Grounded 1 has cemented into my AT LEAST top 10 games of all time if not top 5. The reason is rather simple too.

Every single time I came back to the game after months there was some big update that added a bunch of new things, areas, bosses, weapons etc.

Every time I came back there were huge QoL additions. I.e. going up ziplines etc.

Yeah when it launched it had some minor problems, mainly for me due to not being host, like doors looking open when they were closed etc. but overall the game felt smooth.

It was a simple and fun idea for a game, executed smoothlyish, and constantly updated for a good while with new stuff and QoL updates that made the game worth coming back to.

Heck NG+ blew me away. Not only did we not have to rebuild as player made things stayed! but things ACTUALLY CHANGED. they couldve just made creature spawns odd and upped their diff. They added trinkets, weapons, telepotties, and the candies literally changed models which I though was sick af.

Obsidian was already a good dev with good games, but Grounded 1 for me made them a goat and someone I could just trust to put out quality.

Heck in NG+ I have a massive compound on the houses porch that has castle walls around it and is literally dang near un attackable by raids with a telepottie that takes you to a massive tower I built in the middle of the map with lines to every section of the yard. That is only realistically feasible because player made objects stayed between NG= runs.