There are probably many jokes one could make about mushrooms being edible, and mushrooms being like, edible, man in relation to Shroom and Gloom, a positively mycelial roguelike deckbuilder where you roam spore-filled dungeons with two decks of cards in tow. I won’t do that though because that would mean having to think of them, and like Edwin before me, I just don’t have it in me. What I do have is the ability to tell you about Shroom and Gloom, which is out in early access today.
The immediate thing you’ll likely notice about the game is its deliciously grubby sense of style. Every step you take forward is through layered, densely detailed tunnels with thick lineart and comic-book-like critters and backgrounds. There’s an allure to it all, an itchy one that you inhale with a deep, willing breath that deeply appeals to me. But the most interesting thing about the game is its use of two different decks, and their different focuses.
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One deck is obvious in nature, catered entirely to combat. You have cards that do damage, cards that toast your enemy so you can eat them, cards that make a gunk pile (don’t ask), there’s all sorts on offer. The other deck is then built around exploring. These allow you to interact with your environment in a myriad of ways, which can be useful for camping out, or gaining new cards, or making soup. It sounds like a wonderful splitting of systems that comes together in a tasty whole.
Beyond the deckbuild, you’ll have two paths you can explore, one that’s a bit more traditionally dungeon-looking, the other slightly more sci-fi vibes wise. There are also five characters to choose from, though I can’t tell you how they differ as the Steam page doesn’t and I haven’t played the thing yet myself. Still, it looks appetising, and I’ll be keen to give it a go when I get the chance. You can pick up Shroom and Gloom on Steam right now.