The Binding of Isaac creator’s roguelike about cat eugenics is almost “content complete” after spending 12 years in and out of development

Edmund McMillen, the creator behind one of the most popular roguelikes The Binding of Isaac, has a new update on his long-awaited, cat-themed strategy game. 

For those unaware, Mewgenics has been in and out of development for over a decade – that’s like 60 years on the cat calendar. Team Meat first announced the game as a follow-up to its murderous, spiky platformer Super Meat Boy back in 2012, before an equally tricky development left Mewgenics in the cancellation bin. Edmund McMillen and The End Is Nigh’s Tyler Glaiel then reacquired the rights and revived the game as a turn-based roguelike (with a secret cat-breeding meta-game hiding underneath.)

Development seems to be chugging along much more smoothly though, as a recent blog post from McMillen explains that there are only “three main things left on our plate.” Usable items are roughly 1/4 finished, “events” are apparently 1/6 finished, and SFX are 3/4 done. The developer estimates that Mewgenics will be “content complete” by the end of the year, at which point the duo will start hammering away at the finishing touches. 

McMillen’s blog also delves into some of the game’s feline engineering. Mewgenics lets you breed and manage your cat army at a central hub, “but once things get moving, the number of cats in your house goes up astronomically.” Leaving the poor furballs outside or in a cardboard box seemed too cruel for a game about loveable cats (and the war you wage with them), so the developers opted to also turn cats into currency. “Yeah, it was as easy as that,” he writes. “Every NPC in the game wants cats. What for? Well, that’s their business.” 

There are some other fun details sneaking away in that blog post – like the fact that you can level up connections with NPCs to gain upgrades to your inventory space, for example – but we’ll need to wait for Mewgenics to come to Steam sometime next year before we get the full picture.

In the meantime, check out the best roguelike games to play right now.