Backyard Survival: Ecology of Killer Insects and Violent Nature in Grounded (2022)

This article, a conference paper from the DiGRA 2025 proceedings, examines how insect non-playable characters and the survival genre in the open-world game Grounded (Obsidian Entertainment, 2022) challenge the division between nature and culture. Its central argument is that the game presents nature as violent, unfamiliar, and dangerous, and that this portrayal can prompt players to reconsider the benign view of nature found in traditional ecological thinking. The author situates the work within ecocriticism and affect studies, positioning it as part of a broader doctoral project on nonhuman game characters.

The analysis identifies three ludonarrative features that drive this representation: the monstrous scale and behavior of insect NPCs, the intimate proximity of natural and human worlds within the backyard setting, and the disasters that emerge when players, acting as god-like figures, manipulate the environment. The author argues that these elements can cultivate a sense of respect for nature through fear of a more powerful existence. The paper also draws on theoretical frameworks including Haraway's "Cthulhucene," Morton's dark ecology, and Braidotti's posthumanism to interpret these features.

The work's principal conclusion is qualified. Although the game's combat-and-survival structure encourages affective engagement with nonhuman forces, its progression design centers on strengthening human avatars to dominate the backyard. The author therefore concludes that the game remains anthropocentric, limited by a human-centric impulse to control nonhuman life despite its potential to evoke reflection on nature's more nurturing qualities. The scope is a single game and a qualitative, theory-driven analysis rather than an empirical study with survey or sample data.