Stray Review – Furry Friends

Stray is an online game that teaches you how to be a cat. The cat can see, explore and play with the world as only they are able to. There’s lots of space for cat antics, as you are playing in one the most densely packed videogame worlds of recent memory. Stray is a great place to fulfill your feline fantasies. 

The unnamed cat, which we’ll refer to as “Stray”, is separated from its furry companions and finds herself deep underground in a city that has been sealed off from the outside world by a huge dome. Stray meets a tiny drone called B12 and they begin to explore the underground city. This is the desire of many android citizens who’ve heard of rumors, but have never seen the sun or clouds. 

Stray uses the fact that you can play as a cat to great effect. You must reconsider platforming because you are such an agile, small creature. In another game, a tiny, inaccessible ledge becomes an important path. You might be able to see the objective from a gate, but you are so small that you slip right through its gates. The animation throughout is fantastic, feeling believable to the minute movements cats make – so much so that my dog growled at my computer when I first started playing. Stray constantly finds new opportunities to play with its character – in both significant and minor ways, like pushing things off tables and scratching at doors – and I had a lot of fun discovering these unique interactions while exploring the world. 

Inspired by Hong Kong’s now-demolished real-life Kowloon Walled City – notable for its strikingly dense architecture and population – Stray’s world is artistically fantastic. It is a delight to discover the underground city, which includes underground sewers, crowded cityscapes filled with neon and highly-detailed apartment blocks to isolated rooftops. The levels feel densely packed. It was fun to find my way around the labyrinthine streets.

Stray can spend four hours exploring various neighborhoods, meeting residents, and performing other tasks during his runtime. Stray, who is able to understand and solve logic puzzles and perform hyper-specific tasks, seems to be the smartest cat ever. Every time I entered a new area, I felt excited to see what new puzzles or conversations I would encounter. Although I did enjoy the occasional dive into stealth, combat and evasion, they were not as interesting for me with the cat. You basically run, hide in a corner, or shine a flashlight at your enemies until you blow them up. These were rare, and it wasn’t often that they would appear.  

Although the story doesn’t go beyond the surface of human-city relationships, it is affecting. The game made me more invested in the world as I encountered more people, all struggling with the concept of being alive even though they are robots. The funny, touching and enlightening relationship that B12 has with Stray is what I enjoyed. Stray helps Stray navigate the world and help it understand its surroundings. 

Stray is a delightful game, and more so than anything else. Its gimmick – you are a cat, do cat things – never gets old; I constantly found it clever for the few hours it took to complete. It’s more than just gimmicks. Exploring a dense, detailed world is an enjoyable experience, made even better by the cat’s unique gameplay. The ride is short and solid. This trip through strange territory is well worth it.