I thought I was done with deckbuilding games, then I played Shroom & Gloom

I’ve become fed up with deckbuilding roguelike games lately. For a long time, it felt like I played little else other than Slay the Spire and games like it, and my inbox was filled with press releases about yet more games releasing that fit the mould. I thought I was done with them, but then I tried Shroom & Gloom… and once again I’ve been sucked right into the deckbuilding fold.

It probably helps that Shroom & Gloom, releasing today into early access, feels rather different from your run-of-the-mill deckbuilding roguelike. Its combat is fast and satisfying, but Shroom & Gloom is so much more than just a battler. There are dungeon-crawling elements here, and between fights you’ll get the chance to explore, uncovering new items, overcoming dangers and a whole lot more.

You see, you have two decks in Shroom & Gloom: one for combat, and one for exploration. Your exploration deck contains things like keys to open doors and chests, lighters to ignite torches, and shovels to dig up ominous-looking piles of dirt. There’s a risk versus reward element to exploring, however. The coldness of the cave along with other dangers means that running out of energy and needing to camp for the night will damage you. But manage to get rid of enough threats – by using appropriate items or lighting a fire – and you can safely rest and get more chances to uncover useful items.

Sometimes, though, it’s not worth hanging around. Sometimes it’s more sensible to press on and forgo the chance of getting new loot, because the risk of taking heavy damage just isn’t worth it. Especially considering that the deeper you get into Shroom & Gloom’s dungeons, the harder the enemies become.

Thankfully, there are lots of opportunities to toughen yourself up as you move forward. You can sharpen or curse your weapon cards to add more damage to them, and you’ll find plenty of cards or environmental features (like mystical pools of water) that can heal you or improve your maximum HP. Considering how tricky the bosses can be here, you’ll need all the help you can get.

There’s so much more to Shroom & Gloom that I haven’t even experimented with yet, either. There’s a food system – a way to keep yourself topped up on HP – with food items appearing as cards, and some enemies turning into food when they’re defeated. Some of those food cards can be used in recipes, turning them into even more powerful cards. Then there are multiple characters to unlock and play as, each with their own perks and quirks. Each character has cards unique to them, so you’ll want to try them all out as they unlock to find out who best suits your playstyle.

I’m having such a blast with Shroom & Gloom – so much so that it’s hard to believe it’s in early access. It looks gorgeous thanks to a beautiful hand-drawn art style that simply oozes personality. And there’s plenty of content here already, leaving it feeling like a fully-rounded experience as-is. But there is more to come. New cards, characters, quests and a new pathway to explore will be added over the next 12 to 24 months – and developer Team Lazerbeam plans to take on community feedback to shape its development, too.

So, if you also thought you were done with deckbuilding games, there’s a very good chance you might have been wrong, too. This might well be one of my new favourites in the genre thanks to how unique it is, but also how easy it is to pick up and get to grips with. I’m going to be going back to Shroom & Gloom regularly, and I can’t wait to see how it shapes up over its time in early access.