Are you looking for Mewgenics tips? Well, fellow cat person, you’ve come to the right place. This roguelite game includes a breeding system, where your feline characters make kittens that you can bring on adventures once they’re grown up. As for those adventures, well you can expect numerous turn-based battles, events, and random rewards. Things pick up rather quickly, and you might feel overwhelmed given all the mechanics in play. That said, we’ve completed countless runs, and we’re here to help you overcome every challenge along the way.
Are you just as curious as a cat? You can find all of our other guides in our Mewgenics guides hub.
Familiarize yourself with the core gameplay loop and resources
Similar to other roguelite games, Mewgenics has a core gameplay loop that governs your activities throughout the campaign. Here’s a quick summary:
- Cats stay in your home, which is just a single room at the start of the game. You can expand your home further via upgrades and furniture.
- You can form a party of up to four adult cats to go on an adventure. Those who survive the adventure are considered “retired.” This means they can’t be selected for future runs.
- When you end the day, the cats that are in the same room will attempt to breed. If successful, they’ll have one or two kittens. These kittens can inherit the stats/attributes and skills of their parents, as well as mutations, disorders, and any genetic birth defects.
- You need to advance another day for the kittens to become adults. This allows you to send them on adventures.
- Adult stray cats will also show up at the start of each day. You can have them join the party, keep them in the home for breeding purposes, or dismiss them via the sewer pipeline.
Likewise, you have to check the two main resources shown at the top-right corner of your screen: Coin and food. Both of these are acquired as you progress further into an adventure run.
Food keeps your cats from starving, since one kitten/cat consumes a single unit of food each daily cycle. Coin, meanwhile, is used to purchase items and furniture. Needless to say, you can’t dawdle for too long without adventuring. Otherwise, you’ll run out of resources.
Related guide: How to get more food
Arrange your furniture, check the stats in each room, and clean poop as necessary
Here’s a Mewgenics tip to keep in mind: The furniture you obtain have properties that affect the condition of your cats:
- Comfort – Higher comfort encourages breeding to happen more often. Lower comfort leads to cats fighting amongst each other.
- Stimulation – Increases the likelihood that kittens will inherit their parents’ skills.
- Health – Affects recovery from injury and diseases.
- Mutation – Affects the likelihood of gaining mutations while at home.
The Furniture menu lets you rearrange the fixtures in the house. You’ll notice small plug icons where objects can be attached to the floor or other surfaces. You can be as messy or as neat as you’d like, but the important thing is that you look at the stats of each room.
In relation to tidying the home, every fur parent knows that cleaning up poo is important in keeping pets healthy. This is true in-game as well, since cats will leave droppings, which decrease the Comfort and Health values in rooms. To make cleanup easier, you can open the Furniture menu. The poop blobs are more visible in this interface, allowing you to click on them without the chaos of cats running around.
Manage your cat population, attributes, and skills through breeding
Breeding is one of the most integral features in the game. As mentioned, Comfort and Stimulation are the two furniture stats that you need to check. Then, in each daily cycle, take a look at your cats to see if they have offspring:
- Male and female cats will, eventually, form breeding pairs. If another cat mates with someone else’s partner, a rivalry might develop.
- Some cats tend to have lower, average, or higher libido. A hidden stat, charm, also impacts how likely they are to find a mate.
- Bisexual cats can have kittens if they mate with the opposite sex. Gay cats do not have offspring when they mate with the same sex.
- The “ditto” cat–i.e. those with a question mark icon–are gender fluid creatures. They can mate with both male and female cats regardless of sexual orientation, and this yields offspring, too.
- You can check a cat’s family tree to see how closely related they are to others in the clowder.
- Cats that are closely related, even within the third or fourth degree, may birth inbred cats. Inbreeding leads to birth defects that are harder to eliminate across generations.
- Stray cats that drop by daily are not related to anyone in the group. You can have them mate with one of your indoor cats to avoid inbreeding.
Related guide: How to breed the best cats
Pay close attention to mutations, disorders, and diseases
Cats could end up having various traits and modifiers that completely alter not just their physical look, but also how they function in adventures:
- Mutations, in general, have a +2 bonus to one stat, and a -1 penalty to another. However, rarer and more valuable mutations might provide only positive boons.
- Birth defects, usually due to inbreeding, tend to grant negative maluses.
