Should you try out Stray in 2025?

Stray is the ultimate dream come true for cat lovers as they take control of a cat to explore a futuristic dystopia to reconnect with their litter. BlueTwelve Studio knew what it was doing and realized a good portion of the general gaming community are cat owners, granting them a guaranteed market across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

Unlike most triple-A games, this project is fairly simple and short, but in a good way. The visuals are flashy, and the world design is incredibly detailed thanks to the impressive horsepower of Unreal Engine 4, which allows the players to move and view the world from a cat's perspective. The title was released in 2022 and was universally praised for its unique premise and simplistic nature, which are good enough reasons to try this fun adventure in 2025.

Disclaimer: Some aspects of this article reflect the writer's personal and subjective views about the game.

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Explore a futuristic dystopia as a stray cat

This game offers a front-row seat to what it is like to be a stray cat (Image via Steam || Annapurna Interactive)

BlueTwelve Studio wanted to tell a different story through a cat's point of view and share an alternate reality of a world devoid of life. After an unexplainable calamity wiped out humanity, the automatons known as Companions are left alone without supervision. Throughout the years, they begin to adapt and build their society underneath the hidden city; however, they are trapped with no means of leaving.

The story follows a stray cat separated from its litter and explores the underground city inhabited by the Companions. Along the way, the cat will encounter a small drone named B-12 with no recollection of its past or programming vows to help the cat leave the city and avoid Zurks — a deadly bacteria that can harm both organic and artificial life.

The gameplay is straightforward and does not have combat encounters, which can be a massive dealbreaker for some players. Despite the lack of action, Stray is full of environmental puzzles that can be solved by thinking outside the box, or more accurately, start thinking like a cat. The traditional puzzle-solving mechanics are not useful in this regard, and players have few options to get by.

The game encourages the player base to be mindful of their surroundings and progress through certain areas, such as finding a narrow path to sneak through without being spotted by the Sentinels and other forces. Players can push certain objects to distract enemies or even meow to get their attention. The stray cat's speed and impressive agility will be useful once bullets start firing during escapes.

Despite the lack of humans in the game, the story features a great tale of humanity and its finest moments in crisis. It is revealed the B-12 droid that the cat encountered was a human scientist who meant to transfer their mind to a metal body, but the procedure went south. The city was meant to be a sanctuary for humans to survive threats on the surface, but all those efforts were wasted after humanity's extinction.

Stray is a brief and emotional tale in a world devoid of life (Image via Steam || Annapurna Interactive)

As B-12 realized that the last remnants of life now resided with the stray cats and the remainder of the Companions, the droid decided it was time to make a difference and sacrifice itself to override the city locks and allow sunlight to breach the city to end the Zurk infestation and shut down all the Sentinels.

The game was brief and didn't overstay its welcome, but is filled with memorable moments. BlueTwelve Studio struck gold with this project, and countless awards shows recognized it for its art direction, story, and cutesy gameplay.

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Verdict

Stray is one of those games that shouldn't be judged before taking a first look (Image via Steam || Annapurna Interactive)

Stray may not appeal to the general gaming community; however, the game has some features worth admiring. The premise, world design, environmental puzzles, and storytelling can keep a player engaged and blast this campaign in less than a day.

Other than being available on multiple platforms, the price is affordable and on the cheaper side compared to triple-A games, which are charged $70. While it is easy to dismiss that the lower price tag reflects the game's quality, it doesn't do it justice, but it does reflect the number of hours a player can spend in the game.

If you are a cat lover and short on time to play massive open-world games, Stray's linear narrative and satisfying gameplay are convincing reasons for a good game to try out in 2025.