Grounded 2 made me do something I've never done before: keep up with a survival-crafting game. Normally I get tired of it after a few hours, and the allure of building fantastical bases or whatever is nowhere near enough to offset how bored I get gathering materials. Someone at deeveloper Obsidian Entertainment must've felt the same way. The sequel chucks all the genre's dullest parts out the window — and it's about to get even better soon.

"Grounded 2 is just more Grounded," you might be thinking. That's true, at least in the initial Picnic Table zone. But it's also better Grounded. One of the most influential changes, one whose importance only becomes apparent after your crafting repertoire expands, is the Omni-Tool. This nifty little gadget is a shovel, axe, hammer, and wrench all in one — and it never breaks. The first Grounded makes you craft axes and everything else, and they break.........

© Polygon