot more than what Grounded had when it was at early access. Also, speaking of future content drops, the company already has a roadmap on what players can expect from future content drops. Check out the roadmap here.
Which one should you pick?
Picking one over the other is certainly a tough call in this case. On the one hand, we have Grounded, an established game in its genre with great mechanics, story, content, and player base. On the other, we have Smallands, which brings new gameplay mechanics, a new weather system, better survival mechanics, and a brand-new story. Both these games are quite good and worthy of their own, but if we had to pick one, we would choose Smalland. It is much more challenging and fun, and the new insect mounting system is indeed quite genius. So, that’s our pick.
