You probably caught the reveal of Grounded 2 at Summer Game Fest 2025, but it wasn’t the only game highlighted this past weekend that shrinks its heroes down to the size of insects and sends them on an adventure. However, the twist with Cubit Studios’ Infinitesimals is that, although the game is set on Earth and told from the point of view of a minuscule hero, it doesn’t share Grounded’s feelings of a survival game, which border on horror at times. Instead, its mechanics and ubiquitous speed make it all feel like a sandbox full of action figures.

It makes sense, too. The game’s director, James McWilliams, told me the idea for the game he’s been working on since 2013 is the culmination of things that fascinated him as a child. “I always liked nature. And as a kid, I was always fascinated by very small things, you know, like being small in nature. There was always an interest in that. And then I liked sci-fi, so I was bringing the two together.”

McWilliams said he began toying with the concept 12 years ago by himself, but later staffed up to four thanks to an Epic Games Mega Grant, and then, once Epic Games Publishing fully funded the game, the team grew to nine. My favorite aspect of the demo I played was its speed. McWilliams told me I’d taken over when the hero had applied a few upgrades already, but added his movement speed starts faster than most games and only gets faster from there.

I felt similarly about his hoverpack, which allowed me to boost into the air for longer than I’d anticipated. As I sprinted around the terrain, with “giant” birds nearby, I found myself hovering just for fun a lot of the time, even taking flight in combat when I didn’t need to, in order to give my firefights some added flair.

The third-person action-adventure shooter looked great, and overall, I was impressed by how closely the game mimicked the sort of mechanics a bigger-budget game typically offers. Infiltrating enemy camps enabled me to creep in via one of many entry points, hack fully simulated electrical grids, sneak past guards and cameras, or go loud and Commander-Shepard my way through the area. Gunplay consisted of military-style weapons, and though the spread of gunfire felt too wide and erratic at times, I’m hoping the team will fine-tune that before launch, because the sense of adventure had really grabbed me otherwise.

Its infusion of humor was an important touch, too, though McWilliams told me the story won’t be a one-note comedy act. “There are serious moments. There are moments of–I suppose you can say tragedy, but there are still moments of levity,” he said.

You’d maybe think that if the game were to remind me of any family movie, it would be A Bug’s Life. However, the project as a whole reminded me a lot of the cult-classic Small Soldiers. This post-Toy Story action-comedy was edgier and less family-friendly than Pixar’s seminal film, but still captured the feeling of toys come to life in a way that fulfills that unavoidable daydream every child has at some point. The aliens of Infinitesimals aren’t toys; they’re beings who land on Earth and have a serious job to do, but in playing the game, I could sense the project being guided by a similar childlike spirit.

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