Usually, the word 'cat' is synonymous with 'cute'. Whether they are the subject of a game or the protagonist, they are often portrayed as balls of fluff or mischievous troublemakers. But here is a game where the cats are, frankly, quite disturbing. Enter Mewgenics, a roguelike officially launched on February 10th. It is also famous as the latest project from Edmund McMillen, the mastermind behind the Binding of Isaac series.

Despite sinking about 30 hours into it, I’ve barely scratched the surface—maybe a third of the way through. The sheer volume of content, paired with the tightly-knit systems and tactical combat, is genuinely addictive. At first, the cats looked adorable, but the further I progressed, the more I felt like a mad scientist running twisted experiments. The cats and creatures only grew more grotesque by the day.

The title 'Mewgenics' is a cheeky portmanteau of 'Meow' and 'Genetics'. It also bears a phonetic resemblance to 'eugenics'—that infamous, pseudo-scientific practice of breeding for 'superior' traits—and that is entirely intentional on the developer's part. After all, breeding superior cats is the very heart of the game's loop.

You start the game with a humble set of cats. The narrative is simple enough: you are awakened by a mad scientist named 'Dr. Beanis', who tasks you with collecting stray cats from the village for his bizarre experiments. You begin your perilous journey in a dilapidated shack with just two cats in tow.

The story, much like the game's systems, is deeply unsettling. It is probably better for your mental health to stop pondering the lore and just get on with the gameplay. After the tutorial, the real madness begins. At the end of each day, you are treated to a rather shocking cutscene of your two cats mating, resulting in a kitten. Within a day, that kitten grows into an adult, ready to be sent off on a mission.

The oddities don't stop there. Mewgenics features a unique roguelike structure where you deploy cats and eventually retire them. You send up to four cats on an adventure; if they return safely, they retire. Once retired, they can never go on a mission again. In the context of 'adventuring', every cat is effectively disposable.

The adventures follow a stage-based format common in turn-based roguelikes. You navigate through combat, events, and treasure chests, with a formidable boss waiting at the end of each zone. Clearing a combat stage levels up one of your cats, allowing you to choose new skills or boost stats.

Combat is strictly turn-based. Unless you have specific skills, you get one attack and one move per turn, while skills can be spammed as long as your mana holds out. The 'Speed' stat is critical here—it dictates turn order and movement range—so you must be very careful with your levelling choices and equipment.

These turn-based battles are impressively structured. The enemies carry McMillen’s signature style—based on real animals like cats or dogs, but twisted into something uncanny. Many 'trash' mobs have their own gimmicks; for instance, the cat 'Jekyll' will flee for three turns before transforming into 'Hyde' to unleash devastating attacks, while 'Sharky' (a shark-like cat) inflicts bleed and gains extra turns for every bleeding enemy on the field.

This strategic depth shines during the mid-boss and main boss encounters. The main bosses, in particular, are designed with unique mechanics that make them a nightmare to crack. Take the first main boss, 'Radical Rat', who tosses rat bombs that detonate upon contact with fire or other explosions. However, the rat only has 1 HP, so taking it out early is a valid tactic. But beware: the weather changes by stage. If it rains in the Alley, the bombs won't ignite, forcing the boss to throw them directly at your party. The interplay between weather, gimmicks, and boss mechanics adds a wonderful layer of complexity.

Mewgenics is a complex, organic machine. You can assign different classes to your four-cat party. You start with basic roles like Fighter, Tanker, Ranger, and Magician, but eventually unlock Necromancer, Cleric, Thief, and more. Each class offers specific stat modifiers and skill pools. For example, a Fighter gains Strength but loses Intelligence, specializing in melee maneuvers and gap-closers.

The sheer variety of skills makes combat fascinating. With so many skills available, you only get four choices upon leveling up. Since your initial active skills are randomized, you might end up with a bizarre setup, like a Magician without offensive spells or a Cleric that cannot heal. The pool of skills only grows as you delve deeper.

The Cleric is a prime example of the developer's eccentric design. While they can heal allies, they also possess a variety of twisted offensive spells. Some deal damage based on how much you healed this turn, or unleash massive impact damage based on missing health—they are far from your typical support.

Items further amplify these builds. For instance, a Cleric can gain a passive that applies their health regeneration to all allies. If you then grab the 'Caretaker' passive (which self-heals for half of the amount healed to allies) and equip the 'Hero's Helmet' for +2 health regen, you create a powerful tank that heals allies for 4 HP every turn while regenerating 10+ HP themselves. It’s a tragedy that you can only use such a meticulously built cat for a single mission.

Once a mission ends, the cat retires. From then on, they exist primarily to produce offspring or participate in special events. This is where the game’s second core layer kicks in: the 'eugenics simulator'. It’s all about iterative breeding to cultivate stronger, more genetically gifted cats.

Traits, stats, and mutations are inherited randomly. Mutations can be acquired through events or breeding—sometimes a cat is injected with a strange serum, or a bizarre incident alters their form. For example, a mutation that causes horns to sprout from the eyes might lower accuracy (the 'Blind' status) but drastically increase attack power. Since there are powerful mutations with no downsides, maximizing your cat's potential during their one adventure and getting them home safely is paramount.

However, breeding isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Constant inbreeding increases the risk of congenital disabilities. Cats also fight at night, and if you’re unlucky, one might die. Nothing raises your blood pressure quite like losing a carefully bred 'masterpiece' to a random, absurd death.

Retired cats have other uses, too. You can adopt them out to various NPCs. While they disappear from your roster, providing enough cats unlocks housing buffs. Furthermore, once you pass certain milestones, powerful 'House Bosses' will pay your home a visit. You can deploy your retired cats to defend against them, though given the immense HP and attack power of these bosses, it’s a desperate struggle.

The way Mewgenics' systems interlock makes for an incredibly long playtime. Clearing Chapter 1, Area 3 triggers an event that opens Chapter 2, but the requirements are steep. Even after beating the Chapter 1 boss multiple times, I didn't unlock Chapter 2 until 18 hours in, simply because I kept failing the specific conditions or didn't understand the requirements.

The cycle of raising and breeding cats is time-consuming, and each combat encounter is a slow, turn-based affair that requires serious thought, often lasting 30 minutes to an hour. The constant drip-feed of new content, combined with tight systems, makes it hard to put down.

That said, the reliance on RNG can be stressful. Some event stages fundamentally alter the game loop. For instance, in the Chapter 1, Area 3 cave, a scarecrow sometimes appears with 999 HP, spewing dust that deals 1 damage to random targets. My Magician, built for multi-hit attacks, ended up only targeting the scarecrow, leading to a disastrous run where I lost a cat I desperately wanted to keep.

Luck is a staple of the roguelike genre, and it certainly adds flavor. However, the sheer length of a Mewgenics campaign means that luck-based frustration can become a bit fatiguing. Of course, optimizing your play to mitigate that luck is clearly part of the developer’s intent.

Mewgenics is a fascinating, deeply organic roguelike. If you’re the type of gamer who loves to sink their teeth into a complex system, I highly recommend it. However, if turn-based combat or the roguelike genre aren't your cup of tea, the high difficulty and barrier to entry might be off-putting. And if you’re not a fan of McMillen’s signature blend of cute-meets-gore, you should probably steer clear. While some might argue it’s 'tamer' than the Binding of Isaac, that first visceral cutscene of the House Boss Guillotina was quite the shock for me.