- It’s also possible for cats to suffer from disorders. These come from events or from casting “Forbidden Spells.” Certain disorders confer penalties, though there might be a positive effect that you can take advantage of. For instance, Anxiety grants +10% dodge chance, and it also makes the cat run away from something that damaged it. This could be great for Mages and Hunters, since these classes prefer to stay farther away from enemies.
- Your cats could be afflicted with diseases as well, which also have their own penalties and in-game effects. Certain diseases are contagious, and other cats in the same room might catch the same illness. Examples include Bird Flu, the Common Cold, the Pox, and even COVID.
Discern which cats should be “donated” to obtain upgrades
Another Mewgenics tip to remember is that you need to carefully discern how and when to unlock upgrades. That’s because the NPCs in the game require “donations” of cats to unlock higher tiers. Here are some examples:
- Frank builds new rooms for your house, but he wants cats that are retired. That means they must have completed an adventure. Even Act 1 – Zone 1 is fine.
- Conversely, Baby Jack only wants injured cats. If your cats keep fighting or they came home worse for wear, you might want to send him a couple. In turn, he’ll offer rarer furniture pieces.
- And, yes, there’s even a mysterious fella who scavenges lost items in case you failed a run.
Related guide: How to unlock all upgrades
Understand the roles and strengths of each class
There are 14 character classes in Mewgenics, represented by the collars that cats can equip. By default, only four are available, though you can unlock others as you progress. You’ve got RPG staples like the Tank and Mage, as well as more niche options like the Butcher and Tinkerer. It’s also possible to go “Collarless”–i.e. you don’t pick a class collar at all, and you rely more on generalist skills. Moreover, you’ll be able to unlock the Jester later in the game. It’s the jack-of-all-trades that can “roll” with the skills of the other classes.
It’s important to understand the role of each class, as well as which attributes they rely on. For instance, Tanks definitely need higher Constitution since they take a ton of punishment from the enemy. Hunters and Thieves, meanwhile, should have higher Dexterity to boost their ranged damage.
That said, you could try to go against the mold by experimenting with build variety. Let’s say you have a kitten who was born with Cleric spells and passives. You could keep them as a Cleric, still, for a run. But why not give them a Tank collar instead? Your frontline class would have their own healing capabilities to keep them alive.
Related guide: Class tier list – The best classes for the campaign
Pick the right skills as you level up
All cats in Mewgenics start at level 1. They have a basic attack and, usually, a Collarless–i.e. non-class-specific–active skill. Then, upon choosing a collar, they receive one more active skill, as well as a passive skill.
Throughout the course of a run, your party members are alternately chosen to level up one at a time, provided that they’re not incapacitated when you win battles. Four skills are drafted from the overall pool whenever a cat levels up, and you can only pick a single option. Here’s what you need to know:
- Level 2 – Pick another active skill.
- Level 3 – Pick another passive skill.
- Level 4 – Pick a +2 stat upgrade. Your cat is also fully healed.
- Level 5 – Pick another active skill.
- Level 6 – Pick an existing active skill to upgrade.
- Level 7 – Pick an existing passive skill to upgrade.
- Level 8 and higher – Reaching this threshold is fairly rare, though we’ve noticed that more stat upgrades are drafted.
The class-specific active and passive skills are “rolled” when you begin a run. Try to pick additional abilities that complement your current kit.
Related guides:
Take note of item properties and set bonuses
There are hundreds of items in Mewgenics, and you can only keep a few dozen of them at any given time.
- You’ve got three armor slots: Head, neck, and face/eyes. You also have a weapon slot and a trinket/consumable slot.
- If you equip three matching items, you get to activate their set bonus. Classes have unique “legendary” gear that form their class set bonus, too.
- Items that are part of a set are not readily shown. It’s up to you to stumble upon these while playing. However, there are some contextual clues, such as items that have the same terms or words.
- Items that you equip when starting the adventure become “worn” when you return home. Once they have the “worn” status, they have a +50% chance of breaking if you equip them again for another run.
- Inventory space is limited since you need to donate cats to unlock upgrades. Any items that are in the trash will be discarded once you end the day.
Related guides:
Familiarize yourself with the overarching progression system
Not every area in Mewgenics is available right from the get-go. Instead, you gradually unlock new locations upon completing your adventure runs. Here’s the gist:
- The game has three major acts or chapters. Let’s use Act 1 – Alley as our prime example.
- Act 1 – Alley has several events, items, and battles. These battles include at least one miniboss encounter and a main boss at the end.
