Mewgenics Breeding Guide: How to Play God (And Win)
If you think Mewgenics is about raising cute kittens, you haven't realized yet that you are actually running a ruthless eugenics program.
I went into the breeding mechanics expecting something casual. I thought I would put two cats in a room, play some smooth jazz, and pop out a slightly stronger baby. I was wrong. The breeding system in this game is a spreadsheet with fur. It uses actual Mendelian genetics, hidden recessive traits, and a punishment system for inbreeding that would make the Habsburgs blush.
If you are just throwing random cats together and hoping for the best, you are wasting your time. You are going to end up with a house full of "Frail" cats with "Small Brains" who die of a heart attack at age 4. To beat the later acts of this game, you need to stop acting like a pet owner and start acting like a mad scientist.
I have spent way too much time staring at gene pools and culling "mistakes" to figure out how this actually works. Here is the cold, hard math behind building the perfect killer.
The House Stats: Decoding the Symbols
Before you even look at a cat, you need to look at your house. The game throws a bunch of icons at you in the top left corner, and if you ignore them, your breeding program is dead on arrival.
These stats determine everything from how often your cats get busy to whether the baby comes out with a third eye. You manipulate these by buying furniture from Baby Jack and placing it in specific rooms.
Genetics 101: Dominant vs. Recessive
This is where people get confused. Mewgenics uses a simplified version of real-world genetics. Every body part and color has two gene slots: one from the father, one from the mother.
The Dominant Gene (A)
Think of this as the "Loud" gene. If a cat has even one Dominant gene for a trait (like a Triangle Head), it will have a Triangle Head. It overpowers everything else.
The Recessive Gene (a)
This is the "Hidden" gene. A recessive trait will only show up visually if the cat inherits two copies of it (aa). This is why you sometimes breed two normal-looking cats and get a baby that is completely different.
The "Carrier" Problem
This is what ruins bloodlines. A cat can look perfect (Aa) but secretly carry a "bad" gene (a). If you breed two carriers together, you have a 25% chance of creating a "bad" baby (aa).
In the early game, you can't see the genes. You have to "test breed." If a pair produces a dud, one of them is carrying trash DNA. Mark them, separate them, or get rid of them.
Phrenology for Cats: Why Shape Matters
In Mewgenics, form follows function. The physical shape of the cat determines its base stats and class aptitude. You are literally judging a book by its cover.
Head Shapes
Triangle: High Mana / Intelligence. This is your Mage build. If you put a Fighter collar on a Triangle head, you are wasting their potential. They are smart but squishy.
Square: High Defense / HP. The Tank build. They are dumb as rocks but can take a hit.
Round: Balanced stats. Good for Rogues or generalists, but they don't excel at anything.
Body Shapes
Slender: High Speed and Evasion. Essential for Rogues and Glass Cannons.
Fat: High HP and Defense. Pair this with a Square head for the ultimate meat shield.
Average: Boring. Avoid if possible.
Tail Shapes
Long: Increases ability Range. Mandatory for Mages and Archers.
Stubby: Increases Knockback. Great for Tanks who need to shove enemies into pits.
Curly: Increases Carry Capacity. This is for your "Mule" cats who just haul loot.
The "Alabama" Strategy: Inbreeding
"Can I breed a mother with her son?"
Yes. The game lets you do it. And honestly? Sometimes you should. Inbreeding is the fastest way to turn a Recessive Gene (aa) into a verified trait. If you have a rare "Fire" mutation that is recessive, breeding that cat with its parent locks that trait in.
The Cost of Incest
Every generation of inbreeding increases the "Defect Chance" by about 15%.
Fragile Bones: Takes double damage.
Hemophilia: Bleed effects never stop.
Sterile: Cannot breed. This ends the line.
My strategy is the "One and Done" rule. Inbreed for exactly one generation to lock a specific trait or shape, then immediately breed "out" with a fresh, unrelated stray to reset the defect counter. If you push it to two or three generations, you are going to birth an abomination that can't walk.
Tink & The Information Game
You need information to breed effectively. That is where Tink comes in. He lives in the green pipe. You send him kittens, and he levels up your breeding tech.
Do not hoard useless kittens. Send them to Tink immediately.
Level 1 (Base Stats): This is vital. A cat might have high stats because it is Level 5, but its base stats (what it passes on) might be trash. Tink lets you see the genetic reality.
Level 2 (Family Tree): This helps you avoid accidental inbreeding.
Level 3 (The Gaydar): Essential efficiency. If you put two male cats in a room and don't know one is gay, you are wasting a night. This upgrade tells you the sexual orientation of your cats so you don't try to force impossible pairings.
Culling: The Hardest Part
This is where the game filters the weak players from the strong ones. You cannot keep every cat. You have limited space and limited food.
If a new kitten is born with:
Stats under 6 across the board.
A "Negative" nature (like Lazy or Cowardly).
A conflict of shapes (Square Head + Slender Body).
You need to get rid of it. You can send it to Tink, or you can just let it go. Keeping a mediocre cat "just in case" is how you lose runs. They eat your food, they take up space, and they lower the overall quality of your gene pool.
The Neverstone Trick
If you find a Neverstone, use it on the strays. The Neverstone makes it so that cat cannot level up. Why is this good? Because when you finish a battle, the game randomly assigns XP, prioritizing lower-level cats.
By putting a Neverstone on your trash stray cats, you force the game to funnel all that XP into your main combat squad. Use the strays as placeholders, but don't let them steal the glory.
Environmental Influence: Music and Furniture
Genetics aren't everything. The environment where the kitten is born affects its starting traits.
Music Players: Playing "Classical" music near the crib increases the chance of the "Calm" trait (Good for Healers). Heavy Metal increases "Aggressive" (Good for Warriors).
Radioactive Items: Placing "Glowing Barrels" in the nursery increases Mutation Rate by 50%, but also increases Defect Rate.
Cleanliness: A dirty nursery significantly increases the chance of the "Sickly" trait. Clean your litter boxes. If a pregnant mother is stressed or sick, the baby comes out worse.
The Final Verdict on Breeding
Breeding in Mewgenics is a long game. You won't get the perfect cat in Act 1. You are building a lineage. You are looking for incremental gains. A +1 to Strength here, a better head shape there.
It requires patience and a heart of stone. You have to look at a cute virtual kitten, check its stats, see a "3" in Intelligence, and immediately launch it into a pipe. It feels bad the first time. By the fiftieth time, it just feels like optimization. Welcome to the business.
