This Bizarre Cat RPG Is Finally Releasing After 14 Years

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It’s a common story: a game is announced with a big presentation, fans get hyped, and the development team works incredibly hard. But sometimes, despite all the excitement, these games never actually come out. They become known as “vaporware” – interesting ideas that sadly never launch. This happened with a strange RPG about cats. All anyone ever saw were bits of concept art, mysterious messages, and small clues about a game that seemed too unusual, too grand in scope, and too different to ever be finished.

After a 14-year wait, Mewgenics finally has a release date! Creator Edward McMillen is known for his unusual games, but this complex cat-breeding RPG—a mix of turn-based strategy and roguelike elements—seemed so ambitious that fans weren’t surprised it took so long to develop. When it launches on February 10th, 2026, Mewgenics could be a truly unique game, offering a level of depth that could influence the future of roguelike game design.

Mewgenics Might Be One of the Weirdest Games (In a Good Way)

Mewgenics has never shied away from being unusual. From the start, it combined strategic RPG battles with managing cat genetics, permanent character death, unpredictable mutations, and a whole lot of chaotic feline action. Over time, it’s evolved beyond a simple gimmick into a full-fledged roguelike where you don’t just control a team – you breed, mutate, improve, combine, and evolve cats in countless ways to build the ultimate feline fighting force.

Okay, so as a huge fan, let me tell you about Mewgenics. Basically, each cat starts with different characteristics, and those characteristics shape its personality. That personality then impacts how it fights, and when they fight, they can gain mutations! Those mutations then get passed down when they breed, which means every single playthrough is this crazy, unpredictable simulation of feline evolution just… going wild. There are over 1000 different abilities and 900 items to think about, plus how the environment affects everything. One minute I’m carefully building a powerful team, the next I’m scrambling to deal with a cat that randomly bursts into flames and has a compulsion to steal things! Seriously, the game has so much variety because of these weird and wonderful cats, that no two runs ever feel the same.

What really grabbed me about Mewgenics is how alive it feels to play. Everything – every little trait you give your creatures – actually matters and combines in surprising ways. It’s amazing how even small choices can lead to totally unexpected, but still interesting, results. There are a lot of games where each run feels different, but Mewgenics is trying to do something more than just offer variety. And honestly? It succeeds because it’s just so wonderfully weird and doesn’t shy away from being different.

Binding of Isaac Proved McMillen Makes Weird Work

To see why people are so excited about Mewgenics, it helps to remember The Binding of Isaac. Originally released in 2011 as a simple online experiment, The Binding of Isaac quickly became a popular and influential indie game. It was a dark and unusual roguelike, filled with religious imagery, strange humor, and unpredictable combinations of items. Its success showed that unique, personal game design can appeal to a huge audience and even create entirely new types of games.

I’ve always loved how Edmund McMillen makes games that feel both totally unpredictable and strangely meaningful. He’s a master of letting things happen in the game, creating these moments that just… emerge. Take The Binding of Isaac, for example. It wasn’t just about being difficult; it was amazing because every single run felt unique, like a weird, delicate thing that happened specifically to me thanks to how the game kept changing. It felt personal, you know?

Mewgenics feels like a natural step forward from our previous work. It shares the same core ideas: a huge selection of items, tons of different ways to build your character, unexpected combinations, and the idea that players make their own unique experiences through how everything interacts. However, while Isaac created chaos through items and fighting, Mewgenics achieves this through living creatures that have their own personalities, genetics, feelings, and weaknesses.

This game feels more dynamic and engaging than anything the creator has done previously. The cats aren’t simply pieces to be moved around; they’re fully realized characters with their own stories. They’ll build a lineage by passing down characteristics to their kittens, and grow and change over time. It’s similar to Isaac, but instead of each playthrough being self-contained, your choices have lasting effects that impact future generations.

Roguelike Games Could Be Changed Forever Because of Cats

Roguelike games have become incredibly popular over the past ten years. Titles like Hades, Dead Cells, Slay the Spire, Darkest Dungeon, Risk of Rain, and Rogue Legacy – along with many others – have brought randomly generated gameplay to a wider audience. However, as the genre has grown, many new roguelikes now follow similar patterns, including random items, challenging combat, flexible progression, and persistent upgrades that carry over between runs.

Mewgenics offers a fresh take on the roguelike genre, moving away from traditional loot-focused gameplay. Instead of finding better gear, you change the genetics of your creatures. Rather than perfecting a character build, you guide their evolution. This creates a uniquely diverse experience, not through random item drops, but through the endless possibilities of breeding.

If this game lives up to expectations, it could kickstart a fresh generation of roguelike games. These wouldn’t just offer different character builds, but characters that actually evolve based on how you play. It’s more than just being able to play again and again. Plus, after 14 years of development – including being completely restarted and redesigned multiple times – Mewgenics is incredibly detailed and complex.

Every playthrough will feel unique, not due to random chance, but because the combination of character traits is incredibly diverse. This kind of deep variety is unusual even in the best roguelike games, and it could set a new standard for how future games create a truly unpredictable experience.

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2025-12-08 23:13