Mewgenics News

Quick recap for everyone in the back:

When a cat is born, they are considered "collarless," pulling their abilities from the collarless pool or from their parents. When you choose a group to take on an adventure, you then choose their class by assigning them a collar. When a cat is collared, it will level up and gain 2 starter abilities from their class's ability pool (a passive and active), and the adventure starts.



Each time you defeat a mob, mini boss, or boss, one of your cats will level up! (The cat with the lowest level will always level up; if there is a tie, the cat is chosen at random).

When a cat levels up, they will gain a +1 stat bonus to one of their class's main stats. Then, depending on what level your cat is, they will also be offered a selection of options to choose from for a larger bonus, and that's what I'll go over now!


[h3]Level 2:[/h3] Gain a new active ability! (Active abilities are actions your cat can take during combat that cost mana or have other resource requirements to be used.)

At level 2, you may choose one new active ability from the 4 abilities shown. These abilities are randomly selected from the cat's class pool as well as the collarless pool. Depending on your cat's luck, you are offered a selection of class and collarless abilities; the luckier you are, the more chances you have to see class abilities instead of collarless ones.




[h3]Level 3:[/h3] Gain new passive ability! (Passive abilities are passive effects that don't need to be paid for to use and are always in effect.)

At level 3, you may choose one new passive ability from the 4 shown; same luck rules apply when it comes to the number of class vs. collarless abilities you get to choose from.




[h3]Level 4:[/h3] Gain a big stat bonus! (Stats give different bonuses to an array of things depending on the stat and action.)

At level 4, you may choose to gain +2 in one of 4 different stats. Luck isn't a factor here; you just choose a stat bonus to apply to your cat. These stat bonuses also come with a full heal, a welcomed relief for a cat that has been taking a beating up till now.



[h3]Level 5:[/h3] Gain a new active ability!

Same as level 2, but you gain another new ability.

[h3]Level 6:[/h3] Upgrade active ability!
Choose one of your active abilities and upgrade it! That's right, every ability in the game can be upgraded! Upgrades range from lowering their mana cost to increasing damage or even completely new effects entirely.

Level 7???
Level 8???
[h3]Level 9???[/h3]

In Mewgenics, each adventure lasts 3 chapters, and each chapter's basic path will feature a max of 6 combats. That means your party will gain 18 level-ups per play session, meaning on average 2 of your cats will reach level 5 and 2 of your cats will reach level 6 by the end of your adventure. But then, how do you see what is beyond level 6? Well, let's check out the map for a second...



As you can see, there are quite a few icons on the map, and we will get into what each of them does in a future update. But for now, all I want you to check out are the 2 major branches of this chapter. You may notice once the path splits, the path that is going downward has "broken skulls" in it. These skulls represent hard combat and feature elite or champion enemies, making for a much harder combat experience. BUT if you have the courage to venture down this road, you will also find it features 1 more combat than the basic path, meaning if you were to take all hard paths in each chapter, you would gain 3 more levels than usual, allowing your cats to level up higher and gain access to stronger level-ups.

But wait, there's more! Since your team all shares the level-ups, if one of them was to fall in battle and have their body consumed by a mob of cat zombies, then that would mean the remaining level-ups would be shared between 3 cats instead of 4. But surviving with less than 4 cats in a world like this is a giant challenge in itself.



As an extra bonus, I've decided to bring back a song from the past! The Mewgenics Title screen theme by Ridiculon!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

-Edmund

So we have touched on nearly all the major mechanics in Mewgenics, but there is one huge one we haven't fully covered yet: "Events."



In Mew, events are what break up combat as your adventure unfolds. A lot can happen in them that totally changes the game, and these are some examples:

[h3]Random Happenings[/h3]
You have no control over these events; they just happen, and you accept them. That's life!




Blessings: Blessings can range from finding a rusty razor blade to adding a whole new cat to your party.




Tragedy: Tragedies can range from a cat falling down the stairs to experiencing existential dread.




Weather Event: Weather events are global effects that will linger through that chapter of your adventure. There are TONS of weather events, most of them totally changing core aspects of the game, like a rainstorm that constantly douses any flames and causes flooding that slows ground characters, to Garbage Day, where bags of trash appear all over the map filled with possible treasures!




[h3]Choose Your Fate Events[/h3]
These events, usually given by the game's many NPCs, give the player a choice between multiple options that aid the player... or not.



Many of these events will allow you to gain the aid of an NPC, allowing them to ambush their next combat or strike fear in them using intimidation! (The choice is up to you!)



Some of these events have two choices, but the outcomes are unknown, like: Do I press this button or push the lever? One may heal your whole team, but one may stun you for the next combat.

