How to reach Mewgenics' secret areas

Mewgenics secret areas
(Image credit: Edmund McMillen | Tyler Glaiel)

Mewgenics has some big secrets. Namely, secret areas at the end of routes that you need to figure out how to unlock. Act 1's secret area is vital for progressing through Act 3, while Act 2's will unlock the final class in the game (check out our Mewgenics collars guide for that one). So here's how you can unlock these, and the deadly house bosses you'll be dealing with.

Both these challenges will require you defeat some bosses, deal with some tricky to manage items, and reach certain areas to do specific things with them. It's the sort of task that might take you a while to figure out, or you can cut to the chase with my handy guide where I lay out the various things you need to do below.

Mewgenics Act 1 home boss and Secret area

Mewgenics Act 1 home boss and Secret area

(Image credit: Edmund McMillen | Tyler Glaiel)

After completing Act 1 of Mewgenics, you'll get a cutscene with a warning. Guillotina is coming. This marks the first House Boss in Mewgenics, which are special bosses that are fought with Retired Cats. You'll need to fight her three times, and each time you'll be given a quest item that are key to unlocking The Throbbing Domain. Here's what to expect:

  1. Guillotina 1: Throbbing Gristle - This item is pretty standard and your run will pretty much be exactly the same… except for the slight hiccup that every single unit will immediately explode once they get downed, including your cats, taking them away from the rest of the run. Take this item to the Wall of Flesh at the end of the Caves.
  2. Guillotina 2: Putrid Leech - The Putrid Leech shares the "you can't get downed" trait with the Throbbing Gristle, but thankfully only has its effects on the cat carrying it this time around. However, said cat can also not level up over the course of the entire run. But on the plus side they get lifesteal. Take this item to the Throbbing Artery at the end of The Boneyard.

After completing these you'll have access to The Throbbing Domain, but you'll only find an altar at which you can sacrifice a cat. There's one more thing you need to do to see what it has to offer:

  1. Guillotina 3: Guillotina's Head - After defeating Guillotina for the third and final time, you'll get Guillotina's Head. This makes battles harder, enemies will attack you and gives you a higher chance to inflict the fear status effect on your enemies.

Take this head to the Throbbing Domain and place it on the sacrificial altar to unlock the area.

Mewgenics Act 2 home bosses and Secret area

Mewgenics Act 2 home bosses and Secret area

(Image credit: Edmund McMillen | Tyler Glaiel)

In Act 2 of Mewgenics the home bosses are little different to unlock. At the end of both routes you'll find a monolith obelisk (like out of 2001: A Space Odyssey). Beating The Core will cause Pyrothina to head to your house – a fire breathing Kaiju cat (bring water bottles from The Mewgenics desert for this fight, thank me later) – while beating The Moon will cause Zaratana – a big Gamera-like Kaiju who spins a lot – to emerge. You'll get an item for defeating each Kaiju to activate the monolith.

  1. Defeat Pyrothina: Burning Orb - Once you take down Pyrothina you'll be given the Burning Orb item. This item causes you to stack burn every single turn, unless you hot-potato the item to another cat on your team during a turn. To make matters worse it gives adjacent targets burn upon landing, so be careful.

You need to reach The Moon and feed the Burning Orb to The Man on The Moon. You can do this by having the cat holding orb walk in front of the boss' mouth, once he munches the boss will be killed instantly (and your cat will be fine), you can then activate the monolith on the moon.

  1. Defeat Zaratanna: The Shard - The Shard is a weapon that needs to be charged. It starts out doing 1 damage, and you need to kill a unit with it to charge it up, with the damage going up every time. So killing one will make it do 2 damage, and so on until it reaches 20 kills.

The Shard can be charged over multiple runs, but if you die while holding it it will go back to the start. Plus if you have the likes of a Necromancer or Hunter, you can cull any of your low-health familiars to charge it.

Once the Shard is charged it starts glowing purple. Take this version to The Core and attack The Coven with it. This will kill the boss instantly and you can then activate the Monolith at the core

To make matters worse, upon defeating both Kaiju, they will start beefing and fight each other outside of your house, and you'll need to take down one while avoiding getting crushed. Whichever Kaiju wins, you'll get their collar and need to take them to the Monolith on the opposite route than they spawned from. Depending on the Kaijhu you'll get one of these:

  • Pyrothina's Collar – Pyrothina will join you on battles, and wants to go to the Monolith on The Moon
  • Zaratanna's Collar – Zaratanna will join you on battles, and wants to go to the Monolith at The Core

I'd recommend taking down Pyrothina during the fight as I personally find The Crater and The Moon to be a way harder route than The Bunker and The Core. It took me forever to get Pyrothina through there – not helped by the fact that the Crater Maker can instantly kill her with its devour move. Completing this unlocks The Rift which is a wild place, with a unique status effect that will switch up your cats abilities.

Is there a Mewgenics act 3 secret area?

Despite over 100 hours played, I haven't discovered Act 3's Home Boss or secret area, but I'd be willing to wager that after beating both routes a Home Boss will emerge, and upon defeating them you'll get a special item each time to take to the end of a run to unlock a secret area. But as of right now, I can't tell you what that is.

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Scott McCrae
Contributor

Scott has been freelancing for over three years across a number of different gaming publications, first appearing on GamesRadar+ in 2024. He has also written for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, VG247, Play, TechRadar, and others. He's typically rambling about Metal Gear Solid, God Hand, or any other PS2-era titles that rarely (if ever) get sequels.

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