What is Shroom and Gloom?
If you're bored of the same old map screens, Shroom and Gloom is the trip you need. It's a moody, first-person roguelike that lets you grow your cards and your power in a world full of fungal foes.
Gameplay
You've probably played a million deckbuilders where you just click a node on a map, but Shroom and Gloom flips the script. It's a 'double deckbuilder,' meaning you're managing a combat deck and a completely separate exploration deck. Instead of just clicking an event, you play cards to actually interact with the world. It makes the dungeon crawl feel active and stressful, almost like if Slay the Spire events were integrated directly into your hand. Once you hit a fight, the loop is hyper-aggressive. Forget building a wall of armor; the vibe here is 'less blocking, more eating' because you heal by landing killing blows. It keeps the pace lightning fast and forces you to play offensively.
The real draw is the card growth. You can take a basic card and infinitely modify it into a game-breaking super-weapon. If you lean into the right synergies, you'll go from feeling like a wet noodle to a fungal god by the end of a run. However, the meta-progression is pretty thin right now. Don't expect a massive skill tree; you're mostly just unlocking new cards for future runs. Since it's Early Access, you'll hit some brutal difficulty spikes where the game 'just wants to beat you up.' At $14.99, it's a fair price for the innovation, but you're paying for a work-in-progress. If you hate grindy, shallow permanent upgrades, the current state of the meta might annoy you.
Key Features
- Double deck exploration and combat
- Heal by landing killing blows
- Infinite card modification
- Moody, psychedelic first-person visuals
What Players Say
Players are generally stoked, with some calling it 'one of the best roguelike deckbuilding games' in years. People love the 'novel concept' of managing two separate decks and praise the gorgeous visuals. While some are still waiting for official controller support, others report that it works fine on Steam Deck despite being officially unsupported.
Video Review
Screenshots
Verdict
“yayyyy!!! been following this game for ages and am sooo happy its launched. been playing on the steam deck and despite being "unsupported" i havent ran into any issues yet (i know the devs were workin…”
“Waited for years for this one and it was very worth it! Excited to see what else is in the pipeline for it but this is an excellent early access release. https://youtu.be/H6eiA9msO4I”
“I usually don't write reviews, but i have to recommend this one. Really creative, visually gorgeous card battler roguelike with 2 decks you need to manage. I already had 100+ hours in the demo / beta…”
“Works fine on steamdeck... Hopefully controller support will be added in the future. Great game, like the aesthetic, no complaints. Good game to add to the collection.”
“This is an early review. What a novel concept for a game. You get two decks, one to explore and one to battle. The closest I can think of is slay the spire but with rooms you can explore an use card…”
Grab this if you want a fresh, aggressive twist on the genre and don't mind the Early Access rough edges. If you need deep meta-progression or a polished, balanced difficulty curve, you might want to wait for a full release. 8.5/10.
View on Steam →* Price at time of publication (checked 13.09.2026). Prices may vary by region and are subject to change. This is an editorial review, not a commercial offer.