History VideoGame / MewGenics

* CharacterLevel: A single cat (the one with the lowest level, or a random one in the event of a tie) levels up once whenever a fight is won. Normally, that's eighteen level-ups, six per chapter, putting a party that survives an adventure at two level 5 cats and two level 6 cats. However, taking the PathOfMostResistance yields one more (far harder) fight and level-up, and having less than four cats means they'll reach higher levels, meaning a theoretical maximum of level 21.

''[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/686060/Mewgenics/ Mewgenics]]'' is a planned-for-2024 {{Roguelike}} slash RaisingSim slash TurnBasedTactics slash {{Musical}} game by Creator/EdmundMcMillen.

* CentralTheme: Legacy. While you do get some cats given to you for free, most of your cats will be the children of former characters; And this aspect doesn't only cover family cat trees: Legendary, one-of-a-kind artifacts may be found in adventures- they can be stored away in your home, but they can be also be brought in adventures to provide substancial bonuses- running the risk of losing them. Permanently.

** One {{Mook}} you can throw down with is Cereus Peashy- the star of a little-known flash plataformer also by Edmund.

* DyingTown: It's not stated directly anywhere, but you meet relatively few people in the dirty, trash-covered Boon County. It's gotten to the point that there are more cats than people in the town- ([[AfterTheEnd the explosions probably helped]]) which is great news for the local illegal cat fighting ring.

-> ''Suki♀ got it on with Katniss♀...''
-> ''[[CaptainObviousReveal but no kitten was made.]]''

* IncestIsRelative: In a perhaps [[UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay surprising bout of realism]], your cats can and will breed with their parents, children, siblings, cousins and so on- [[TruthInTelevision felines don't really have the concept of an incest taboo.]] Where this goes above and beyond in terms of detail however, is in the ''outcome:'' The cat inbreeding simulation is scientifically accurate- [[ShownTheirWork main programmer Tyler Glaiel actually read several academic papers about]] ''[[{{Irony}} dog]]'' [[ShownTheirWork breeding before coding it-]] resulting in a nearly lifelike depiction of cats gaining birth defects. [[ArtisticLicenseBiology Said birth defects often have them develop traits from completely different biological classes.]]
* InexplicablyPreservedDungeonMeat: Pickups include catnip (which restores mana) and [[HyperactiveMetabolism food, which restores health.]] None of these are unsafe to eat in spite of the fact they're sitting on the floor of a trash-filled alleyway, but at least you can [[AttackablePickup cook the food with fire attacks...]] [[TheStoner And also smoke the catnip that way.]]

-> ''"but in mewgenics most of the time when something survives an adventure it's not all sunshine and rainbows.. sometimes they come back quite different, they have seen and experienced some real shit, and with that may come a smorgasbord of mental and physical disorders, parasites and even curses that could potentially haunt your family for generations!"''

* UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay: Oh, all over the place. That [[ToiletHumor poop-on-command]] skill seems it might be useful for blocking ranged attacks, right? Except the inertia of the blocked shot launches the poop [[HoistByHisOwnPetard right into the cat that shat it.]] Having that super-strong cat you've got breed with as many other cats as possible seems like a great idea, yeah? Except that means most of the next generation is going to be related to each other, resulting in inbreeding which in turn results in fucked-up cats with disorders and deformities. The gameplay is in fact so complex that developer Tyler Gladiel had to set up a program that does nothing but play ''Mewgenics'' hours at a time to check for edge cases and bugs.

* DamageIncreasingDebuff: Bruise gives a flat increase to damage taken equal to the amount of Bruise, and it comes pre-packaged with some physical disorders like Charred.

* MetalSlime: When [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/686060/view/6662560248439568681 talking about bugs]]: Very rarely, a small black bird might randomly show up in battles. Should your cats manage to [[AnimalJingoism kill it before it flies away,]] they will be greatly rewarded. [[DevelopersForesight If the bird gets killed by lightning (and thus doesn't have anyone to reward) it'll just turn into some fried chicken.]]

