How to get to the Garden in Grounded 2

How to get to the Garden in Grounded 2 is the Toxic Tangle update’s first challenge. If you’re thinking some of those dead ends in the hedge around the statue aren’t dead anymore, you’d be mistaken. There are a few possible entrances into the Garden, including some of your own making, but the two easiest ones to use are tucked away in the corner of a small new part of the map that’s easy to miss.

Below, we explain how to get to the Garden in Grounded 2 and what to expect on your way there.

How to get into the Garden

We’ve found two ways to enter the Garden, both of which take you to a new sliver of the map in the northeastern Grass Games region, near the back door of the Flower Bed Ranger Station. The Toxic Tangle update added a little bit extra here, including a new Ranger Station location, several more bugs, and a wall that separates the park from the new region. You may want to have your gas mask handy, since there are several stinkbugs wandering around here.

Head east toward the wall. Near the puddle before the ranger station, you may find two stinkbugs. Defeat them or run past them as you see fit. Once you reach the eastern corner, you’ll see a notification pop up that says you have discovered the western entrance of the War-Torn Anthill. This is one entrance into the Garden and the easiest to just speed through without having to worry about climbing.

If you take this route, we recommend using your red ant buggy. The first half of the tunnel is home to several red ant soldiers and workers, but if you’re on the buggy, they won’t fight you. Turn left at the first forked path, and follow the tunnel until it spits you out in a large room. There’s a giant blob in the center, and several ants are fighting each other — which means, as long as you stay on your ant buggy, they won’t have time for you. Exit the chamber at the other end.

Image: Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

Now you’re in the black ant half of the hill, and these ants will attack, even if you’re on the buggy. Despite being a new enemy, they’re no more of a threat than red ant soldiers. You can also just ignore them, as the path out is another straight shot through a long carrot-lined tunnel. (Later, once you upgrade your hatchet, you can come back and chop these carrots, but that’s not doable when you first enter the garden.)

The tunnel opens out onto the northwestern corner of the garden, and you’re free to explore as you see fit. The immediate area is mostly free from dangers, though there are challenging bugs not far off. And at night, you’ll find a cricket a little ways to the south.

There’s also a faster way into the garden that skips having to mess around with anthills, though you’ll need the orb weaver mount. You’ll see a faucet up against the wall. Climb the stick, and walk along the brick wall. Hop across the leaves to reach the spiderweb below the faucet, then, while mounted on your orb weaver, climb the web to the faucet. From here, you can hop onto the leaves of the hedge and over the wall.

Image: Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios via Polygon

It’s a good idea to go through the War-Torn Anthill at least once, though, as there’s a lot of brittle quartzite and sturdy quartzite you can use for weapon upgrades. You’ll just need to either harvest it when no ants are around or defeat them first, since they become aggressive when you hop off your ant buggy.

And you can also just build stairs up the wall and cross it that way, if you have the materials and want to make a shortcut. Some players reported during the public test period that there are some gaps in the hedge that let you through to the Garden as well, though we weren’t able to track those down. It’s possible they’re either not present in the update’s full release, or they’re just really easy to overlook.