You’ve probably seen games where the main character is some sort of anthropomorphic animal, but it’s not often where we see a game where the protagonist of a game is a realistic animal. That’s exactly what was released on July 19, 2022 with Stray. The developers of Stray, BlueTwelve Studios, released it while keeping in mind realistic cat behaviors to spread awareness for cats. One of the game developers, Swann Martin-Raget, said,“I certainly hope that maybe some people will be inspired to help actual strays in real life — knowing that having an animal and a companion is a responsibility.”

The development team’s love for cats allowed them to draw inspiration while making this game. In fact, the publisher, Annapurna Interactive, known for many other games like Neon White, Outer Wilds, and Journey, has also shown their support of cats through Stray. They rented out a shelter for the weekend, and allowed people to play Stray, while surrounded by a lot of stray cats. Some of the profits from the sales of the game were also donated to shelters.

Stray received mostly positive critical attention, and it also was the No. 1 sold game on Steam for 2 weeks after its release. When it was released, it was the 4th most broadcasted and viewed game in all of Twitch, and many streamers donated some of their earnings to various animal shelters. A popular social media trend also included taking a cute picture of playing Stray with your cat, and it quickly went viral.

The premise of the game is that the player is a cat that has been separated from your family, falling into a dystopian cyberpunk city. The graphics of the cyberpunk city, and their surprisingly human robot inhabitants are on point. The city feels well made, with its bright neon lights but dirty grimy streets, and its dystopian feel contrasted with the robot inhabitants full of personality. Absolutely no sacrifices were made in terms of production quality and the game is a visual treat.

The game also goes to incredible lengths to make the cat as realistic as possible. The animation of the cats moving and jumping around were modeled after real cats. Even PETA praised Stray for its uncanny depictions of real cats.

Besides the design of the game, the storyline itself was also interesting and engaging, and feels very fleshed out. The main plot is good, but many of the small details and tangents of the main path also add to the world building. My favorite character was B-12, Stray’s small robot buddy who follows him through the game. He has an engrossing story where players learn more about it. Plenty of other side characters with little screen time have their own stories, which I found fascinating as well.

The only complaint I had with the game was the gameplay. Because this was an adventure game, there was no combat in the game, and progressing the game was a combination of puzzles, exploring areas and finding the way forward, and stealth sequences where you had to sneak past the enemies. However, the gameplay was extremely easy, to the point where all jumps were scripted. It took almost no skill to do any of the parkour, except for basic keyboard skills. The puzzles were equally as easy, requiring no thinking at all and having glaringly obvious solutions. Stealth sequences are simple as well, and sneaking past your enemies is painfully easy.

Despite all of this, the gameplay “challenges” are always new and exciting. There wasn’t much repetition but the straightforward nature of the gameplay also allows you to focus more on the beautifully crafted surroundings and story. Even though most of the game is scripted, there are often moments where the game allows you to explore environments, which is always an enjoyable experience. The game also seems just right in terms of length, taking around 6 hours to complete, not being too short and leaving you desiring more, but also not too long and leaving you bored.

Playing Stray was an amazing experience, and I enjoyed interacting with the characters, surroundings and plot. It won’t win any awards in terms of gameplay, but it has a brilliant concept, well executed story, and great critical reception. It is also a great way to also raise attention to adopting cats in a fun and entertaining way. My overall feelings for Stray are paw-sitive, and I would recommend everyone to play it for an a-meow-zing time.

4/5