Shroom and Gloom: Everything We Know

There’s a new deckbuilding roguelike on the way, and it’s got a unique twist — Shroom and Gloom mixes first-person dungeon crawling with card-based combat and exploration. You’ll build and manage two separate decks, face off against creepy mushroom creatures, and even cook your enemies into meals to heal or gain buffs. It’s weird, creative, and shaping up to offer something different from the usual card battlers.

The game is coming to PC this year, with a free demo already available on Steam. Here, we’ll break down what Shroom and Gloom is, how it plays, what we know about the story, who’s making it, and when and where you’ll be able to play it. We’ve dug up all the juicy details – from story and gameplay to release plans – and I’m here to share the hype. Here’s everything we know about Shroom and Gloom.

What is Shroom and Gloom?

Shroom and Gloom is an upcoming first-person roguelike deckbuilder – or as its developers call it, a “double-deckbuilder” – that plunges you into a card-slinging dungeon crawl teeming with strange fungus and flashy combos. In a nutshell, it’s a game about delving into dark, fungi-filled dungeons while building not one but two decks of cards to survive – all presented with a mix of hand-drawn 2D art and 3D first-person exploration.

The title really says it all: you’ve got gloom (shadowy underground tunnels) and shrooms (monstrous mushroom enemies) in equal measure. Team Lazerbeam, a small indie studio, is behind the project, and they’ve packed it with what they describe as “mobs of monstrous mushrooms and mountains of mega-combos”. In other words, expect a bizarre and delightful blend of creatures to fight and over-the-top card synergies to discover.

Shroom and Gloom Story

So, what’s the story behind all this shroomy action? For a roguelike deckbuilder, the narrative often takes a backseat, but Shroom and Gloom still sets up a fun premise. You play as an adventurer delving into “The Gloom” – a twisted subterranean world overrun by fungi. The ultimate goal sounds like a classic dungeon crawl: fight your way to the heart of The Gloom and discover whatever lurks inside. Along the way, every step forward is a new encounter. The game clearly doesn’t take itself too seriously – after all, one of your tasks is literally to cook and eat the enemies.

Gameplay

Building decks and battling mushrooms is the name of the game here. Shroom and Gloom will feature a unique double-deck system that doubles the strategy (and the fun). You’ll have two separate decks of cards to manage: one for exploration and one for combat. The exploration cards let you interact with the environment – think unlocking doors, modifying cards, navigating those winding dungeon tunnels, or to unlock new weapons. When a fight breaks out, you switch to your combat deck, which is loaded with attack and skill cards to take down the shroomy enemies.

In this game, combat happens in turns, like a card battle, but it’s all shown from a first-person view. You’ll be staring down spooky mushroom creatures in dark tunnels, deciding which cards to play next. The hand-drawn art and 3D visuals make each fight feel intense and personal.

As you go deeper into the dungeon, you’ll collect new cards and level them up. Even the weakest card in your deck can grow stronger over time. With the right upgrades, it could turn into a powerful move that changes the course of your run. If you’re lucky enough to find a rare card, you can modify it into something incredibly strong – maybe even a card that breaks the game in your favor.

One of the most unique features of the game is what you do after a fight. Instead of just looting items, you can eat your enemies! Seriously. After defeating a mushroom monster, you can roast it to heal yourself. It’s a fun and weird idea, but it totally fits the game’s wacky world. You can even throw enemies into a pot and make a soup that gives you big power boosts.

Development

Shroom and Gloom started as a tiny passion project by Team Lazerbeam – a small indie group from Cape Town that’s been making quirky, joyful games since 2014. The original version of the game was built during a one-week game jam in 2021. It was rough, experimental, and weirdly fun, and players loved it. That early version had just enough charm and potential to make the devs think, “Wait… this could actually be something big.” So after years of dreaming and tinkering, they finally came back to it in 2024, kicked off an art test, and built a brand new prototype. It didn’t take long for the internet to notice.

The buzz around that early prototype was huge, and that’s when Devolver Digital entered the picture — a perfect fit for Team Lazerbeam’s wild and creative vision. Now, with the power of Devolver behind them, the devs are aiming to make Shroom and Gloom one of the most exciting, stylish, and fun deckbuilders out there. They’re still early in development, but the dream is big: hundreds of cards, crazy enemies, and a dungeon experience like no other.

Trailer

The announcement trailer gives a quick look at Shroom and Gloom’s unique gameplay. It highlights the game’s double-deckbuilding system, first-person dungeon crawling, and card-based combat. Watch the video embedded above!

Shroom and Gloom – Release Date, Platforms and Editions

Shroom and Gloom is currently in early development, and the team at Team Lazerbeam has confirmed there’s still a lot of work ahead. While there’s no exact release date yet, we can likely expect it to launch in late 2025 or possibly even early the following year. As of now, it’s confirmed for PC via Steam, with no official word on console versions. That said, given Devolver Digital’s track record, a future release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, or Xbox wouldn’t be surprising. The developers haven’t announced any special editions, so it’s safe to assume the game will launch as a standard version only. There’s also no confirmed price, but a free demo is already available to download and play on Steam.