The success of Mewgenics comes from its unique approach to strategy game mechanics, adding a level of chaos and variety few others in the genre can claim. It’s quickly become one of my most played games in 2026 for multiple reasons, but mainly for how well its roguelike elements mesh with typical strategy game tactics. In fact, its core feature creates a foundation that I’d argue that all strategy games should have going forward, to add replayable depth to their already addictive gameplay loops.
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Typically, a strategy game unit is a character or role that fulfills one specific function, with very clear strengths and weaknesses for an overall army. This is true of most RTS titles, especially in games like Civilization, Starcraft, or XCOM to a degree. Although some titles like XCOM allow for greater personal customization to units to help them suit various purposes, the biggest obstacle in the genre is how there are always strict limitations to what a unit is capable of doing.
Mewgenics Allows You To Experiment With Strategy Unit Builds To Craft The Perfect Team
Unit restrictions are almost non-existent in Mewgenics, simply based off its premise of infinite unit types for every run. While there are only 10 character classes for the cats you create for your team, each have around 75 unique abilities each, creating an almost endless combination of skills and moves for them to have. Over 1,000 different abilities can be combined with 900+ items to craft truly busted unit builds that never look the same each time.
This complete freedom with unit creation marries the unpredictability of each roguelike run you embark on within the game, as no two adventures are the same. Hundreds of distinct bosses with signature gimmicks make no one unit strategy the “best,” as experimenting with each of them are necessary to overcome new challenges. For example, one run could introduce a new environment type that makes a strong unit with a synergized build suddenly look useless, forcing you to adjust your squad to move forward.
Other strategy games might make those moments of adaptation feel annoying, but Mewgenics does it in a way that lets you explore its mechanics in interesting ways. Having to take your experience from a run and use it to assemble a team of new cats through manipulation of genetics over generations takes unit personalization to a whole new level. Finely tuning the best cats possible makes units feel even stronger or capable, acting as an evolution of everything you’ve learned rather than a static class or figure who only has one or two notable traits.
Constant & Chaotic Run Structure Encourages Players To Use Every Type Of Unit Available
Every unit you use in Mewgenics is constantly getting tested through the nature of the game’s rougelike runs, which can shift at the drop of a hat. Emergent gameplay means that you can’t prepare for the next boss, environment, or even basic enemies your group will run into next, so you have to do your best to be ready for anything. Even if your party of cats is fine tuned for victory at one moment, that doesn’t mean their success will last.
14 years of development in Mewgenics has contributed to the game having so much content, and therefore, so much room for runs to be unique from one another. By having hundreds of hours of gameplay where nothing remains the same, players are encouraged to get creative with units, and not just stick to the same ones that work. With run variety preventing any one unit from being the most powerful, the depth to this strategy game can expand almost exponentially.
Team Synergies Are More Dynamic When You Don’t Know Exactly How Units Mesh Together
Each cat in Mewgenics has a individual breeding chain, which can lead to strange amalgamations of abilities that are almost impossible to predict. The amount of skill combos your team can put together through abilities that don’t seem to mesh well on paper creates an odd approach to runs where you have to trust your gut. Units are not a guarantee most of the time, instead having only a few parameters you can follow rather than detailed knowledge.
The tactics built by your team are almost akin to an RPG in Mewgenics rather than a straightforward strategy experience. The complexity of ability chains leads to plenty of decision-making, keeping your runs fresh at every stage of play. In many ways, this alleviates the tedium of other strategy games, whose new scenarios don’t change up the core gameplay enough to keep players engaged.
Already, this game has been a hit among rougelike, RPG, and strategy game fans, offering a little something for every fan of these genres through its blending of mechanics from each. As new content gets added to Mewgenics over time, it will only become more complex, allowing for even greater tactical unit variety that other games never commit to as heavily.
What do you think of Mewgenics‘ use of strategy game units? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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images courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
