20 fps with basically no settings to change. Running on i7 12700k/3070ti lol. Refunded.

there are definitely bugs in this game...

I have an rtx-4080 with 64GB ram running at 5120x1440 and the game runs less than 50 fps with default settings. I know it just came out and if this gets addressed I'll gladly pick this game up again. But it's unplayable right now.

**EDIT: game is now marked as EA, we did it everyone 🥳 🎊 To those who didn't play the first game this IS early access. It's not currently marked as such on the steam page, so just be aware. That said, this is everything I wanted from a sequel to the first already. Can't wait to see future updates EDIT2: locking comments because 80% of you lack reading comprehension TLDR if you love the first game, get this one

This game needs an optimization patch for both lower and high end PCs. Even high-end PCs are bugging out like a cockroach in a microwave. But hey, it’s basically the older game with extra polish, more content, and fewer bugs (well, fewer game bugs... the yard is still a bug apocalypse). Ignore the flood of salty reviews whining about performance issues like they expected a flawless AAA launch in 2025. Bless their innocent little hearts. If you liked the original and have a decent GPU (and patience), Grounded is still your tiny, chaotic backyard paradise! Edit: Appreciate the replies, even the heated ones. Had to remove some of the negativity. Just to clarify, yes, I upvoted this game because I like it. That doesn’t mean I’m blind to the issues. The performance needs work, and $40 is a big ask for something this unoptimized right now. But I’ve played enough to see the heart of the game is still there. If you're new, or contemplating as a recent player to Grounded, just know what you're walking into: it's Early Access, it's rough in spots, but it’s also got a lot of potential if you’re willing to roll with it. Hang in there kids, this game’s got bugs (literally and figuratively), but be patient with enough updates, it just might turn into the backyard adventure we all hoped for. s(^.-)d

It’s not acceptable for game studios with this amount of money, time, and foundation for a sequel to skip developers finding and testing bugs and fixes to instead sell the game as early access to get funding fast and have their customers find their bugs for them. Tonight I had invisible water droplets, floating spears, keys not working but only in menus, bugged enemies (no pun intended) disappearing mounts, and more. Early access should be for the companies that can’t afford otherwise. This stuido is not that case. Fix your own game.

1. Horrific performance.

CPU: 14900KF, GPU: 4080 Super, RAM: 128 GB 7600 MT/s Summary: 3800$ PC (price at time of purchase) Lowest possible graphics, 1920x1080 resolution, 30% Resolution scale - 60 FPS but CPU and GPU under 100% load. High graphics, 60% Resolution scale - 40-50 FPS

2. And yes — before the “early access” defense squad rushes in:

I’m fully aware this is an early access title. Thank you, digital evangelists, for the reminder. But here’s the reality: when you buy into early access at full price, skip the refund, and leave cheerful comments about how the game is “promising,” you’re not just being patient — you’re setting a precedent. You’re telling developers and publishers, in no uncertain terms:

“It’s perfectly acceptable to sell a broken, unfinished product at premium cost.”

And guess what? They’re listening. Why spend time and money on optimization, stability, or polish when a paying audience is willing to act as unpaid QA? This isn’t just a rough launch — it’s the logical result of a market that no longer demands finished products. So go ahead — preorder the DLC. Buy the merch. Tell your friends it's “one patch away” from greatness. Maybe, if you're lucky, you'll get the finished version in 2030… as a Definitive Edition for another $30. Let’s be brutally honest: you’re not just playing a game — you’re casting a vote with your wallet. And every time you reward mediocrity, justify broken releases, and refuse to hold anyone accountable, you send the message loud and clear:

“I’m okay with this. Please do it again.”

UPD: I played for half an hour - overall, the game is going well, I didn't notice any bugs or "instabilities". I would say that in terms of gameplay I like it more than the first part of Grounded. But the optimization is just diabolical, it absolutely kills the entire game.

The game lives up to a true sequel, it looks absolutely breath taking, and the engine is deff pulling its weight as well as the devs who have done an absolutely amazing job with both the models, shading and the material textures of models however with all early access releases, and especially those under the name of unreal engine, its performance is on the lower end which makes it even more so surprising when they are still sticking to the inferior pre-set graphic settings instead of letting us adjust things we don't want to be as high, and some we would like to keep the focus on like textures and such im even more so surprised that the game doesn't have frame generation or DLSS/FSR due to it being unreal engine HOWEVER, the game does have some issues that i quite don't like, that primarily being the inability to turn off aim assist.. when ever you "scope" in with a bow, and look at an enemy.. its most noticeable at the start by scoping in on a snail, the aggressive aim assist tries to keep the crosshair on the middle point of the bug.. i don't need that, i play with a mouse and keyboard, i know how to aim, so i should very well be able to turn this aim assist off so i can actually take advantage of the more improved weakness system

horrible performance you need a 5080 for 60fps on 100% resolution scale there are no graphics settings only presets multiplayer is not working it is an early access game but not marked as on steam

Needs MORE optimization, but very fun so far, also why dose hoops look like a neanderthal?

