Mewgenics Reviews
A sprawling, ridiculous, and endlessly surprising roguelike that will drag you body and soul into its chaotic world.
Mewgenics is a fantastic tactical RPG that's good for more than a hundred hours of roguelike runs. Just when you think you have it figured out it'll throw something completely unexpected and hilariously gross at you – and probably a catchy new original song, too.
"The gross-out humor and whacky build interactions that have been a key part of McMillen's work for decades don't distract"
What McMillen, Glaiel, and co. pulled off is simply paw-some. It's catnip for roguelites in all its glory, as you keep going through runs and coming back for more.
Mewgenics offers more depth and ingenuity than any strategy game I've played in years. It is also terminally unfunny, with an aesthetic, theme, and cast of characters that consistently miss the mark. If you can square yourself with the humor, there is a genuinely great game waiting here.
Mewgenics may as well be Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel's magnum opus. It's an insanely deep, tactical strategy game with addicting breeding mechanics, and a mind-boggling amount of roguelite-variety and content to play. I'm over 100 hours in, and I still can't get enough.
A roguelite strategy RPG if ever there was one, and chock-full of off-putting and/or cute kitties.
Mewgenics is a real-time strategy game with RPG elements that has players assume the role of an unnamed lab assistant to an eccentric mad scientist, tasked with procuring cats for all manner of weird shenanigans.
Mewgenics is a game that embraces chaos, randomness, and failure as central elements of its experience. It rewards players not for perfect optimization, but for skillfully managing uncertainty. Its grotesque aesthetic and challenging mechanics reflect the vision of its creator: the notion that absolute control is an illusion. Therefore, the game does not aim to be universally appealing or friendly; instead, it embodies a design philosophy that acknowledges losing as progress.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
It’s not often a game spends over a decade in development and comes out the other side looking this healthy… well, as healthy as a game about mutated, flea-ridden cats can look… but man, I loved playing Mewgenics. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly not going to be for everyone, and the gross-out humour and punishing difficulty spikes will likely turn a few people away at the door. But if you’re a fan of the darkly weird tone and love yourself a bit of in-depth tactical nuance, you’ll find one of the deepest and most rewarding strategy games to come along in years. It’s an absolute triumph, and even after 40 hours of play, I can’t wait down to sit at my PC and play some more.
All in all, [Mewgenics is] as fun as a bag full of, well, cats. And about as purrfect as you can get with a mish-mash of strategy RPGs, roguelites, and breeding simulation that goes together like cat treats and cat nip.
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Review in German | Read full review
Mewgenics is a roguelike meowsterpiece. Only Edmund and Tyler are capable of taking a concept as offensive as watching cats bang and turning it into a polished, deep, and endlessly replayable indie game hit. While the game’s striking Flash-era visual style might be a bit grating to a younger audience, those alive for the internet’s golden era will appreciate the nostalgia in the game’s presentation. So if you can stomach the rotten humour throughout Mewgenics, prepare to feast on a feline smorgasbord that will leave you feeling bloated and satisfied for months to come.
Mewgenics is one of the densest and most entertaining tactics games ever made, and I'll be discovering new stuff in it for years to come.
Mewgenics can go paw to paw with the best turn-based tactics games out there. Unsurprisingly, the tone is divisive, but the narrative is also shallow and the learning curve is beyond steep, as it can border unfair at times. What Mewgenics lacks, it overcompensates with emergent gameplay thanks to a plethora of variables, absurd creativity, and extremely deep tactics to the point that no two runs ever feel the same, which is rarified air for a roguelike. Mewgenics is a perfect amalgam of excitement, discovery, strategy, shock, and disgust, but you would expect nothing less from the minds behind The Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy and The End is Nigh. Just like catnip, Mewgenics is irresistible.
Mewgenics is a game overflowing with charm, supported by a fully authorial identity and a sharp, acidic sense of humor – something longtime fans have come to expect from its developers. Its turn-based strategic combat may feel simple or even limited during the first few hours, but as the gameplay unfolds, it reveals a unique depth, largely thanks to the roguelite system applied to the cats’ abilities and passives. Over the course of my 62 hours of gameplay, only one aspect truly bothered me: the length of the incursions, which can easily exceed 50 minutes. Even so, this "issue" can be softened by increasing combat speed to 2x or even 3x. Mewgenics stands out as a pleasant surprise of 2026, inviting players to experience firsthand the mystery and freedom of the nocturnal adventures lived by these adorable little cats.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Mewgenics is a deep and sometimes merciless game that hides strong tactical combat, huge amounts of content and an addictive roguelike, turn-based loop behind its silly look, occasionally frustrating due to RNG and predictability, but hard to put down and well worth it for players who enjoy deep systems and dark, strange humor.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
I am having an absolute blast with Mewgenics. Even after playing for over 30 hours, I can tell I have only cracked the surface of what the game has to offer. Like many roguelikes, the game’s difficulty and design demand many playthroughs and hours to build up your arsenal of resources and personal skill to beat the entire game. There is a genuinely impressive number of enemies, items, and ability synergies that are incredibly satisfying to discover. I’m looking forward to exploring new areas, experimenting with new ability combinations, and breeding new genetically monstrous kitties for many more hours. Based on how addicting Mewgenics is, I have a feeling I won’t be the only one.
While the early-2000s humor is often grating and dated, there's no denying that everything else about Mewgenics is nothing short of magnificent. This is a wildly inventive and deeply compelling hybrid of genres that will keep you occupied for years.
Review in Finnish | Read full review