Mewgenics provides the best proof yet that the turn-based tactics genre is the true home of drama and excitement in gaming

Mewgenics provides the best proof yet that the turn-based tactics genre is the true home of drama and excitement in gaming | PC Gamer Skip to main content Open menu Close main menu PC Gamer THE GLOBAL AUTHORITY ON PC GAMES US Edition UK US Canada Australia Subscribe Sign in View Profile Sign out Search Search PC Gamer Games Hardware News Reviews Guides Video Forum More PC Gaming Show Software Movies & TV Codes Coupons Magazine Newsletter Affiliate links Meet the team Community guidelines About PC Gamer PC Gamer Magazine SubscriptionWhy subscribe?Subscribe to the world’s #1 PC gaming magTry a single issue or save on a subscriptionIssues delivered straight to your door or device From$1Subscribe now Don’t miss these Roguelike Mewgenics DLC is coming, but Edmund McMillen says he and co-creator Tyler Glaiel want to take a few months to ‘fully understand what people really like about the game’ before they start on it Roguelike Mewgenics review: The creator of The Binding of Isaac has transcended his own past work with this sprawling, ridiculous, and endlessly surprising roguelike Roguelike Mewgenics co-creator Edmund McMillen says ‘people need to get more creative with their hate’ in response to disappointment over controversial cameo meows Strategy ‘We have made back our development budget after 3 hours’: Mewgenics explodes to number one Steam seller 14 years after its announcement Roguelike ‘I told you so!’: As Mewgenics roars past 250,000 copies sold in less than a day, Edmund McMillen says ‘I knew this game would eventually see the light of day, and I knew it would be my best work’ Roguelike Mewgenics breeding tips to create the best cat army Roguelike It’s going to take you over 500 hours to 100% complete Mewgenics, according to creator Edmund McMillen Roguelike Weird roguelike tactical cats game Mewgenics release date and launch time Roguelike Cult of the Lamb may be a murder-happy fever dream, but the devs have principles: ‘We wouldn’t want to fleece players’ Roguelike Best Mewgenics classes and how to unlock all collars Sim One of the best-reviewed new games on Steam right now is about feeding raccoons and cryptids with the cosmic, Lynchian oven of your eerie woodland house Games PC Gamer’s Game of the Year Awards 2025 Roguelike Mewgenics has its very own Mr. Resetti that’ll make ‘a brain slushie’ out of you and curse your cats if you save scum: ‘No, seriously, I dish out IRL curses’ Roguelike ‘It’s weird in the industry right now’: Cult of the Lamb’s devs still have faith that the indie scene will continue dishing out ‘smash hits’ Games The best laptop games PopularArc RaidersBest PC gearFalloutHelldivers 2PC Gamer Quizzes! Games Roguelike Mewgenics Mewgenics provides the best proof yet that the turn-based tactics genre is the true home of drama and excitement in gaming Features By Robin Valentine published 14 February 2026 Treat me mean, keep me keen. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter PC Gamer Get the PC Gamer Newsletter Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Want to add more newsletters? Every Friday GamesRadar+ Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you’re going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them. Signup + Every Thursday GTA 6 O’clock Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O’clock experts. Signup + Every Friday Knowledge From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what’s on the horizon. Signup + Every Thursday The Setup Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more. Signup + Every Wednesday Switch 2 Spotlight Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo’s new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play. Signup + Every Saturday The Watchlist Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we’ve got you covered. Signup + Once a month SFX Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month! Signup + An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Last month, I acknowledged that turn-based tactics can be seen as an intimidating genre. But it can also be seen as a boring one—full of dry, fiddly battles and endless sheets of numbers.Sometimes that’s true. But in its best examples, the turn-based tactics genre is the true home of drama and excitement in gaming.That’s exactly why Mewgenics has been such a huge smash hit this month (and scored a 92% in our review). On paper, it’s a weird, niche little project—how popular do you think “cat breeding” is as a category of game under normal circumstances? But it’s broken out in a big way because it’s such an amazing font of one of the best things gaming has to offer: emergent storytelling. Related articles Mewgenics review: The creator of The Binding of Isaac has transcended his own past work with this sprawling, ridiculous, and endlessly surprising roguelike ‘We have made back our development budget after 3 hours’: Mewgenics explodes to number one Steam seller 14 years after its announcement In defense of XCOM: Chimera Squad (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)The writing delivered in Mewgenics’ cutscenes and NPC dialogue is a goofy mishmash of early 2000s-era internet humour, but that’s not really where it tells its stories. What makes the game incredible are the very serious bones under that skin—the interactive systems that combine, collide, and clash over the course of an adventure.From the moment you select which carefully-bred cats (or random local strays, or inbred nightmares) you’re taking with you on a run, you’re throwing variables into the mix. Birth defects, diseases, inherited abilities—a sprinkling of seasoning before the real cooking begins. (Image credit: Edmund McMillen, Tyler Glaiel)Once they start travelling and fighting in earnest, the world imposes personality on your c