I used to think arachnophobia was overblown. Okay, you're scared of spiders, whatever, get over it. Then one day, many years ago, I saw what happened when my boss at the time—a genuine arachnophobe—came within inches of touching a small spider as he was walking through a doorway. It was as if someone had mashed up an Olympic 100 meter dash, John Travolta's most frenetic disco moves, and the inhuman noises of a mutant demon from the fifth dimension tearing through the fabric of reality as it crawled into our own world, and then stuffed it all down the throat of my very surprised, very distressed pal—all of it over a spider you could barely see without squinting. And on that day, I was convinced: Okay, maybe there is something to this arachnophobia thing.
Respect for arachnophobia has also taken on greater importance in videogames in recent years, as a growing number of games either launch with or add arachnophobia modes, accommodating players who simply cannot tolerate being in the presence of spiders. Grounded was one of them, and speaking to Polygon, game director Chris Parker confirmed that Grounded 2 will have an arachnophobia mode as well.
