Tag Archives: Edmund McMillen

[Game: Mewgenics, Edmund McMillen/Tyler Glaiel, 2026]
Across the Mewniverse:

On the Considerable Strengths and Notable Weaknesses of the Feline Tactics Game Mewgenics

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Introduction:

Mewgenics is a tactics games, meaning it resides in a subgenre of turn-based strategy games in which you move a team of units around a (usually grid-based) battlefield. That’s a type of game which has captured a lot of my time and attention over the past decade. A sampling of the titles matching that description which I’ve played to completion at least once in that time includes XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2, XCOM: Chimera Squad, Phoenix Point, The Banner Saga, Ikenfell, Advance Wars, Advance Wars 2, Wargroove, Tactical Breach Wizards, Invisible, Inc., Chroma Squad, Civilization V, Into the Breach, SteamWorld Heist, SteamWorld Heist II, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, and both the physical and digital versions of Gloomhaven.

And the games by Edmund McMillen and his collaborators that I’ve played through on a similar timescale include . . . all of them. All of them on Steam, anyway. Even Fingered, The Legend of Bum-Bo, and everything in The Basement Collection. I’ve also played Tyler Glaiel’s most famous project apart from his collaborations with Ed, the puzzle game Closure.

So, the question I’ll be answering here is: where do I find the time? Just kidding. The real question is: from that vantage point, how does Mewgenics stack up? How does it measure up to its peers in the tactics genre, and to the impressive catalogs of its creators?

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[Game: Mewgenics, Edmund McMillen/Tyler Glaiel, 2026]
Across the Mewniverse:

On the Considerable Strengths and Notable Weaknesses of the Feline Tactics Game Mewgenics

 was last modified: March 25th, 2026 by Daniel Podgorski

[Game: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Edmund McMillen/Nicalis, 2014]
Bound and Determined:

The Binding of Isaac as a Worthy Successor to the Original Legend of Zelda

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Introduction:

Edmund McMillen Sketch by M.R.P. - The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - The Legend of Zelda - Edmund McMillen

Caricature Sketch by M.R.P.

Since its original release as a subversive flash game way back in 2011, The Binding of Isaac has ascended from a cult classic to a mainstream success. In the time since that release, all of the elements which made it subversive, from its dark themes to its biblical allusions, have been covered and analyzed by critics from numerous angles.

Theories about the meaning of the game’s obscure, sparse narrative have ranged from wild ad hoc hypotheses about Isaac’s family history to carefully built cases tracing themes across several earlier games made by designer Edmund McMillen. Regardless, it has seemingly all been said (until the upcoming Rebirth expansion brings new evidence, at least).

I see that sort of analysis as highly valuable, and I find myself largely in agreement with commenters who interpret The Binding of Isaac as a portrait of a particular type of upbringing, with all of the entailed positive (i.e. creative and skeptical) and negative (i.e. repressed and threatened) effects. Acknowledging that as trodden ground, however, I would like to discuss an aspect of the game which is often gestured toward, but seldom discussed at length: how the roguelike gameplay lends itself to the game’s homage and spiritual succession of the earliest Legend of Zelda games.

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[Game: The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Edmund McMillen/Nicalis, 2014]
Bound and Determined:

The Binding of Isaac as a Worthy Successor to the Original Legend of Zelda

 was last modified: October 24th, 2024 by Daniel Podgorski