* AfterTheEnd: Many aspects of the Boon County area point towards it being in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion: most of the town is in ruins, [[NuclearMutant most creatures you find are very bizarre,]] and Dr. Beanies often mentions wanting to ''re''build the world.

* CreepySouvenir: Your cats can skin the enemies they kill, which earns them an animal pelt. Which they immediately wear and gain the bonuses from. They get an even bigger bonus if they wear [[SetBonus all three types of pelt at once.]] Said bonus involves spawning in allied fleas.

* DyingTown: It's not stated directly anywhere, but you meet relatively few people in the dirty, trash-covered Boon County. It's gotten to the point that there are more cats than people in the town- ([[AfterTheEnd the bomb probably helped]]) which is great news for the local illegal cat fighting ring.

* EliteMooks: Exclusive to the PathOfMostResistance are Champion variants of common enemies. Champions are larger, have an unique and far more threatening appearance, and [[LightningBruiser have better stats, double health, hit harder, move farther, and take an extra turn every round.]] Sure, a champion [[TheGoomba Goomba]] isn't going to be much more trouble, but later on you'll get horrifying beasts with ''AreaOfEffect OneHitKill moves.''

* GayOption: Each cat has a hidden stat that determines their preference for same- or opposite-sex relations. One of those is far more useful to you.[[note]]To be more specific, every cat has a "horniness" stat that increases their chances to get it on in the house the farther away from zero it is, with the actual direction of said attraction being determined by whether horniness is positive or negative.[[/note]]

* Gestation in ''Mewgenics'' takes about a second from conception to birth- almost as long as the sex before it.

* StatDeath: Disorders in general can drop your cats' stats, but only diseases like [[HatePlague rabies,]] which lowers Intelligence and raises Strength after each combat, can make them actually reach zero. If a cat actually gets to zero Intelligence, it will no longer generate Mana every turn and will no longer be controlled by you- instead trying to shred whoever's nearest to bits, be they friend or foe. Worse, this if it actually manages to down a team member in combat then rabies will spread to them, starting a chain reaction that can end with a party that autoplays itself incredibly poorly. [[ArsonMurderandJaywalking Rabies also replaces their basic attack with a melee claw swipe or bite.]]

* PermaDeath: The subject of the fifth pre-release blog post. If every cat in a party is downed in combat or enough time passes after a cat completes an adventure, they really die and are lost forever. However, if a cat is downed in combat, its body isn't destroyed and the party wins, it'll bounce back with a permanent stat-altering physical disorder to mark the occasion.
* PunBasedTitle: "Mew", a sound cats make, with "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics Eugenics]]." Jeez!
* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Tank cats can slam enemies back with every single attack, and the {{Knockback}} Tank archetype takes it even further, not to mention the [[HomeRunHitter baseball bat item which can launch any enemy to the other side of the map]]. Being slammed against a wall HURTS, especially if you wind up going through ice shards in the way.
* RaisingSim: The other half of the game, and the reason you're going on adventures for food in the first place. The fifth pre-release blog post goes into more detail: once your cat {{Mons}} return from an adventure, they get old, can't be taken on adventures anymore, are free to let any special genes they have be inherited, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and an invisible timer starts to count down their remaining days.]]

** More humorously, a passive called [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants My Leg!]] exists, which makes every suffered injury be a broken leg, then turns the sufferer into the ultimate FastballSpecial once [[MagikarpPower all four legs are broken.]]

* GayOption: There's nothing really stopping you from making two cats of the same sex hump, aside from the fact you're essentially throwing away your own time and food for laughs.

* HealthDamageAsymmetry: Later on, common enemies start having health in the hundreds while your tankiest kitties hit around forty hp.

* MadBomber: One boss is a rat wearing a pair of CoolShades who wields rat-faced {{Cartoon Bomb}}s with ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}''-style cross-shaped blasts, and hides under a trash can just before they go off. You can defuse them by paw... [[SchmuckBait or detonate them sooner with fire.]]

** More humorously, a passive called [[TropeNamer My]] [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants Leg!]] exists, which makes every suffered injury be a broken leg, then turns the sufferer into the ultimate FastballSpecial once [[MagikarpPower all four legs are broken.]]