[h3]Skill Events[/h3] The meat and potatoes of the event system! There are TONS of Skill Events in Mewgenics, each one with 2-3 ways to solve them. Here is an example of one.

Skill events are solved using your cats' stats. Here's an example:



As you can see, our Hunter is investigating a cat corpse. If you look at his stats, you can clearly see that dexterity is his best stat, so looting the body will yield the best odds of success. Let's go with that...



We rolled the dice (literally, behind the scenes) and succeeded! Gaining a Disco Biscuit! (That cat partied hard). But what if we were lucky enough to have critically succeeded? Well, I'm not going to spoil those results, but it's totally possible. See, each choice you make in every skill event has 4+ possible outcomes: Success, Failure, Critical Success, and Critical Failure.



Now don't worry, events won't kill your cats... well, maybe one or two, but Mew will feature well over 100 events, each with multiple outcomes. So the chances are low, unless you meet Death in an event. But even then, you can always make a deal with her.

Initially, when we started development, I was worried about events and mostly wanted to use them to paint a better picture of the world you were adventuring through. But once we added them, they quickly became one of the most interesting aspects of the game.

It's hard to explain without experiencing it yourself, but in Mew, sometimes failing your charisma check against a lost spirit wandering the sewers and losing your soul in the process is just as fun as cracking the combo to a safe full of cash. I mean, there are some advantages to not having a soul, right?

Oh, did I mention some events are "legacy events"? Events where the outcome will totally change your game? Well, we have those too.

Overcoming adversity in Mew feels magical in ways I've never experienced before, and I can't wait for you all to feel it first-hand next year!

Don't forget to wishlist Mewgenics! It helps!

See you next time!
-Edmund

Let's take a little break from the gameplay and jump into some graphics stuff – well, half-technical/half-graphics, I guess.

[h3]This is a cat[/h3]



[h3]This is 100 cats.[/h3]



As you can tell by that gif, there are a nearly infinite number of cats in Mewgenics, and that's because the cats in Mew are randomly generated!

If you look closely, you'll notice that each cat is broken up into a few specific pieces: front legs, back legs, body, tail, head, and fur. Each head consists of 2 eyes, ears, eyebrows, mouth, and a "face" (a face changes the placement of these pieces inside the head).





Each of the pieces mentioned above has hundreds of variations that range from common (normal-looking cat features), uncommon mutations (odd but not super drastic features that come with minor stat changes), and rare mutations (very distinct-looking features that add passive abilities or more significant stat changes).

using this setup we can get away with a universal animation system for all cats!





Each time you breed your cats, they will pass on their visual DNA to their offspring, creating kittens that look like their parents.



Recently, we have gone beyond visuals and started doing vocal sets for cats.

A vocal set is a specific set of meows that cover all the cat's possible emotions: happy, sad, angry, neutral, purring, hissing, getting hurt, and dying. When a cat is generated, it's assigned a vocal set, and then that vocal set is randomly pitched up or down.

Originally, we simply asked friends and family to contribute their meows, but once the word got out, we started getting requests from streamers and even a few voice actors. So we decided to go for it and started our great cat cameo search of 2023! Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have seen a few interactions with some very notable voices, and I can say that the past few months, I've been quite blown away by the caliber of cat vocals we have acquired. I don't want to spill all the beans yet, but I think it might be cute to start posting some cat vocals here and there and let you guys guess who they might be.

Here is this month's cat cameo... WHO'S THAT CAT!?

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

As you may have noticed, this specific person did two cat voices, one more cat-like and one more human-sounding. That's because vocal sets also have rarity, so common vocals may sound exactly like a cat, uncommon more like a human doing cat sounds, and some rare sets sounding like totally different animals. Will you acquire that shiny vocal set?

We currently have over 75 meow sets, and the goal is 100. If you know of anyone that you would LOVE to hear voice a cat in Mewgenics, please let me know. The major catch here is they need to know my work, or they simply won't care :)

I'll end this post with another amazing track from Ridiculon, a house or "radio" track called Legend of the Claw. Radio tracks will play when you are breeding your cats / fixing up your house, and there are a ton. Enjoy!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

-Edmund

In The Binding of Isaac, there are currently 716 items. Keep in mind this was over the course of 10 years and 3 DLCs, but still, that's a number not rivaled by many games out there these days that don't just randomly generate their items.

Currently, Mewgenics has well over 450, and there is no doubt in my mind that by release we will have well over the number in Isaac. But how do items work in Mewgenics? Well, that's what I'm here to explain to you, silly! First, let's break all the items down into categories!