Let me start by saying I’ve played Grounded for over 1,000 hours and I understand the game is in early access. That’s not a typo. That’s a lifestyle choice. So when Grounded 2 dropped, I put on my tiny armor, grabbed my axe, and dove in like a gnat into a lamp. Pros: • Buggys are hands down the most chaotic and fun addition. You haven’t lived until you’ve launched a leaf-powered death cart off a root ramp and landed in a puddle. I’m not saying I tried to Tokyo Drift under a juice box, but I definitely did... • The new rolling mechanic is pure joy. I can now roll through fights like I’m starring in a backyard (park) remake of The Matrix. Nothing quite matches the satisfaction of perfectly dodging a Scorpion charge and retaliating with a spicy staff spell cast. I don't just fight bugs—I style on them. • Base building is a full-time job—and I love it. There are dozens of hours to be had just designing, expanding, and decorating your park empire. • The world is dense, imaginative, and full of secrets. Exploring never gets old. One moment I’m on a peaceful stroll gathering clay, the next I’m being attacked by the worse bug in Grounded - the mosquito. Classic Grounded. Cons: • They removed some bugs... and I’m sad about it. • The frame drops are so frequent I started to wonder if the game is simulating heatstroke. Combine that with the random crashes, and it’s less “smooth experience” and more “accidental speedrun to desktop.” Entering my own base now feels like playing Russian roulette with my GPU / CPU. “Augusta Unreal Engine crash” • I get it—it’s early access. But crashing during autosaves, losing progress in co-op, and rubber-banding across the park like a possessed flea? That’s not “early.” That’s “should probably still be in the garage.” • Mosquito's are back. • And here’s the thing: Microsoft doesn’t need the money. This game, in its current buggy (pun intended) state, should have been $19.99. Charging premium for a game that runs like a tiny potato strapped to a rubber band launcher is just not it. Especially when players are functioning as unpaid QA testers. Final Verdict: Grounded 2 is good — packed with charm, creativity, and chaos. Whether you're rolling through combat like a ninja seedling or building the bug-proof base of your dreams, there’s a ridiculous amount of fun to be had here. But for a game this fun, the technical issues sting. Hard. It's borderline unacceptable for a major studio, even in early access. If you can handle some crashes, minor loss in progress, and frame drops that’ll turn your beast of a PC into a Chromebook trying to run Cyberpunk, it's still worth diving into. 7.1/10 — Would absolutely ride my buggy off a leaf cliff and roll into a juice box again. Just please... fix the crashes before I start building trauma shelters in real life.

I can't even run the game on my computer, I have all the minimum requirments for this game. I can run the first grounded, but not the second. In my opinion if I can run the first game my 8gb ram. Then why can't you let me run the second game on a 8gb ram? That doesn't make any sense, I am making a refund for right until then. I hope they fix the whole minimum ram option. 16gb ram for both recommended and minimum just makes no sense.

For people who loved the first.......it's a love letter to it. It made almost EVERYTHING better than the first installment only things i would definately do better/different are as followed: Of course the performance need to be made better. For what it is, it runs great no question asked it could be way worse but there are some performance tweaks that need to be adressed. The omni-tool........i've got mixed feelings about it, the no durability thing is great i love it please keep that in but for the love of god don't make me hold E or any other button to mine/chop things with it. Let me equip it as a singular item and let me hold it in my hand as a normal tool. yes i know you propably did that because you removed durability and didn't know what to do about it in terms of using it in combat but just make it have 0 damage or basically unuseable in combat and we're fine. Basically you could also tweak some other things but i'm not even gonna name them cause that is JUST me things and i love the game as is. Just....please the omni tool man it's not fun this way Edit: Just for clarification, i NEVER EVER stated that i HATED the Omni-Tool i just don't like holding E for mining/chopping as stated above if you could just read properly i would not have to edit my Review but i guess some people never learn. Edit 2: "Let me equip it as a singular item and let me hold it in my hand as a normal tool." again if you can't read please don't even comment on my review

