Mewgenics was in development for 14 years, but these top five features prove it was all worth it

The dino-like Pyrophina beast in Mewgenics roars, shaking the screen — (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)

Mewgenics is a tactics roguelike that shares a creator with The Binding of Isaac, so it's safe to say it's not only become one of the best roguelikes for clawing at my time, but one that's finally got me to understand the appeal of tactics RPGs thanks to its quickfire battles throughout each adventure.

I can't put it down, and I can see why we called it a "dense, detailed, and hugely varied strategy roguelike" in our Mewgenics review – I've only just begun to chip away at Act 2 and I've never had two runs go quite the same way, flipping between feeling like a feline king and a drenched, unlucky alleycat. So many systems collide, but they all work together to create an anecdote engine that always delivers on new curiosities. But you know what they say about curiosities and cats. Join me as I try to explain just why I'm so obsessed, and take a look at all the reasons I'm loving Mewgenics so far.

5. Immaculately weird vibes

The rain man sees what we be doing and he tells on us, says a character in Mewgenics as it rains. — (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)

Sure, anyone who played The Binding of Isaac, the last roguelike from creator Edmund McMillen, could tell you there was no way Mewgenics wasn't going to be a bit weird – but while it plays in the same space, I love the completely unique flavor this feline raiser has. A game about breeding cats for battle is strange enough, but Mewgenics doesn't shy away from the dark aspects of that, including pawning off your no-longer-useful pets for bonuses, leading them to unknown fates. Bosses and enemies are bizarre too, playing into their mechanics – from a mini-boss shark that always targets bleeding units, friend or foe, to a recurring zombie cat fight who is more decomposed each time. The atmosphere is all-encompassing, and sometimes I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or both.

4. Housewarming

Mewgenics breeding — (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)

Each Mewgenics run can take a while to complete (thankfully, you can suspend play during them), which makes each palette cleanser back at your house feel like a real port in a storm. Here, you can buy furniture, build rooms, and make the perfect haven for your cats – trying to raise various stats to make them comfortable enough to pass along their own stats to a new generation through breeding, or at the very least to not accidentally kill or maim one another by a fight breaking out (try keeping 20 cats in a small room and see what happens). Even here, you can only control so much – you might not always get the offspring you want, or your purr-fect cat might pick up an injury that scuttles your plans, but that's all part of Mewgenics.

3. Chaotic combos

A chaotic fight with Guillotina's third phase, with multiple sentient rocks, cleric clones, and enemy maggots in Mewgenics — (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)

Each cat can be assigned one of several different classes (think mage, thief, cleric, etc.) when you set out on an adventure, each randomly drawing starting skills and abilities and then having you pick new ones to learn each time they level up. Gear you uncover can then also apply unique passive effects. Which is all to say, what if you have a necromancer who can deal damage to every enemy when they die, but can also negate taking a debuffing injury when they're downed, and then also be revived in one turn thanks to a cleric with super high intelligence to do it all over again? Or a bulky tank that, whenever they spawn rocks, they become sentient allies, who can then smash the ground to generate those new friends while also petrifying enemies, and spawn rocks whenever they take even minor damage? You're constantly stumbling on new ways to break Mewgenics.

2. Random kitty generation

A cat encounters a hole similar to Junji Ito's in Mewgenics — (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)

Part of why it's so fun to break Mewgenics with devious cat strategies is that if you're unlucky, Mewgenics is just as capable of breaking you in turn. Much of that comes down to trying to make the most of random chance. More often than not you're relying on the roll of the dice for random events to be kind to you, or to deliver the possibility of a fantastic synergy into your paws. Where some other great games in the genre, like Hades 2, can allow you to easily chase your favorite builds through each boon selection, Mewgenics is content to throw a mess of stuff your way and ask you to get your mitts dirty trying to figure it out. Sometimes it can feel like you're getting piled on with a bully circle, but it makes the times everything fits together – good luck meeting shrewd planning – that you feel like a kitty genius.

1. The path less traveled

The cowboy cat from the desert in Mewgenics — (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)

Mewgenics starts out relatively slow to give you time to get a feel (or should I say feline) for its action, but once you get stuck in fur real it quickly opens up. Multiple starting routes, branching paths both inside of and between zones, and the constant option to return home after each boss if you're worried your cats can't push any further mean you have a lot of choice in how you progress. Not only does this mean I can always vary up my runs, but also that focusing on certain environments means I can drill into unravelling specific secrets. Back when I was still trawling over Act 1, all my buddies, much later in the game, were surprised at the lengths bashing my head into the hardest challenges was taking me – there's hidden, dark truths buried deep in them caves.

"We could have just made The Binding of Isaac 2," say Mewgenics creators, and a "very easy" sequel to one of the greatest roguelikes ever "would have gotten 20 million wishlists like one second after announcing it"