Smalland vs Grounded

[TAKEDA 🔴 SHINGEN]

I'm sure that was asked a lot and still is, but I want the most recent input as to which game is better in your opinions, but also maybe one or two reasons why you feel that way. I've played Grounded for some time already (more than a year) and it wasn't long before it started to bore me (not having NPC to interact with doesn't help at all).

So anyone care to convince me that Smalland is better than Grounded or at the very least worth playing even if one has already thoroughly played a game like Grounded?

[Thyholdt]

Well.. heres what I wrote to a friend on discord when he asked about it:

no voice actors
combat is weird, the attacks are easily blockable cuz they dont aim where u are, only where u stood at that moment
crafting is good, u just set it to make whatever and leave it to do its thing
base building is finicky
hard to place items, they dont snap as well as you'd expect
Grounded is 1000x better. but Ive played it to death
99% all the achievs

Im trying to give this game a chance, but it lacks content and seems unfinished.

I do like the early 2000s rpg vibe it gives off, it doesnt seem to try to be a "modern" game in terms of graphics and mechanics.

If I were to choose between the two now after having played both, id choose grounded. its just got so much more life in it, the building is better and the overall feel is better. Smalland definately can reach a point where it can stand against grounded, but now theres really no competition.

[Darkness]

I would say Grounded also since its got more content etc(They had white card from microsoft so alot more money to do stuff on xboxpass)

Smallland is great too but surely limited with dev and money so it will get better im sure still worth 20$ if you can get it.

[Questgiver]

Heya. I'm here with maybe a counterpoint. I liked Smallland more than Grounded, though I did not play much of Grounded. I hope my reasoning helps you decide.

I liked the concept of Grounded and the gameplay looked fun, but I wasn't sold. When a free weekend rolled around I played it. I had this whole plan to play as much as possible to really figure out if I like it enough to buy it.

But... it just didn't grab me. I wandered around, built stuff, experienced some hints of plot... But I didn't spend all my free time on it as I had sort of planned. I still kept an eye on it after because the concept sounds so good.

Recently I watched some gameplay of Smallland and decided to buy it on sale.

Now, in Grounded the story is more or less about a bunch of kids being shrunk in their backyard. I won't deny the prospect is fun. But ultimately the point of any story will always be to get big again and that is obviously not what I want.

In contrast, Smallland's story is about small people that have always been small and will always be small. It's much more exploration focused, although there is an overarching plot leading through the tech tree progression. There are NPCs with dialogue trees and faction stuff you can do for them. Some stuff has already been mentioned, like no voice lines if that's a dealbreaker for you. There are also some bugs still and not the kind with legs. I find the design of the game itself quite charming, too. In contrast to Grounded it leans a bit more into fairy vibes.

I haven't had much issues with grinding, but I come from Ark, which even in standard single player mode is extremely frustratingly grindy.


tl;dr: Grounded is more 'grounded' in reality, with the whole 'the kids have been shrunk' plot. Smallland is more fantasy and exploration, even if both play in the 'real world'.

Hope it helps and you have fun with whatever you pick.

[Ensign Toby]

Now, in Grounded the story is more or less about a bunch of kids being shrunk in their backyard. I won't deny the prospect is fun. But ultimately the point of any story will always be to get big again and that is obviously not what I want.

You don't have to "Git Big", if you don't wanna. You're a Kid, Use those Tantrum Powers...
--------
Played both games to 100% completion (Grounded - Yes, Smallland - by end of weekend).
Both are excellent games (and both are 50% off until Jul 11th).

Grounded has more long term playtime (a LOT more with NG+), and is a "Completed" game.
There are no more planned updates (aside from a few announced balance and "bug" fixes).

Smallland still has a robust road map ahead of it (a new update should drop soon (tm)), and if they follow through on all their road map goals should continue to be updated into 2025.

[Thyholdt]

All good points from both sides.

Its ultimately up to the player which game they choose. Ive been supporting early access games since steam started with it way back in 2013, its stung me a couple times but thats the risk you take. I dont think smalland is going to end up abandoned, but I also think expectations should be put in check. it does seem like theyre a smaller company.

As it stands the game is pretty cute, and I can enjoy it for what it is.

[william_es]

Grounded has several years more development time then Smalland, so yes, it does have more content. I remember Grounded on launch day, and it was half empty. Whole areas were just blank. Nothing there to see. The filled in lots of the game over the years.

It was also backed by microsoft, one of the first game they launched after getting into the game market. It was meant to be a success. The pumped enough money into it to ensure that.

