The long-anticipated Shroom and Doom update for Grounded finally released today, bringing with it a range of new additions. The survival game was impressive already, but the addition of new actions, pets, and an ominous new boss are all sure to extend the game’s shelf-life that bit longer.
The key new addition to Grounded is the arrival of the Broodmother. As the terrifying E3 footage showed, she’s a giant spider that’ll scare off even the mildest arachnophobe. Her cave is located in the Hedge, near the Flingman flying disc. That is, if you’ve got the resilience to even try and take her on in the first place. Successfully taking down the Broodmother does grant you extra-special rewards – just be sure to leave the light on while you fight her.
The other exciting arrival in the Shroom and Doom update is, unsurprisingly, mushrooms. A new building material, called the Shroombrick, arrives today. It’ll let you build houses and defenses from mushroom, which is currently the strongest defensive material in the game. Rather than an entirely new element, preexisting mushrooms within the world now drop mushroom slurry. From there, you can craft the slurry into Shroombricks.
Elsewhere, there’s now a crossbow in the game, as well as a new defense robot called the Arc.R. You can also adopt pets now – but of course, there’s no cats or dogs here. The main pets promoted by publishers Obsidian are weevils and aphids. While they aren’t exactly adorable, you can make them their own little homes on your land. Who wouldn’t want a family of weevils in their backyard?
One change promised in the E3 trailer was the newfound ability to sit down. Yes, it’s not the most glamorous addition of all – but once you’ve defeated the Broodmother with your new pets by your side, you’ll certainly want a nice, comfy chair to rest in.
The Grounded Shroom and Doom update is out now. The game is available on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.