- Act 1 also has two branches, with their respective sub-branches:
- The Sewer leads to the Caves.
- The Junkyard leads to the Boneyard.
- These branches also have lots of events, items, and, of course, battles and bosses.
Needless to say, you’re going to be playing for quite a while. You might even discover new areas as you go along.
Note: You can’t abandon a run midway through, as that would cause your active party to perish. Instead, after beating the main boss in each zone, you can choose to go home rather than continue onward to the next branch. Choose this option if you don’t think your group will survive the journey ahead.
Be the best at the basics of battles
Combat in Mewgenics is uses a turn-based tactical system:
- Units move to tiles when it’s their turn (based on the Speed stat), and they perform actions or cast spells.
- By default, you can only move and attack once per turn. However, you can keep using other abilities as long as you have enough mana to spare.
- You can move to tiles with food or grass pickups to restore health or mana, respectively. There are also scrap pickups that add extra armor denoted by the shield icon.
- Pay attention to how elements interact with one another and with terrain. A fire spell on a grassy tile could cause that fire to spread. An ice spell on water, meanwhile, will freeze that location, causing units to slide around if they get hit.
- Small objects, such as rocks, can be attacked, pushing them across tiles until they hit a target. Utilize these obstacles when pushing your foes to deal knockback damage.
Read enemy descriptions and find ways to outwit them
Every enemy in Mewgenics has a description that outlines how they attack and behave in battle. Some will run away after taking damage, while others will focus on the unit that damaged them. There are those that primarily buff their allies, while some might enrage when their comrade perishes.
A few enemies tend to have one-hit kill actions, too. These are usually triggered the moment they’re in melee range of one of your characters.
Note: There are class abilities that allow you to charm foes or resurrect dead enemies, turning them into minions that stay in your party. This also applies to creatures that have one-hit kill attacks. And, yes, they can instantly annihilate bosses if you manage to keep them alive. Talk about turning the tables on your opponents.
Take out those birds immediately
From time to time, you might see random birds that spawn on the battlefield. These include chickens, pigeons, crows, and turkeys. Make sure you take them out as soon as possible.
These birds don’t have a lot of health, but they move to new tiles whenever they take damage. They also fly away within a couple of rounds. But, if you can kill them, you’ll receive a free item, as well as an All Stats Up buff–i.e. all your stats are increased for the duration of the battle.
Watch out for injured cats and those that are close to death
Your cats don’t have nine lives. If you’re not careful, they could end up starring in their own Feline Destination: Bloodlines. Here’s the gist:
- When a cat’s HP drops to zero in battle, they get incapacitated and they gain a random injury.
- A counter appears over their body, which denotes how many instances of damage they could take.
- If they get revived in time or you win the battle, they’ll get back on their feet but their injury persists.
- If they keep taking damage, their corpse will explode.
- Back home, cats can get injured if they fight with other felines. Cats can also die if they lose a fight, if they starve, or due to old age.
Related guides:
Use your highest stat for events but be ready for surprises
There are plenty of events in every zone in Mewgenics. These are denoted by an icon of a paper scroll with a question mark. When you move to these spots, you’re presented with several choices. If possible, pick the option that utilizes your highest stat, as it has a higher chance of success. That being said, sometimes the RNG gods just won’t favor you, and a character could end up suffering a worse fate. Below are some examples of event outcomes.
Positive:
- Extra food and coins.
- Random items.
- Bonus healing or being healed to full.
- Mutations with positive effects.
- A minion that joins your party.
Negative:
- Being afflicted with an injury or disorder.
- Being afflicted with a curse or a parasite–i.e. Items that cannot be unequipped.
- Losing health or mana at the start of battle.
- Suffering from a status ailment.
- A cat is completely lost and never seen again.
Save some coin for Rare Candy, items, and skill activations
During adventure runs, you’re bound to meet vendors in areas, and you can spend your coins you’ve earned to buy some stuff. The most important item that’s up for grabs is Rare Candy. Purchasing it automatically causes a random cat in your party to level up.
Similarly, there are skills in the game that require coins to activate. Here are some notable examples:
- Vet Visit – Spend 5x coins to heal +10 HP.
- Subway Ride – Spend 5x coins to teleport to any tile.
- Hire Hitman – Spend 7x coins to summon a Bounty Hunter unit.
