After 13 long years, Edmund McMillen’s cat-breeding tactical roguelite Mewgenics is finally out in the wild, and I’m pleased to report it’s another home run from The Binding of Isaac creator.
With my full review now being published (which you can find here), I’ve spent countless hours since launch sinking my claws into its deep tactical systems. Now, I’m here to share my knowledge and help you keep your nine lives intact.
Here are my top beginner tips, starting with what is arguably my most important nugget of wisdom.
Build your team with intention
It’s easy to slap four class collars on your cats and dive headfirst into a run, but rushing your setup will almost always come back to bite you later.
When building your team, aim for classes that complement each other and cover a range of threats. A balanced roster might include at least one heavy attacker (Fighter or Tank), one ranged specialist (Hunter or Mage), and a utility or support class, such as a Cleric or Thief. This ensures your team can handle different situations without leaving glaring weaknesses.
One thing I didn’t realise early on is that you don’t always need a full squad. Taking out a smaller team of just two or three cats can actually help you level up faster, since XP isn’t spread across as many units. It obviously ramps up the challenge, but it’s well worth tapping into your feline curiosity and experimenting with to find what works best.
Positioning is everything
If you’re coming straight from The Binding of Isaac or other more action-focused roguelikes, this might not be immediately obvious.
It might feel a little cheeky, but striking an enemy from behind deals extra damage, often enough to make the difference between taking down a foe or letting it wriggle on. Conversely, leaving yourself vulnerable invites enemies to exploit your position, so always be aware of your exposure.
You should always be keeping an eye on your surroundings, too. There are environmental hazards to be wary of such as falling rocks and moving water and certain bosses such as the Flushmaster will exploit these.
There are also helpful items scattered around the battlefield that you’ll want to collect. Health and armour pickups, coins for vendors, and catnip to restore mana can all make a big difference, so pay attention and plan your movement accordingly.
Use synergies to your advantage
When choosing new moves as you level up, think about how they complement both your current abilities and your overall squad.
Taking a little extra time to review your current moves and abilities, rather than picking impulsively, can make all the difference. That’s because synergies can create some truly devastating combinations, with the power to completely reshape a run.
During one run, for example, I gave my Hunter the ability to catch projectiles and use them as extra reloads for attacks. I then paired it with my Cleric, who fired multiple healing projectiles at the Hunter each turn, allowing it to unleash a continuous string of ranged attacks.
Exchange your unwanted kitties for upgrades
It might crush your soul just to think about it, but clearing out your unwanted cats is a reality you’ll have to face in Mewgenics.
By dropping your unwanted cats into the pipe to the left of your home, you can unlock upgrades for your house, the shop, cat breeding, and item management, all of which can have a major impact on your runs.
Plus, if your home gets too crowded, you run into some serious risks. Cats can poop, fall ill, or even die, which can spread diseases to your other feline warriors. It’s also a good opportunity to weed out cats with weaker stats, ensuring that only your most elite kitties pass on their genes.
Protect your cats at all costs
This one might seem obvious, but the cost for your cats getting injured is actually steeper than you might first think.
When your cats are downed, they are injured and lose a random stat point. The more this happens, the weaker they become, and it usually becomes a vicious cycle until the run ends in failure.
To counter this, consider having a Cleric on your team so that you can consistently heal team members. The other alternative is to always ensure your cats on low HP are equipped with healing consumables or items that slowly regenerate their health turn after turn.
One final thing to keep in mind: downed cats can actually die if they take too many hits after falling. By clicking on their bodies, you can see how many strikes they can still withstand. Use this information to move your other units in for protection and ensure that they stay alive.
Don’t be afraid to take the hard path
I’ll admit, on my first few runs, I shied away from the hard path, unsure of what horrors it might contain.
Little did I know that not only is this harrowing route essential for reaching areas such as The Junkyard and The Boneyard, but it also offers some pretty handsome rewards.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though, enemies are noticeably tougher, and you risk one of your feline faithful potentially getting injured.
Keep hold of those pennies
It can be tempting to spend the coins you find on the battlefield on spells or random vendor items, but we recommend being as frugal as possible.
Why hoard your newfound wealth, you ask? Coins can be spent on Rare Candy at certain merchants, which levels up a cat, restores its health, and even unlocks a new spell. This can be a lifesaver in a pinch — though the leveled-up cat is chosen at random.
Another reason to save your cash is that you can take it home at the end of runs and invest in new items for your home. These items, as mentioned earlier, support breeding and can make managing your cats much easier in the long run.
We were lucky enough to interview co-creator Tyler Glaiel recently about the game’s turn-based combat, decision to skip Early Access, and more. You can find the full interview here.
