How to get and use the Frostbitten Key in Grounded 2

If you’ve braved the intense chill of the Ice Cream Cart in Grounded 2, then you might have stumbled upon either the Frostbitten Key or the locked chest itself that requires it. No matter which one you find first, it’s not immediately obvious what you actually need to do with them.

It doesn’t help that the ice cream truck is freezing cold, causing you to be slowed and occasionally seize up entirely in what is a dark, maze-like area. Oh, and the place is full of poisonous scorpions—and it gets even worse. Before you can complete this puzzle, you’ll need to have Omni-Shovel II, since it’s a level two buried treasure. Once you’ve got that, here’s what you need to do.

Grounded 2 Frostbitten Key location

The first step in this puzzle is to get the Frostbitten Key, which you’ll find inside the Ice Cream Cart in the southeast of Brookhollow Park. Because this area is cold, I highly recommend wearing the Fuzzy armour set and bringing a few Blazin’ Brews with you. Holding a torch in your hand will also give you warmth, slowing the rate at which you freeze.

With that out of the way, here’s what you need to do to get the Frostbitten Key:

1. Enter the Ice Cream Cart from the southwest ice tunnel and take the path to the right to enter the large, open area filled with ice cream and other sweet treats.
2. Turn right and head for the hill at the far end of the area with ice cream cones on it, as well as piles of green and pink ice cream. There’ll also be some scorpions nearby.
3. Walk up the hill to find a scientist’s body on a pile of pink ice cream.
4. Pick up the Frostbitten Key on the ground next to him. There’s also a missing optical disk here, so you might as well grab that too.

If you’ve already found the chest that requires the Frostbitten Key, and you’re still in that room, then take a shortcut to the right side of the Ice Sickles to drop you down exactly by where the Frostbitten Key is.

Where to use the Frostbitten Key in Grounded 2

With the Frostbitten Key in hand, here’s what you need to do next:

1. Go up the hill on the opposite side of the truck (left of where you entered), littered with food packets and more ice cream.
2. Walk across the copper pipe towards the light, high up on the other side of the truck.
3. Enter the room with the frozen fan blades.
4. Break the icicles holding the fan in place—they’re straight ahead when you enter the room.
5. Climb up the fans (but not onto the roof, though there is a Mega Milk Molar location on top, too) and drop down into a hidden ‘cave’ underneath the fan, where you’ll find a Mega Milk Molar.
6. Turn left at the Mega Milk Molar and follow the tunnel hidden behind the pipe to reach a large, open room with lots of ice cream cones.
7. Dig at the glowing spot towards the back of the room, marked as “buried treasure”, underneath a banana peel.

You should be able to immediately use the Frostbitten Key to open the chest, containing two mint globs. If, for whatever reason, you can’t open the Frostbitten chest, you might have to complete the Ice Sickles challenge first, which you can start at the glowing ice cube in the centre of the room where you find the locked chest. I’d already completed this challenge by the time I found the key.

However, you’ll want to complete this challenge either way, since the reward from the Frostbitten Key chest is two mint globs. “What are those?” I hear you asking. Mint globs are a unique material required to craft duplicate copies of the Ice Sickles legendary blades, one of the best weapons in Grounded 2.

To complete the challenge, interact with the Ice Sickles ice cube to start a wave defence activity against a bunch of scorpions. The scorpions get progressively tougher, though they have a tendency to bug out and burrow constantly. If this happens to you, leave them be, since it means they won’t actively attack you or the Ice Sickles you’re tasked with defending, but the timer will still tick down. Similarly, there’s also a cheeky trick to make freezing less punishing: while you can’t use your hotbar items, you can still use them through your inventory, so it’s a great opportunity to use a bandage or other healing item.

After about three minutes, you’ll be victorious, the scorpions will give up, and you’ll be able to claim your prize.