Choose the “hard” path for better rewards
Early on, you’ll notice that zones have a path that splits into two, with the “hard” path being greyed out. As you clear more areas, you’ll eventually be able to go down that path, which offers nifty rewards. These include events that yield high-end items (or positive outcomes) and zone-specific gear pieces that are usually part of a set. You might even stumble upon money bags (extra coin) and furniture boxes to decorate your home.
Make no mistake, though, because battles here are significantly more difficult compared to the normal variety. It’s also possible to encounter another miniboss if the game really hates you.
Learn the tricks of every boss
Speaking of bosses, the multitude of heinous hostiles that you face in Mewgenics are bound to infuriate you if you’re not careful. The bosses in the game tend to have unique and varied mechanics. You have to change your approach and fine-tune your strategy if you wish to succeed. Here are just some of the foes that you’re going to encounter in Act 1 and the early stages of Act 2:
- Radical Rat – Tosses bombs periodically. You must damage these bombs to defuse them before they explode.
- Boris – Moves toward the direction of the unit that damaged it. Tramples and rushes at the end of the round.
- Chubs n’ Nubs – These two move and jump erratically all over the arena. When hit, they automatically shoot poisonous blobs in the direction that they’re facing.
- Dybbuk – This specter dodges most single-target abilities, so you can either rely on area-of-effect skills or crowd around it to restrict its movement. It will possess the character that landed the final blow, which means that party member must be incapacitated.
- Gein – Pulls in anyone across from it either perpendicularly or diagonally. Applies a bleeding effect on anyone it hits.
- Zodiac – Automatically shoots anything that moves, so you have to find cover until he runs out of ammo.
- Gambit – Rolls a six-sided dice (D6) that triggers different spells. You should hit the dice so that it rolls a 1 or a 2, the weakest spells it has in its arsenal.
Related guide: All major bosses and how to defeat them
Tackle side quests when you can
Later in the game, you’ll be able to send cats with mutations to Dr. Beanies. He’ll then tell you about inventions that need to be “repaired”–i.e. equip the quest item, go to the designated zone, and defeat the main boss.
These quest items have unique modifiers that cause the challenges to ramp up. For instance, the side quest for a pistol called The Loner automatically kills all of your allies at the beginning of each battle. Naturally, you have to spend a few turns reviving them, or just relying solely on your new weapon. The Angry Face quest item, meanwhile, causes the cat that has it equipped to turn into an enemy in every bout. They will attack you and they need to be defeated to win. Furthermore, there are quests that are unlocked upon defeating major bosses. These are completed in stages, so you need to be ready for a series of treks.
Related guide: All quest requirements and rewards
You can reload your save, but if you persist…
One more Mewgenics tip that’s extremely important relates to save-scumming–i.e. choosing the “Save and Quit” option in the middle of a battle. Ideally, you should only “Save and Quit” while you’re on the map. If you do this during a battle, an NPC named Steven will chide you for your attempts.
He’ll let it slide if it’s only your first offense, but he’ll also warn you that a punishment awaits if you persist. Here’s what happens if you keep save-scumming:
- After your first warning – One random character will get the Deja Vu disorder. They’ll have a 10% chance to cancel an action.
- After your second warning – The entire party gets the Deja Vu disorder.
- After your third and final warning – The AI will take control of your entire party for the upcoming battle.
Keep experimenting and finding synergies
That brings us to our final Mewgenics tip. Remember: This game is a roguelite. It’s all about trial and error, and failing frequently, until you find a way to succeed. It’s okay to feel discouraged if a run doesn’t go your way. It’s okay to feel frustrated if the whole team gets wiped out when you’re so close to the end of the zone.
But, after each and every setback, you just need to keep trying. There are a lot of hybrid build options, including multiclass setups where you use the ability of one class to bolster another. There are numerous item synergies, where one item’s effect might have reactive properties that alter how you use certain abilities.
We’ve had runs where we turned meat pickups into insect minions, and runs where we spawned sentient rocks whenever a unit took damage. We’ve done clears where we stacked specific attributes, enough to one-shot most enemies, and clears where our pet monsters gobbled up bosses before the first round ended. Experiment and enjoy with your cat explorers, and you’ll be meowing to your heart’s content.
Mewgenics has over a dozen classes, along with hundreds of skills and items, to keep future runs refreshing. You’ve got your work cut out for you, especially with countless potential synergies and random permutations. If you need more help, you can always take a look at our Mewgenics guides hub.
