After a 14-year wait, Mewgenics is finally here. Created by Ed McMillen, known for Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac, the top-down strategy game has players breed and raise countless cats to progress through the three acts, each with special abilities and stats. We’ve been enjoying the game, giving it a ⅘ thanks to its incredible replayability.

However, part of Mewgenics’ appeal is how you progress through the game with the cats you’re given. Thanks to procedurally generated felines, each player’s experience through the game is different. This is why we’ll be giving you some tips on what to watch out for in this starter guide for Mewgenics, so you’ll be ready to face certain dangers.

Mewgenics gives you the ability to be the ultimate cat hoarder by training up procedurally-generated cats in your home, meaning no playthrough is the same. Granted, the three Acts and the bosses are similar, but the different cats you breed and raise will undoubtedly change the outcome of every match. These depend on defense, speed, range, and special abilities that can help your chances throughout every battle on the grid.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different combinations of cats, either. This can lead to some surprising results that could give some felines special attacks. One of the best places to do this is at your Home. Reminiscent of the late 1990s mini-games of Tamagotchi and Chao Garden from the Sonic Adventure games, it’s a place where you can raise your cats and discover new ones via breeding and collecting strays as the days pass.

Home also features stats, such as Appeal, Comfort, Health, Mutation, and Stimulation. These can affect the abilities of the cats you raise, as well as those that are created from breeding. For example, Stimulation improves inheritance of parent stats and abilities, and High Comfort increases the chances of breeding. You can also maintain your house by placing furniture and cleaning it regularly, which can result in the majority of your cats’ stats improving exponentially over time.

The levels themselves, consisting of three acts, feature a bunch of hazards. From traps to bombs, quick-moving enemies, and the already-iconic bosses, it’s crucial to use the grid wisely. For example, using Fighters and Tanks to hold the frontline will be crucial, while a Hunter can be great to hold back for those special attacks. Remember to take your time and train your cats up as much as you can before you go into battle again. It could be a rough time when you decide to approach a boss like Gambit again.

Despite a linear path to each level, with different enemies and stats to match your cats’, there are some unlockable levels to find. Below is the full list of Mewgenics’ levels, along with hidden ones and how to unlock them.

Act 1

The Sewers

The Alley

Caves

Junkyard – Complete the hard mode of The Alley

Boneyard

Throbbing Domain – Remove the flesh wall at Caves, as well as the vein wall at Boneyard. At the altar, sacrifice a cat, and if done correctly, you can reach this level

Act 2

Desert

The Crater

The Moon

Bunker

The Core

Act 3

The Lab

Ice Age

Jurassic

As you progress through Mewgenics, you’ll collect a vast number of cats with varying skills, which will fall into certain classes. You start with five, and eventually end up with a total of 14 once you reach the madness of Act 3.

Tier Cat Classes
S   Cleric, Fighter, Hunter, Monk  
A   Necromancer, Mage, Tank  
B   Butcher, Joker, Thief  
C   Collarless, Druid, Psychic, Tinkerer  

But it’s important to note the S-Tier and its four classes, starting with Cleric. This is one of the best classes in Mewgenics thanks to its healing ability. If you find yourself slowly losing a battle, the Cleric could help turn the tide. There’s also the Fighter, a melee-based cat that can deal a lot of damage thanks to its Leap ability and others, making it easier in some situations when you need to finish a fight quicker than usual.

With Hunter, this cat class can lay traps across the grid, luring some enemies and having them take plenty of damage. Finally, Monk is the most unique of cat classes, due to it being able to pull off both melee and range-based attacks, making it a shoo-in for the S-Tier.

For Class A, Necromancer, Mage, and Tank are strong allies to have in your team, thanks to their strong range attacks. But we recommend positioning them across the grid early on so they can land some serious damage to enemies in order to take advantage of their abilities.

Class B, consisting of Butcher, Joker, and Thief, all focus on quick and unpredictable attacks, making them ideal for taking advantage of certain grid spaces to take down some enemies. However, they can be prone to fainting more quickly than the other classes, so make sure they have some strong defensive stats.

Class C features Collarless, Druid, Psychic, and Tinkerer, but don’t count them out because they’re in the lowest ranking. All four of these are very useful for experimenting in certain matches when you’re on the cusp of winning a fight, letting you figure out some different tactics as you head towards one of the many bosses in Mewgenics. Just don’t rely on them in multiple fights concurrently, however.

Mewgenics features some impressive bossesthat can remind players of The Binding of Isaac thanks to its similar designs by Ed McMillen. From Radical Rat to the Crater Maker, each boss offers a huge challenge for you and your procedural cats, and you’ll likely find yourself restarting the battle as you progress further.

These bosses are the ones we’ve found so far, with none in Act 3 at the time of writing. However, due to the many surprises and hidden levels Mewgenics offers, we’ll be set to update this guide if we find more, or if McMillen and Glaiel decide to add more via DLC in the near future.

Act 1 Boss Name Type Notes
Alley   Radical Rat   End-of-Zone   Throws bombs, fast dash, vulnerable after bomb throw  
Alley   Queen Hippo   End-of-Zone   Charges for knockback, stomps, and swipe attacks  
Sewers   Boris   End-of-Zone   Large blob; area slam, spawns smaller blobs on hit  
Caves   Spinnerette   End-of-Zone   Spins webs to trap cats, spawns spiderlings  
Junkyard   Chubs ’n’ Nubs   End-of-Zone   Duo fight; Chubs stomps, Nubs throws junk  
Boneyard   Dybbuk   End-of-Zone   Teleports, phasing attacks, hard to hit  
Secret Zone   Throbbing King   Secret Boss   Pulsing shockwaves, summons minions, multi-phase  

Act 2 Boss Name Type Notes
Desert   Zodiac   End-of-Zone   Ranged gun attacks, rapid dash, vulnerable when reloading  
Desert   Gambit   End-of-Zone   Dice-based attack pattern; area bursts, random buffs  
Act 2 Route   Dust Devil   Combat Boss   Summons tornadoes, spins to deal area damage  
Bunker   Johnny   End-of-Zone   Calls attendants for attacks, melee swipes  
Crater   Crater Maker   End-of-Zone   Stomps, rock projectiles, and environmental hazards  
Core   The Coven   End-of-Zone   Ritual spells, summons minions, buffs allies  

Is Mewgenics a roguelike? 

Yes, Mewgenics is a roguelike, as the core of the game revolves around experimentation with builds to make forward progression. 

What happened to Mewgenics?

Mewgenics was originally announced by Team Meat in 2012 as a follow-up to the 2010 game Super Meat Boy. The project entered development hell and was cancelled in 2016, only to be revived in 2018 as the version of the game we have now.

How long was Mewgenics in development?

Despite the 14-year wait, Mewgenics as we know it was developed in eight years by the two-person team of Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel. 

What engine was Mewgenics made in?

Mewgenics was made in the Glaiel Game Engine. Tyler Glaiel has long advocated for more indie developers to make their own game engine, so it’s not surprising that his skills were utilized here. 

How to make your own game engine (and why) (Medium)