1 
0 Do you love cats, do you love turn-base games?! If so, then from the mind that created The Binding of Isaac, The legend of Bumbo, and Gish, Comes Mewgenics. A game all about breeding felines ready for fighting. Aim to get the best of your little fur balls as you send them out into the world to cause hell. Expect various items, monsters, and jokes when it releases on Steam for £24.99
Make them babies!
Gameplay
Boy, where to start with Mewgenics, there are a lot of gameplay mechanics that are thrown at you all at once in the beginning. But with some time, you will come to understand them. Send cats out and beef them up and gain new skills/ passives. If they survive and once they return home – which you are able to do when reaching the end of a stage, they shall become retired and unable to venture out again. However, this is not the end of their use. When the player ends the day, the cats will have a chance to breed with each other. While sometimes they may fight depending on the comfort level of the house. Kittens that spawn will sometimes inherit traits from the parents, such as stats and at times skills.
If you have an ideal pair of cats you wish to breed then, from what I’ve noticed, sticking them in the same room of your house helps. And this plays a massive part into Mewgenic’s gameplay loop. Sadly, not all our four-legged friends will have good stats or be compatible. So it is best to put them out of their misery… by sending them to a new home! That way, the player will get upgrades to the house which benefit them, and the lil’fella retires in luxury. Maybe not with Butch, though.
Collars and Items.
You are able to send out four cats on an adventure, but before that we are able to equip them with collars. Each collar acts as a class that changes a cat’s stats, some might suit others betters. For example, the Tank collar offers more constitution, but will lower speed. So giving it to a cat who fits this is an obvious choice. But of course I know someone out there will be able to make any of the class an absolute monster. Like I mentioned before, sending cats to specific homes will give rewards, and to unlock more collars. The player is able to send cats who have met his requirements. Specifically, a certain stage in the adventure, like the caves.
Other useful items will be collect through-out your play-through, which offer useful buffs, or bonuses. Like the sniper rifle, it has a limited use, but is able to insta-kill any normal mob. I was able to find three pieces of the rat king clothing, which granted a set bonus. Items are stored at the house on beating/returning from a run. Too many, however, will be lost at the end of the day.
Some info on breeding cats.
Breeding will be what takes most of your time in Mewgenics, and this is the game’s most interesting point. So I shall do my best to provide some info. When it comes to stats transferring, it only takes the base stats, which isn’t what I thought it would be. This means the bonuses you earn through their adventures isn’t beneficial besides the skill they earn. Like passives, you found useful. An example this is there is a parent with 7 for their strength stat, and the other has 3. It has a higher chance of gaining the higher number. Which means there is going to be a lot of trial an error.
And the process does need to meet some requirement as well. Some cats are homosexual, that explains itself, but then there are transgendered cats. These guys can breed with either gender, which makes them ideal when it comes to making kittens. Other things to take into account are various libido, and aggression levels, all of which can be changed thanks to the house’s overall stats. Lastly, and this kinda a more logical saying. Don’t inbreed your cats! They can cause nasty mutations.
Sending your cats out into the world
After all the prep work and breeding trials, we can now talk about the other side of the game. You will battle through a small map that is filled with battles and little scenarios. The scenarios are where your cat’s stats will be used and is displayed with the respected symbol and colour to match. Succeeding may offer buffs or items to aid your party further along. Failures might cause mutations or status effects (mutations being worse). Combat is turn based, and the player faces off against foe that match the theme of the stage they are in. Like spiders in a cave or undead in a graveyard. Make sure to really utilize your surroundings, especially at the beginning when you don’t have any high stat cats yet.
There are rocks on tiles for the players to launch and deal decent damage to enemies. Or water to shock. Mewgenics allows for a lot of creativity with the combat, so try and use everything you see. One of my best runs, was thanks to having a lot of familiars that I could summon, thanks to gear and spells. Which then made it nearly harder for the enemies to attack my main party. Midway, and at the end, are bosses. Their difficulties I felt range from wow, this guy sucks, to, please let me be. Without really giving details, I mean the graveyard boss. That was annoying. But it did let me discover a fun mechanic.
Graphics & Audio
the art-style is quirky, cute, and funny and creepy all at once. Colour palette akin to a damp, dingy basement, Mewgenics features a variety of both cats and enemies varying up and down the scale between saying ‘aww’ and ‘ew’. The varying cat meows catch you off guard, along with the fantastic soundtrack. My particular favourites are ‘Flush’ and ‘Eatin’ Rats!’, which has no right being as jazzy and catchy as it is. Visually and audibly, Mewgenics perfectly encapsulates Edmund’s creativity, humour and strangeness.
Longevity
As of writing this review, I have managed to clock in nearly 38 hours into Mewgenics. And this is just to act 1 of the game, as I was trying to beat all end stages with each class. Each run keeps things fresh thanks to the various skill you are able to unlock. It is easy to say you could get a lot out replayability out of it. Also, it may be possible for more content in the future, which will add a lot more content. Here is a tweet from Edmund saying he could possibly see himself working on it for 5 years.
Final Thoughts
Easily another creative game, from Edmund, that you can stick 100s of hours into Mewgenics, thanks to how replayable the game is. The breeding system will easily sink its claws into the min-maxers out there, and combat is wacky, chaotic and filled with character. Just like The Binding of Isaac, you are offered so much content to unravel and secrets to find. Mewgenics is an easy game to play, but hard to meowster. And if you know Edmund’s other titles, then you know what to expect. Gameplay is all done with the mouse, but Mewgenics offers full controller support, which I preferred.
When it comes to breeding, I am two minds about it. I like how it works, but I end up always feeling like I am doing something wrong. No matter how, I set up my house, or what cats I used. But I guess there is some fun in the frustration it brings, since when you do achieve a kitten with brilliant stats it feels so rewarding.
I think Mewgenics fully deserves the Thumb Culture Gold Award. Mainly for providing a fun, and fresh idea. All while keeping his signature style, his fans (and myself) have come to enjoy.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
YouTube |Facebook |Twitter |Instagram |Discord |Podcast
About Author