My biggest complain about grounded is the fact it was designed from the ground up to get a squeaky clean approval rating from mothers. Very PG rated. It's aimed and targeted at kids. Little little kids. Doesn't mean adults can't play it, but... some of the stuff it does began to grate on my nerves after a while. The CONSTANT voicelines from your own character. I picked the character I played solely because it had the least annoying and repetitive voicelines. And I stress "least annoying". To me, it's like the game assumed I was a baby in a cradle and kept shaking some baby rattle in my face, expecting me to smile and drool every time they did it. It became extremely tiring.

Smalland has a darker and more adult theme to it. There's a whole post apocalyptic vibe to the background lore. I just personally found Smalland to be more appealing long term.

[Ǵ̶͓̂͑lí̴̤̀̄́tcĥ̸]

Smalland has a more early 2000's RPG vibe and presentation, it kind of feels like Risen and games of that nature, although FAR more forgiving. Some things about the world design and your character being small doesn't make sense in it, such as weather conditions (rain and snow should have FAR more impact), the Desert Biome would make no sense when thinking about it from a human size perspective (it's like 10 human steps worth of desert between a Pine forest and a small woodsy garden thing), just this weird patch of dry land. However, the world itself is still a little bit more interesting than Grounded and does feel bigger as well, mostly because there's a couple human structures including a small crypt/church, a car or two, etc that are there to check out and explore (Grounded has human structures but they cannot be explored). Plus the massive trees (of which there is only 1 in Grounded) are climbable. Insect sizes are also more accurate in Smalland.

Smalland also has mounts, more creature variety, fightable birds, frogs and lizards and so on rather than just insects and a non-interactive crow like Grounded has.

I'd say Smalland's faults compared to Grounded is some of the grind for certain things like fuel requirements and such for the things that make food and ingots, etc. The story is also weaker than Grounded. There are "ages" in the game similar to Valheim but nowhere NEAR as grindy as Valheim (although Valheim's grind is far better intrinsically connected to its progression), but that said there are definitely skippable armors and "ages" so to speak, as well as some better armors being less grindy to acquire than earlier sets - this makes the progression feel somewhat inconsistent, as well as the difficulty snowballing from relatively hard to extremely easy, very fast. Though the Amber Valley does come with a difficulty spike which persists until end game armor and weapons. The equipment progression also makes earlier tiers of equipment completely obsolete once you pass them, and even the materials to an extent as well. Faction equipment that would take forever to grind are also pretty bad compared to regular late game equipment so it makes no sense to get them. There's also no voice acting, for better or for worse. Stuff like that.

Grounded does the "feeling shrunk" thing far, far better. Blades of Grass in Grounded being essentially "trees" from the other games making the entire yard feel like this giant forest. Toys being bigger and more like structures. So on and so forth, you definitely feel like a shrunken person in Grounded and it definitely translates better. Smalland feels more like you're a regular sized person in a land of giants, so there's "grass" that's seemingly normal size for your character (moss I guess) but also happens to be massive foliage and structures there too. Hard to explain.

Grounded also has a far better story, more interactive elements, voice acting, better music, better boss fights, better combat, better progression across the board, some armors are relevant all game and even contribute to the "class" system in a way that makes it so that endgame armor "variety" exists (multiple sets are relevant vs Smalland whereas, as stated, later sets make earlier sets irrelevant), and better endings/more complete feeling story. The Biomes make more sense, such as the "desert" being an actual kid's sandbox, upper yard being more "jungly" because there are more weeds and it's more overgrown, a "gas" biome due to a canister of weed killer leaking which even changes the whole map in some areas once the leak is plugged, etc. There's a couple faults with it, like no weather changes (Grounded would have done it right though, so maybe it would be too ambitious), somewhat annoying late game area (upper yard just has ants on your bum like every 5 seconds) and so on. You can also swim in Grounded, so there's a legit water biome as a result with the only other big creature that isn't an insect or a crow, being the unkillable Koi fish which can eat you. Smalland, you kind of just splash around until you drown when you enter water, and no water creatures (other than I suppose the Frog/Toad, but you never see it swim).

Grounded also seems to be mostly done, although there have been a few big updates such as the NG+ update.

Smalland is still growing; despite 1.0, there is still a roadmap that implies much more content incoming.

So right now, I'd say both are good but Grounded is definitely the more balanced and complete option, but it's maybe possible Smalland will be the better game down the line, or at least have more longevity due to more content. Tough to say.

[PinkBulbasaur]

i liked grounded a lot better, played it on gamepass. i wish i did bought that game on steam instead of this one. smalland is okay... the base of the game is good, and it looks very nice. but it is pretty boring, i have the feeling you can't really do much. everything feels a bit the same or a copy. To much creatures, keep getting attacked wereever you go. i wish it had way more quests, a better goal or something. idunno, it just feels a bit empty. Hope it will get a lots of updates to make this a better game!