Came out 5 fucking minutes late

Initial review of the game https://imgur.com/a/32R4ulP With over 200 hours logged in the first Grounded and having 100% completed it before Ant queens were a thing, my expectations for the sequel were high. So after more than 20 hours and "beating" the current content, the release of Grounded 2 arrives with a central question echoing through its early access state: "Why now?" The sequel feels less like a new adventure and more like a significant regression, and it's clear that the game should have waited until next summer to deliver a more complete experience that justifies its price tag and honors the legacy of its predecessor. The core issue lies in the game's sparse content. What should be a sequel that builds on the foundation of the first game is stripped away from the player behind future updates. Materials like lint, pinecones, and sour are visible in the world, yet progression is gated by these updates. This leaves players with a handful of new items and enemies while constantly being teased with features that are just gone. This removal of existing features is baffling. Why take away beloved elements like diverse mushroom sets, the coziness factor and lack of any water elements? We are given the Orb Weaver buggy after completing current story content, long after it would have been most useful for traversing the world's challenging terrain. This design choice turns a potentially rewarding tool into a consolation prize. The official roadmap for Grounded 2 only adds to the frustration. It promises the return of these features—Sour 2.0, Coziness, Mushroom sets 2.0, Swimming 2.0, PEEPER 2.0 and ziplines—but spreads them out over the next year. This forces players to wait for what should have been launch-day content. The community is being asked to pay $30-$40 for a game that will only become whole a year down the line, essentially paying to beta-test a product that feels far from finished. You wanted us to test these features, but you didn't even have them prepared for us. You are forcing us to wait 4-6 months for the feedback you wanted while already giving you our money. The introduction of buggies, a major new feature, is surprisingly unrewarding. The "taming" process lacks a sense of progression. Taming of the ant had lore to it with its environmental story telling when proceeding through the ant cave, but the Orb Weaver buggy is obtained by just beating Early Access. On top of that I just stumbled upon the eggs while exploring with no sense of what to do with them. You give us Ant bait and Spider bait, I think using these to tame the bugs and then implementing a system with the saddle, friendship levels and new mutations would have added significant depth to the gameplay. Beyond the buggies, the game suffers from a significant lack of enemy variety. A huge number of foes from Grounded 1 are simply missing, leaving the world feeling empty and less threatening. The list of absent creatures is long and includes: Black Widows, Roly Polys, Black OX Beetles, Tiger Mosquitoes, Moth, Ticks, Fireflies, Wasps, All Infected Bugs, Termites Antlions, Green Beetles, Ladybirds, Ant Queens, Fire ants, Black ants and any Water Based Bugs. This feeling of emptiness is exacerbated by the absence of boss fights that require specific "boss items" to summon, a fun and rewarding mechanic from the first game. Even a single such boss, like a tarantula, would have been a welcome addition, but like many other features, this too seems to be gated behind a future update. Furthermore, enemies that are present seem to be scattered randomly, lacking the defined territories that made encounters in the first game so memorable. The limited number of mutations and a lack of collectibles like statues further compound the feeling that this is a stripped-down experience. Building, a cornerstone of the original game's community creativity, has also been significantly nerfed. The potential for creative base-building has been hampered by constant land rights and obstruction errors, making it difficult to build in fun, imaginative locations like the picnic table, inside a hollowed-out log or on the skateboard. The game's new restrictions stifle the very creativity that made the first game so special. In its current state, Grounded 2 feels like a massive step back. The developers have given us a beautiful but empty box, full of promises for the future. The question is, why should players pay for an experience that is still a year away from being what it should be? Ultimately, the game’s potential is undeniable, but its premature release has turned a promising sequel into a frustrating and unfulfilling experience.

Horrendous performance. Also, be sure to have your pronouns ready, because their discord will prompt you... I think it's on your driving license of something.

i think its too early even for a early access ... the game doesnt have too many options for graphics the optimization isnt good play with friends is a nightmare due to crossplay bugs that makes you unable to join the session the connection of the game is terrible, if you aren't the host you gonna be clipping while having roll backs ... and a simple click to join the session of my friend almost crashed my gpu and gave me a bluescreen i think the game have potential ... but they will need to work more on it if you are wondering about the 70%+ positive reviews, they prolly played Solo, because the multiplayer is def broke.

I LOVE Grounded but... Right now the game is so badly optimised. After some time playing it will only get worse. Almost unplayable.. Hopefully they will fix this FAST. Also some bugs from grounded 1 got transferred to 2. Glitches, crashes and item displacement.