Enter the Gungeon is a bullet-hell shooter, which means the screen can fill with enemy bullets that you have to dodge while you fire back. Each attempt, called a run, starts in the Breach, the hub where you pick a Gungeoneer, the character you play as. Every Gungeoneer begins with a starting weapon, an item, and traits of their own, and those starting picks shape how much room you have for mistakes early on.
From the Breach you head into the Gungeon itself, a labyrinth of hand-built rooms that changes from run to run. Combat rooms have enemies to clear, chests hold guns and items, and bosses test everything you have gathered. Keys open chests and some rooms, and Shells, the game's currency, pay for things in shops, so you can't open every chest or buy everything you see. Blanks, which clear every bullet on screen, are a vital resource that's worth saving for the moments that matter.
As you go deeper, you descend chamber by chamber, and once you go down you can't go back. Rescued NPCs return to the Breach with services and unlocks, so the hub grows more useful over time. The usual route takes you through the Forge, but the central goal is to find the Gungeon's legendary gun. Each run also adds to permanent unlocks and new choices, and the hidden floors and special modes offer optional challenges.
- Developer
- Dodge Roll
- Publisher
- Devolver Digital
- Release
- Xbox One: 2017-04-05 · PC and PlayStation 4: 2016-04-05 · Nintendo Switch (Europe): 2017-12-18 · Nintendo Switch (North America): 2017-12-14
- Platforms
- Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Game data
Guns
Guns are the Gungeoneers' main way to attack in Enter the Gungeon, and each one has its own firing style, ammo, damage, and reload time. Players get them from chests, bosses, shops, and characters they meet, while many others must be unlocked first. Quality from D to S mostly reflects chest rarity rather than how strong a gun feels, so the full set of stats matters more.
Items
Items are one of the main ways each run changes in Enter the Gungeon. They come in passive and active types, and you find them in chests, shops, from bosses and NPCs, and through unlocks. Chest color shows an item's quality, while synergies between items can shape how a run plays out.
Bosses
Bosses in Enter the Gungeon are the tough enemies waiting at the end of floors, and beating one lets you move deeper into the Gungeon. They come in several groups: main floor fights, secret bosses hidden between floors, Character Past bosses, and tutorial and roaming minibosses. Each one brings its own attack patterns, rewards, and unlocks.
Gungeon gameplay tips
- Start with the Marine or the Hunter if you are new. The Marine begins with an extra Armor and a passive that improves accuracy, so you can deal damage from a safer distance. The Hunter starts with two weapons and a dog that can dig up loot after cleared rooms, which gives you more room to recover from mistakes.
- Shoot each chest once with your starting gun before you open it. Skipping this step can bring a Mimic down on you. Losing health is bad, but wasting a Key on a Mimic is worse.
- Keep at least one Key in reserve, and explore the whole floor before you spend Keys or Shells. A better chest or shop item may turn up in a room you haven't reached yet. Having a Key on hand also lets you open a chest with a lit fuse before it explodes and destroys its contents.
- Save Blanks and your strongest ammo for bosses. Beating a boss in one of the first five chambers without taking any damage earns a Master Round, which adds one heart container to your maximum health. Bosses on secret floors don't give one, so don't count on it there.
- Flip a table when one is nearby. A flipped table clears the bullets around it and gives you cover, so it can save you a Blank or a dodge roll.
- Take a breath and sweep each floor before going down, especially right after a boss. Check the shop, talk to every NPC, open any chests you skipped, and try the common secret room spots if you have spare Blanks. Forgetting a purchase or an NPC reward on one floor often leaves you short on the next.