After a 13-year wait from its initial reveal, Edmund McMillen’s much-anticipated cat-powered rogue, Mewgenics, is finally just one month away from release.
Best known for his work on The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy, McMillen has teamed up with Tyler Glaiel (Closure, The End Is Nigh) on what is shaping up to be 2026’s most intriguing wildcard roguelite.
With our excitement building and Mewgenics already earning a spot in our Most Anticipated round-up article, we’ve pulled together everything we know about the game so far, all in one handy feature.
We were also lucky 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.
What is Mewgenics, then?
In McMillen’s own words, Mewgenics is a procedurally generated, turn-based RPG “where there’s cats.”
Unlike his previous work, it’s a cat-breeding sim built around sending your puss-cats on procedurally-generated adventures, customising them in absurd depth, and watching strange synergies emerge. Or, as he puts it more simply: it’s The Binding of Isaac, but turn-based, more in-depth, and with cats.
First teased on YouTube with the trailer above, the project has been in development for the past six years, and it originated from McMillen’s wife’s love of rare cat breeds. These cats often come with their own health issues, which are side effects of being inbred.
How does Mewgenics play?
On each run, you control a team of four cats, clawing your way through proc-gen encounters to collect food, money and other treasures. Each cat can be fitted with a class-specific collar, such as Fighter, Tank, Mage and more, and learns new abilities as it levels up.
According to the game’s Steam page, players will have access to over 1,000 unique abilities, around 75 per class, and 900 items to help take down more than 200 enemies and bosses.
On the abilities, Tyler teased to us that more will likely be coming in future DLCs. He told us: “We tried to get as many as we could in-game for launch. There are over 100 of them. I don’t think there’s any that are off limits, and I think we were able to do right on all of the ones we added and can do right on any new ones we add in future DLCs.”
Cats that survive your runs retire and can be used to breed the next generation of whiskered warriors in your home base, known as Boon County. Each night, there is a chance that two cats will mate, passing on both positive and negative traits to their offspring. Your base can be upgraded, and certain items can be purchased to increase the likelihood of successful breeding.
Some of the abilities that can be passed down to your kittens include real-life conditions such as ADHD, autism, and dyslexia. Autism, for example, grants enhanced spellcasting, while Dyslexia swaps numbers in damage calculations and ability costs. Experimenting with different combinations is key to discovering the formula for an ultimate feline warrior.
Mewgenics gameplay preview
Without regurgitating loads of second-hand info, based on what we’ve learned so far, Mewgenics gradually reveals deeper layers of strategy as you play.
Early runs introduce the basics of combat and breeding, but as you progress, you’ll find yourself optimising bloodlines, experimenting with unusual ability combinations, and making tough choices about which kittens to keep or assign to house upgrades. The game seemingly offers a path to tactical mastery while embracing chaotic, emergent gameplay.
Something else worth highlighting is that it will supposedly take an eye-watering 200+ hours to beat the main campaign. According to a recent Reddit AMA, it took one of the game’s testers 500 hours to reach 100% completion, which is essentially three whole weeks!
Creator Edmund McMillen has also been streaming the game ahead of launch and has uploaded four extended gameplay videos on his YouTube channel (the first one is embedded above, to get you started). These are all well worth checking out if you want to get a proper look at the gameplay loop in action, as well as taking a deeper dive into the game’s overall mechanics.
Mewgenics: Release Date, Platforms, and DLC
Mewgenics is set to launch on PC (Windows) on February 10, 2026, and it has been confirmed in a post on Bluesky that the game will be priced at $29.99 with a launch discount being considered.
As for the decision to skip Early Access, Tyler noted in our interview: “I don’t like Early Access and think it’s a bad fit for most games, especially ones with an actual campaign.”
During a Reddit AMA on December 10, McMillen was asked about a console release and responded with a definitive “yes, 100%”, while noting that it probably wouldn’t happen until late 2026. He also revealed that he had no idea which consoles, but the Switch seemed “the most viable.”
We asked Tyler about post-launch content in our interview and he responded by noting that, “we locked down the scope of the game around two years ago. Every new idea we had beyond that got added to a “DLC ideas” tab in our design spreadsheet. There is a lot in there, as this game just kind of constantly inspires new ideas.”
Keep your eyes peeled for more on Mewgenics as the launch draws closer, as we here at Rogueliker plan to take a closer look at the gameplay mechanics that define this quirky roguelite strategy – once we’ve had a look for ourselves, of course! McMillen has noted that the review embargo will be February 6th, so expect coverage to go live then.
