Monkey Paw Ruins Reddit User's Run

The Monkey Paw is one of Mewgenics' most devious events — a cursed artifact that offers players a wish in exchange for a hidden, often catastrophic penalty. If you're unfamiliar with the mechanic, our Monkey Paw: What to Do? guide covers every option and how to navigate them. But sometimes no amount of preparation can soften the blow — as one Reddit user recently found out the hard way.

A Wish Gone Wrong on the Moon

Reddit user u/erby__ shared a cautionary tale after 65 hours of playtime. During their first trip to the Moon — one of the game's later areas — they encountered the Monkey Paw with a cat boasting 15 Intelligence. That high INT stat was enough to pass the paw's check and earn a free wish, which on paper sounds like a dream scenario.

The wish they chose? "Learn Unfathomably Powerful Abilities."

The paw granted the wish — and slapped the cat with the Brain Dead disorder as the hidden penalty.

The Brain Dead Disorder

Brain Dead isn't all downside — it actually carries some real upside on paper:

• The cat gains twice as many stats upon leveling up
• The cat gains +1 Reroll whenever it levels up
• But it inflicts a crushing -10 Intelligence and -5 Charisma

For erby__'s cat, that -10 Intelligence was devastating. A cat that had been sitting at a comfortable 15 INT — more than enough to power its entire spell kit — was instantly knocked down to 5. The result: their most powerful cat could no longer hold enough Intelligence to cast a single one of its spells. Nearly two hours of careful run-building, gone in one click.

The Emotional Roller Coaster

What makes the story so relatable is erby__'s reaction. Despite describing themselves as "an extremely chill guy" who could count the number of times they've been genuinely mad in the past decade on one hand, this one got under their skin. The sense of wonder at reaching the Moon for the first time, the excitement of a free wish, and the immediate gut-punch of watching their best cat become useless — it all happened in seconds.

As they put it: it felt like being "lured into a room with the promise of millions of dollars and then stabbed in the gut." And yet — they still love the game. As a seasoned player of punishing titles like Jump King, Getting Over It, and Baby Steps, erby__ knows difficulty. But the Monkey Paw didn't feel like a skill check. It felt like a trap.

The Cruel Irony

The truly poetic thing here is that the Monkey Paw punished erby__ for having a strong cat. Their 15 Intelligence is what qualified them for the wish in the first place — and the Abilities wish they chose specifically targeted Intelligence as its hidden cost. The paw gave them exactly what they asked for (powerful new abilities), then made sure they could never use them. That's the monkey's paw working exactly as intended: your wish is granted, but in the cruelest way possible.

It's a textbook example of why the Abilities option, while generally considered the safest Monkey Paw pick, is never actually safe. The hidden penalty can target the exact stat your build depends on — and if it does, the damage is instant and total.

Lessons for Your Own Runs

If erby__'s story gives you pause before your next Monkey Paw encounter, that's probably healthy. A few takeaways:

• The Monkey Paw's penalty can directly counter the reward. Wishing for abilities when your build relies on INT is playing with fire, because the paw knows exactly where it hurts most.
• Your best cat is also your riskiest cat to wish on. The more invested a cat is in a single stat, the more vulnerable it is to a targeted penalty. Consider wishing on a secondary cat instead.
• Walking away is always an option. If the run is going well, you don't need the paw's help. The risk-reward calculus changes when you already have something to lose.

For the full breakdown of every Monkey Paw option and when to take the risk, check out our Monkey Paw: What to Do? guide. And you can read erby__'s original post on Reddit if you want to commiserate.