Shroom and Gloom characters
Early Access launched with 5 playable characters. Most of their unlock conditions have not been published, one of them is walled behind a character the developers call too punishing, and one may not be unlocking at all.
What every character brings
The launch announcement sums up what separates the characters: “Each character has unique starting decks for both combat and explore, plus a base Foresight card that changes how they play.” It adds that you can “discover game-breaking character cards during your explorations of The Underealm”. Team Lazerbeam has not published any character’s starting cards or what their base Foresight does.
So the difference between characters shows up in the two decks and in that one card. How the decks split the work is on the cards page, and what little is known about the starting card is on Foresight.
The five, one by one
Named at launch
Paperboy
- Official
- Named in the launch lineup. Before release the developers said the first character on the first path is meant as the accessible way into the game (replying in Steam discussion: Dear Devs, 1 September 2026), though that reply does not name the character.
- Players
- A player struggling with the Janitor called the Paperboy very straightforward and won with him on the first try (in Steam discussion: Love the game, hate the janitor, 11 September 2026).
- Unlock
- Not published.
First new class
Lunchlady
- Official
- The first new character class Team Lazerbeam announced, in the May 2026 dev log that introduced classes: “Our first new class is the lunch lady, and she’s awesome!” Team Lazerbeam, in Steam announcement: Deckbuilders Fest! 170K Wishlists! More Mushies than you can handle! May Devlog, 6 May 2026. The studio’s own posts spell her Lunchlady, lunch lady and Lunch-lady.
- Players
- One reviewer describes her as the character “who synergizes with making food from killing enemies and then gaining permanent damage from eating food” in a Steam user review, 13 September 2026.
- Unlock
- Not published. The same reviewer unlocked her second.
Buff in progress
Janitor
- Official
- The developers shared his win rate: “Our analytics show that only 2% of janitor runs are ending in a win! Clearly too punishing!” In the same thread they said a batch of card reworks to buff him is already being worked on, and named Gunk and Machines as systems they know can slow the game down Team Lazerbeam, replying in Steam discussion: Love the game, hate the janitor, 11 September 2026.
- Players
- The reviewer who unlocked the Lunchlady second says the Janitor came next and “centers around gunking up cards and then cleaning the gunk” in the same Steam user review, 13 September 2026.
- Unlock
- Not published. The Janitor is tied to how the Activist unlocks, below.
Unlock to be eased
Activist
- Official
- Tied to the Janitor: the developers said the Janitor’s difficulty is holding players back from unlocking the Activist, without spelling out the quest. A player believed a Janitor win was needed; the developers answered: “We’ll look at changing this quest so Activist can be unlocked more easily.” Team Lazerbeam, replying in Steam discussion: Love the game, hate the janitor, 11 September 2026
- Players
- Players on a feedback thread found the Activist harder going than the Paperboy, short on card draw once an eager build has made its cards cheap (in Steam discussion: Please Give an Unlocks/Quests Screen & other Feedback, 11 September 2026).
- Unlock
- Tied to a Janitor quest whose exact condition has not been published. The developers plan to make it easier.
Possible bug
Concerned Parent
- Official
- Named in the launch lineup. Nothing else official.
- Players
- Players tie the unlock to mapping The Forgotten Path, and several report it not unlocking. Details below.
- Unlock
- Disputed. See below.
The Concerned Parent unlock
The Spelunker achievement asks you to “Map every tunnel of The Forgotten Path”, and Steam credits 9.1% of all players with it. That same goal is what players name as the Concerned Parent unlock.
If you are chasing it, the map and pathways page covers what is known about The Forgotten Path’s tunnels, and the achievements list explains why a missing achievement is not always your fault.
Tracking your unlocks
Characters are one of the things quests hand out. The August 2026 dev log promised “A whole bunch of quests to unlock characters and bolster your card pools.” (Team Lazerbeam, in Steam announcement: Release Date Reveal! Shroom and Gloom Aug Dev Log!, 22 August 2026) and the launch post says you will “have to do some mushroom-hunting to earn these advanced characters and access to The Facility” (in Steam announcement: Shroom and Gloom explodes into Early Access!, 10 September 2026). None of the quest names or conditions are in either post.
Players are asking for a way to see them in game. One wrote that they had won runs and received unlock packs without knowing what triggered them, and that their progress toward Concerned Parent was invisible (in Steam discussion: Please Give an Unlocks/Quests Screen & other Feedback, 11 September 2026).
| Who | Unlocks they describe |
|---|---|
| Steam reviewer | A simple first character, then the Lunchlady unlocked second and the Janitor after her in a Steam user review, 13 September 2026 |
| Steam reviewer, 11 hours in | Had unlocked the Lunchlady and the Janitor and opened The Facility by the time they finished the final boss in a Steam user review, 13 September 2026 |
| Forum player | Three characters to choose from at the start in Steam discussion: Is there a good amount of variety yet?, 11 September 2026 |
These accounts do not line up: one describes unlocking the Lunchlady, the other three characters available from the start. How many characters are open on a new save has not been published.
Which path each character walks
The developers link the Janitor to the second pathway, describing their goal for “Janitor (and the second path overall)” as a harder experience for players who have mastered the first (replying in Steam discussion: Love the game, hate the janitor, 11 September 2026). A player summed up the launch roster as “3 on the first map and 2 on the second map” (in Steam discussion: Is there a good amount of variety yet?, 11 September 2026). No official list pairs each character with a path. If the second path is where your runs are ending, the Gunk Worm page covers its final fight.