Early Access launches with five playable characters: Paperboy, Janitor, Lunch Lady, Activist and Concerned Parent. Official launch notes say each has unique starting Combat and Explore decks plus a base Foresight, so changing character is a real build change rather than a cosmetic swap.
Version note: This page is written for the September 10, 2026 Early Access launch. Shroom and Gloom is actively changing, so treat older demo videos as historical unless the same behavior appears in launch footage or official notes.
The five launch characters
Official launch notes list Paperboy, Janitor, Lunch Lady, Activist and Concerned Parent. Advanced characters are tied into the quest/unlock system, and launch footage shows different starting tools and build incentives across them.
| Character | What is safely confirmed at launch |
|---|---|
| Paperboy | launch character; baseline Grove/early-path footage is widely available |
| Lunch Lady | launch character; food and card-growth identity appears in current footage |
| Janitor | launch character; prominently associated with Facility runs in current footage |
| Activist | launch character; advanced unlock context is present, but exact chain is not stated here as official |
| Concerned Parent | launch character; unique starting decks/base Foresight like the rest of the roster |
Why character choice matters
The starting Combat deck changes what your first few fights can reliably do. The Explore deck changes which environmental actions are easy to access. The base Foresight changes which repeated behaviors become more valuable.
That means a “best build” copied from another character can feel bad even if every card is technically obtainable. Start by asking what your character’s opening kit already does well.
Unlock information: stay version-safe
Videos recorded before Early Access sometimes show a character as “unlocked” but still unavailable because the demo blocked that content. Do not use those screens as proof that the launch build has the same lock state. Use the Unlocks & Quests guide for the current safe version of progression advice.
For one food-focused example, continue to Lunch Lady.
The Janitor was eased in 0.6.39
Patch 0.6.39 (September 16) specifically targeted The Janitor and The Facility, after the developer’s analytics showed only a small majority of runs were ending in The Gloom and community feedback repeatedly called both too hard or too complex for new players.
The developer was explicit that this was tuning rather than a redesign: the intent was to make the playstyle easier to pick up and more fun to master, not to make the Janitor outright stronger. If you bounced off the Janitor in the first week, it is worth another attempt on the current build.