Breed Cats with ADHD & Dyslexia in This Indie Hit
▼ Summary
– The 2024 indie game Mewgenics, a surprise hit about breeding cats, includes autism as an inheritable trait, which received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans for its representation.
– Developer Edmund McMillen, who has family members on the autism spectrum, designed the game’s many disorders to have gameplay trade-offs, with autism boosting intelligence but lowering charisma.
– McMillen emphasizes the game is not a political statement but a personal project, encouraging players to appreciate cats with disorders for their strengths rather than discarding them.
– The game’s development spanned over a decade, having been revived by McMillen after leaving Team Meat and reworked with co-creator Tyler Glaiel into a complex tactical RPG.
– McMillen’s perspective on the game evolved to reflect themes of parenthood, legacy, and inherited traits, contrasting with some of his earlier work like *The Binding of Isaac*.
The unexpected indie success story of Mewgenics has captivated players with its darkly humorous and surprisingly deep take on feline genetics and breeding. The game, which launched to immediate commercial success, combines adorable characters with complex roguelike and tactical RPG mechanics. Its core premise revolves around managing cat bloodlines, where a vast array of inheritable traits, from quirky mutations to neurological conditions, directly impacts gameplay. Developer Edmund McMillen, renowned for co-creating Super Meat Boy, found himself unprepared for the overwhelmingly positive response to one particular inclusion: autism.
Following a 2024 announcement that autism would join the list of in-game disorders, McMillen was met with an outpouring of gratitude from communities on platforms like Reddit and TikTok. Fans expressed feeling seen and validated by the representation. This reaction, McMillen notes, was among the most positive he has ever received, giving him the confidence to fully realize his vision. The game’s arrival feels eerily topical in a climate rife with misinformation about neurodiversity, though McMillen is quick to clarify that any social commentary is entirely incidental. His perspective is far more personal and grounded. “I hate politics,” he states. “It’s a game about cats fucking, you know what I mean?”
Within Mewgenics, disorders and mutations are not mere flaws but integral gameplay elements that affect a cat’s statistics and behavior. A cat with ADHD, for instance, gives the player only seconds to make tactical decisions before it acts autonomously. A cat on the autism spectrum might exhibit accelerated intelligence gains alongside lower charisma, excelling in innate abilities while finding other skills more challenging. McMillen’s approach to these mechanics is informed by his own life. “I’m very well versed in this,” he explains. “I have two children that are on the spectrum, and I have a wife who is as well. … It has been a big part of my life for the past 10 years.”
The game features over one hundred different conditions, each designed with a purposeful silver lining. The objective is not to discard cats with certain disorders but to understand and leverage their unique potential. McMillen hopes players will engage with this nuance. “I want people to play and read between the lines,” he says. “I want you to have a cat with autism, and instead of throwing it away, realizing its strengths and embracing the challenge and potential that that cat would have.”
This deeply personal project haunted McMillen for over a decade. Originally conceived with Tommy Refenes after their success with Super Meat Boy, the early version of Mewgenics was more of a digital toy than a full game, focusing on breeding cats for use in minigames. After a public showing and 18 months of work, Refenes’s interest faded, leading to the project being shelved. McMillen’s commitment never wavered. “It was very apparent that I was the only person that wanted to continue working on the project,” he recalls.
The path to completion took a decisive turn when McMillen received an unexpected email from Steam offering condolences for the game’s supposed cancellation. This moment clarified that Mewgenics would never be finished under the Team Meat banner. After leaving the studio in 2016, McMillen took the project with him. Partnering with developer Tyler Glaiel, they spent six years transforming the concept into its current form. Glaiel conducted extensive research into genetics and inbreeding to refine the core systems, creating a world where cats can have any sexuality and form complex, sometimes player-independent relationships involving rivalry, love, or rejection.
The long development cycle and McMillen’s journey into fatherhood fundamentally reshaped the game’s themes. He began to see parallels between raising digital lineages and raising children, influencing the narrative to focus on legacy, inherited traits, and the curses passed down through generations. This perspective even led him to re-evaluate themes in his earlier work, like The Binding of Isaac, which explored how nurture can impact a child. With Mewgenics, he delves into the struggles that are inherent from birth. “The game definitely became more about children,” McMillen reflects. “The legacy that you leave, and the genetics that you pass to them and curse them with. I started to write more from that perspective.”
(Source: The Verge)
