Shroom and Gloom enemies
Most of what you fight is a mushroom, and most mushrooms can end up on your plate. The developers describe their monsters in broad strokes; the specifics come from demo patch notes and from players who have fought them.
What the developers have said
Store page
Enemies are ingredients. The store page promises ways to “season, skewer or roast your foes, then eat them to restore lost health”, and to throw the roasted ones into a pot for soup (see Shroom and Gloom on the Steam store, 10 September 2026).
Prototype devlog
When they rebuilt the game, the developers set out to make the enemies a family that reads at a glance: “We wanted them to feel related, but distinctive, and we wanted their behaviours and abilities to come through in their designs.” (in Team Lazerbeam devlog on itch.io: We did it! Shroom and Gloom Prototype is here!, 13 September 2024) A creature’s look is meant to hint at what it does.
The Facility
The second path arrived with “entirely new card pools, enemies and rewards” (in Steam announcement: Shroom and Gloom explodes into Early Access!, 10 September 2026). The developers first showed three of its new enemies in a dev log while it was still being built (in Steam announcement: Game Dev Is Hard! New level preview! Mar '26 Shroom and Gloom Dev Log, 25 March 2026).
Demo update
The update that reworked exploration in the demo also made depth matter: “Enemies grow stronger the deeper you go!” (in Steam announcement: Huge demo update! Early Access release announced! Shroom and Gloom Jun Dev Log!, 7 June 2026) That line describes the demo; how enemies scale in Early Access hasn’t been described.
Turning enemies into food
Not every kill feeds you. A reviewer who cleared the first map with every character explains that some combat cards turn an enemy into food when they land the killing blow, and that food can be eaten for health or kept to spend. They also point out the tactic that follows: drag a fight out on purpose to collect as much food as you can before the next shop (in a Steam user review, 13 September 2026). Why food matters for the rest of a run is covered in the beginner guide.
Enemy rules from the demo patch notes
These changes were made to the demo. Early Access was rebalanced afterwards, so read them as demo-era rules.
| Patch | What changed | What it means in a fight |
|---|---|---|
| 0.4.67 | Attacks carry over when an enemy evolves; statuses do not | Debuffs on an enemy’s old form don’t follow it into the new one, but its attacks do |
| 0.4.67 | Tooltips for enemy intents and statuses improved | Intent and status tooltips say more about who or what they apply to |
| 0.4.70 | Burrows and enemies hide when dead | Dead enemies and their burrows no longer stay on screen |
| 0.4.75 | MegaShroom evolution bug fixed | MegaShroom is one of the enemies that evolves |
The first two rows are from patch 0.4.67 and the third from 0.4.70, all listed in one dev log (in Steam announcement: 2 months of demo updates lead to this! Shroom and Gloom 0.4.71 is here!, 11 July 2025); the MegaShroom fix is in the 0.4.75 notes (in Steam announcement: 80K Wishlists, Demo update and NorthernLion! Shroom and Gloom Aug 2025 Dev Log!, 19 August 2025). Boss-specific changes, such as the Gloom Worm’s limbs, are on the Gloom Worm page.
Which enemies to kill first
foolbunny posted most of this advice days before Early Access, when only the demo was out, and a later reply in the same thread added the point about rage (all in Steam discussion: Dear Devs, 1 September 2026). Enemy names here are the players’ own descriptions.
Buffers and shielders
foolbunny: get rid of creatures that inspire others, like the brain plants, or give others a psychic shield, like the trumpet plants, as soon as possible.
The one in the middle
foolbunny again: the middle combatant is often the one you want or need to take out fast.
Enemies that stop when hit
Some enemies halt their action when they take damage, so a little damage spread across them can save you a lot of incoming damage or armour. foolbunny thinks the label is timid but isn’t sure.
Enemies with rage
A reply in the same thread adds that enemies with rage also stop their attacks when hit, and that you want to do this because they hit much harder.
The Facility’s armoured robots
One Early Access report is worth knowing before you take the second path. Playing the Janitor, a player met robotic enemies with armour that cuts the damage of every single hit, separate from the armour enemies add on top of their health. Two smaller ones reduced each hit by 4. A larger one reduced each hit by 10, and it turned up in what the player believed was only the third fight of the run. With a build of many medium hits and a top single hit of 12, they could do 2 damage at a time and lost the run. On an earlier run they had broken through the same reduction easily by stacking Decay (reported in Steam discussion: Love the game, but some of the damage-reducing armor enemies in the Facility are in dire need of a fix, 12 September 2026).
The player’s own conclusion was that Decay looked like the only practical way past that robot so early in a run, and they asked the developers to lower its damage reduction. For how the Janitor’s kit is put together, see characters and unlocks.
Creatures you meet outside fights
Explore cards act on creatures too. The demo’s exploration rework told players to “Feed the creatures you encounter!” (in Steam announcement: Huge demo update! Early Access release announced! Shroom and Gloom Jun Dev Log!, 7 June 2026) Choices have consequences: on the forum, one player found that using Reveal on a creature called Robert killed him and brought his family to fight, and another replied that feeding him makes his family angry as well (both in Steam discussion: What does "There is more to be discovered here..." on an obstacle mean?, 12 September 2026). Playing the Janitor, Nyaphomet feeds the big slime mounds and ignites the small ones (in Steam discussion: Love the game, hate the janitor, 11 September 2026). How camps work is on resting and camp.
Is there enough variety?
Opinions split. One negative Early Access review says there aren’t many different enemies, so it feels like fighting the same shrooms again and again, in a loop of camp then fight; the reviewer adds that choosing a door feels like choosing between the same four shrooms on either side (in a Steam user review, 13 September 2026). On the other side, a forum thread opened with exactly that worry got an answer from a player describing two maps with branching paths and cards unique to each (in Steam discussion: Is there a good amount of variety yet?, 11 September 2026), and the second path brings a set of enemies of its own.
Two Steam achievements count kills: MURDERER, for murdering 1000 creatures, is held by 0.2% of players, and Would you love me if I were a worm?, for killing 10 worms, by 0.1%. The full list is on the achievements page.
Full stats: NiaMeowDB
For every enemy by name, with its health, go to the NiaMeowDB enemies database. It is a fan project that reads its entries from the game files, and it lists 76 enemies, 34 of them bosses. Because the data comes from the files rather than from play, it can include entries you won’t meet in Early Access, and a patch can change the numbers without notice.