[h2]Weapons:[/h2]
Weapons in Mew fit into your "weapon slot" and allow you to activate them once a turn. Most items have a number of uses before they are depleted but essentially allow for a full bonus attack for any cat holding one. Weapons can range from rocks to sniper rifles, but here are a few examples of some.

Lil Slugger: A melee weapon that, when used on an enemy, knocks them back a max of 10 spaces directly away from you.



Obsidian Chunk: Another melee weapon that gains +2 damage each time it's used and starts with 5 uses, slowly growing sharper with each attack.



Text Book: Use it on yourself and gain +2 Int till the end of the match! Use your brain as a weapon!



[h2]Trinkets:[/h2]
Trinkets fit into your cat's trinket slot and come in 3 forms.

[h3]Passive Trinkets:[/h3] These trinkets act like bonus passive effects on your cat. Their effects are all over the place but designed to support a huge range of archetypes.

The D6: When this cat levels up, you may reroll their level-up choices once.



[h3]Multi-use Trinkets:[/h3] These trinkets can be activated much like weapons, once a turn.

Pawn: When used, move 1 space towards the closest enemy.



[h3]Consumable Trinkets:[/h3] These trinkets have 1 use and are consumed when used.

Large Catnip Baggy: When used, gain +10 mana.



[h2]Armor:[/h2]
Armor comes in 3 categories: Head, Face, and Neck, and has a giant range of properties attached.

Cool Hat: +2 cha (raises your starting mana and max mana), fragile (fragile items break when the cat wearing it is downed)



Cat Hide Mask: +1 shield, regen 1 HP at the end of each of your turns, and gain a 5% chance to spawn a charmed flea at the end of each of your turns.



Barbed Wire Necklace: +1 thorns (melee attackers take 1 damage), +1 damage, and -1 con (lowers your max health).



Most armor in the game is also part of a set, and completing a full set of armor will yield a bonus!

Full Cat Hide Bonus: +5% bonus chance to spawn a flea at the end of each round (bringing that chance up to 20%) and all familiars you spawn gain +1 damage and +1 movement (this goes beyond the fleas you spawn and also combos with any other familiars this cat spawns/controls).



But what are the odds of finding a full set in a run? And what happens to the items when a run is finished? Well, that's where another key aspect of the long play comes into the picture.

When you complete a run in Mewgenics, your cats may come back with some items, and those items will be saved in your house inventory for later use. This allows you to save up items for set bonuses or combos and lets you travel further into the unknown. But if your cats all die, their items go with them. Don't worry, though! There will be mailboxes here and there on your quests that will allow you to send back a few items for safekeeping!

But where the hell do you find items?

Items in Mew are found in a few ways:

Shops: Shops are rare, but each chapter usually features one. They vary in what they carry but usually feature one rare item at a high price and 2-4 other medium to low-cost items. So be on the lookout for coins! They are quite useful here.



Loot Boxes: Treasure boxes are also placed around the map. The harder the branching path, the more loot boxes you may find. These boxes will feature uncommon to ultra-rare items. Your cat's luck and the paths you take will become a factor here.



End of Combat: Each time you complete combat, you will be ranked behind the scenes on how well you did and also factor in the luck of your cats. You will then be given a grip of coins and random loot depending on how well you did and if you killed any "birds."



Items are cool. If you have played Isaac, you know how much I love them. In Mew, they are total game-changers. In fact, they are such game-changers that you may go in search of an ultra super duper legendary item... a unique item so rare that only one exists in your game. And once you lose it, it's gone forever! Will you be lucky enough to find one of these items? And will you have the courage to take it out on an adventure, knowing you could lose it FOREVER? I guess we will see next summer!

See you guys in 2 weeks! Help spread the word!


-Edmund

Last week we talked in-depth about death dying and the basic injuries that gimp your characters slightly as they progress... but there are many other ways your cats can change during their journey, and today we will go over a few!

[h3]Diseases, Disorders, Parasites oh my![/h3]
These permanent ailments will act as passive effects on your cats, each comes with it a major downside.. and minor upside that will totally change how you play! Lets dive into each one and see how they work!



[h2]Diseases![/h2]
There are a range of diseases your cats can acquire along their journey that will affect them in many many different ways. Diseases are usually acquired by physical contact with an enemy or npc or the ingestion of something contaminated or very very rotten.
One of my favorite diseases is Rabies, mainly because of this really fun run I had where my fighter (Rodney) got Rabies when attempting to loot a dead cat who was actually still alive! Rodney failed his dexterity check and the "dead cat" reared up and, with its last bit of energy, bit Rodney and gave him the rare disease Rabies!



Rabies comes with a straight forward passive effect, your attack becomes a melee attack ( must bite or claw when fighting ) and each time you complete combat that cat gains +1 str and -1 int.. slowly eating away at the cats brain while also making them more deadly as well. seems like a pretty good deal for a fighter who is already limited to melee combat and deals damage based off their str.. but fighters are also notoriously dumb and with rabies its not long before their int hits 0 and their brain turns to mush. so by the end of the 1st chapter my fighter had destroyed just about everything.. but hit 0 int at the start of the first boss fight. when a cat with rabies no longer has a brain not only does he fail to generate mana each turn, but he also fails to take commands.. he simply does whatever he wants.. and all he wants to do is kill! right off the bat Rodney started attacking our mage downing him and spreading rabies to him, I was able to throw Rodney towards the boss and just keep away from him, letting him do what he did best.. murder! by the end of the run Rodney had spread rabies to all of my cats and nearly all had their brains consumed by the disease, the final epic battle consisted of me watching as my cats auto played themselves, I was totally helpless, just watching as the cats would switch from attacking the boss and attacking each other, with the last few turns consisting of them killing one another while the boss destroyed what was left of Rodney... I had lost, but it was one of the coolest losses I've ever had in a video game.





[h2]Mental Disorders![/h2]
Mental disorders are acquired by mental trauma or passed down through genes, seeing the ghost of your mother or being mocked by your team for failing a basic task are a few examples of how you might gain one.

A good and common example of a mental disorder is depression. depression gives you all stats down... but it also gives you a depressive aura. anything adjacent to you also becomes temporarily depressed gaining -2 to all stats as long as they are adjacent to the cat with depression, further ostracizing the sad cat.. but also lowering the damage and slowing down any enemies around it. I've had more than a few runs where I had a healer with depression and holy shields who would just stand in the middle of a large group and tank their attacks while my squishy cats took turns stabbing them all in the back.. good times.





[h2]Physical Disorders![/h2]
These disorders are usually gained by physical trauma, getting your eyeball pulled out by an unseen force or falling down the stairs might causes these.

A good example would be Charred, a physical disorder that gives your cat +4 armor but also gives them bruise 1 ( take +1 damage each time you take damage).




[h2]Parasites![/h2]
Parasites are acquired many many different was in Mewgenics, but joining a cat orgy or eating a really big poop are great ways to acquire them.

Parasites take over one of your item slots, making you unable to use said slot. ( we will go over items and items slots in a future update )

A good example of a parasite would be Pin Worms. Pin worms infest your neck making you unable to wear items around it, give you -2 str and -2 con, but each time you take damage you spawn a maggot familiar that fights along side its mama!




[h2]Mutations![/h2]
Mutations are gained VERY rarely from breeding/strays you find in the wild, more commonly they are acquired by interactions with toxic waste, radiation, or in rare cases, furniture in your house.

Mutations will effect a random piece of your cats visual appearance changing it permanently and embedding itself in your cats DNA forever.

A good example of a Mutation would be something like Ram horns, your cats melee attack gains +1 knock back.



Mutations are the bread and butter of the long play of Mewgenics. Once acquired, mutations can be passed down through DNA to future generations, amassing many buffs and modifications over time.. but you need to be careful not to inbreed your cats because you just might get....



[h2]Birth Defects![/h2]
Birth Defects are very rare... unless you inbreed your cats! cats breeding with close relatives will have a high chance of giving their children birth defects.

A good example of a birth defect would be Webbed Toes, -2 speed but gain water walk ( moving through water tiles doesn't slow you down ).



Birth defects are essentially mutation disorders, usually having a major negative effect with a minor upside.. so you could use them to your advantage if you are creative.



[h2]Curses![/h2]
Curses can range from magical disorders to cursed items.. they can be acquired many different ways but are usually quite rare.

A good example of a cursed item would be A Childs Skull, your attack becomes a short range very low damage projectile called Tear, that you can use twice per turn. this cursed item attaches itself to your head like a helmet also giving you +1 armor.
Cursed items can't be removed.




As you can see, Mewgenics has a lot going on. one of the reasons why I'm slowly covering every major mechanic here is so I can lay the ground work so we can start telling more in-depth gameplay stories and eventually showing gameplay videos later this year and have things make sense. Much like Isaac, Mewgenics is a vast world of complex, but logical interactions. Our current goal is to spoon feed all this info to you as you play and the game unfolds as to not overwhelm the player. Each time I write a post I get more and more excited to show you random footage... we will get there eventually. but till then you can always get snippets of in-game content on my tiktok.

see you again in 2 weeks where we will be going over items! 100s and 100s of glorious items!

-Edmund