
Stray
Most streamers rate Stray worth playing.
10 streamer verdicts· Released 2022-07-19Independent creators only · sponsored coverage never counts
Streamer Verdicts
10 displayedOur analysis
A heartfelt, brilliantly executed adventure that captures feline behavior beautifully as you guide a cat through a melancholic, lived-in cyberpunk city. The simplified auto-guided traversal and gentle puzzles keep it accessible rather than challenging, and the soundtrack and atmosphere shine. The Switch port is well optimized, though it carries a noticeable visual and haptics downgrade and occasional frame drops compared with PS5 and PC.
Our analysis
Playing as a semi-realistic cat is the central novelty, and controlling the nimble feline through its cyberpunk world is genuinely fun, backed by lovely graphics and great sound. But the mechanics exist mainly to mitigate frustration rather than challenge, and at only five hours the game leans hard on presentation while cutting corners with rough animations, reliance on text boxes, and a thin lack of easter eggs or surprises. Enjoyable, but the appeal rests almost entirely on the cat conceit.
Our analysis
A lovely third-person puzzle-adventure with an evocative cyberpunk world that feels familiar yet alien, strong atmospheric audio, and an engaging mix of platforming, exploration and collecting. The chase sequences with the Zurk creatures are the weakest part and controls can be finicky lining up jumps, while performance shows some stutters, ghosting and soft textures at 30fps. Worth picking up despite being pricier than other platforms.
Our analysis
A low-key wonderful four-and-a-half-hour adventure that builds its entire traversal and level design around how a cat actually moves, creating clever exploration puzzles in a beautifully realized post-cyberpunk world. It pairs well-paced narrative and stealth sequences with a moving story of defiance and a standout soundtrack. The main drawback is a poor PC port with unstable frame rates and occasionally stiff, restrictive controls, making the PS5 version the better way to play.
Our analysis
A missed opportunity that coasts entirely on the novelty of playing a beautifully animated cat. The controls are clunky, jumps are fully automated so platforming never feels earned, the puzzles are trivially easy, and the story and characters are forgettable. Worth it only for die-hard cat lovers or the easily pleased; everyone else will find it boring.
Our analysis
A lovely, polished little adventure where you play as a cat in a gorgeous neon-lit post-apocalyptic robot city, leaning more on light puzzle-solving and exploration than platforming, with contextual jumps that never let you fail. It is a short, self-contained roughly six-hour experience with charming cat-loving touches and a sweet story, though the cat model itself can look a little rough. Recommended as a nice, focused experience rather than a big epic.
Our analysis
A cute, short, polished linear adventure where you play as a cat in a beautifully designed robot city, blending fun and easy puzzle-solving with charming feline behaviors and well-tuned pacing across its roughly eight-hour runtime. The stunning art design, emotive robots, and vibrant use of light and color make the world rewarding to explore, and the predictable but well-crafted story lands emotionally. Heartily recommended, provided you're not expecting open-world freedom or demanding platforming.
Our analysis
A captivating cat adventure that perfectly captures feline charm while weaving a powerful story about humanity enduring in a dazzling neon dystopia run by robots. Exploration and leaping around as a cat is pure bliss, with emotional questlines and loads of interactive cuteness, though the action sequences feel undercooked, with frustrating chase segments and overly simple stealth. Around ten hours long, it delivers simple pleasures that add up to a deeply fulfilling experience.
Our analysis
An extremely cute, chill cat game set in a vertical cyberpunk underground city, with great atmosphere, interesting music, and wonderfully cat-like animations as you explore, do easy puzzles, and occasionally flee trash-eating creatures. The story is somewhat bland with weak characters and no real voice acting, the ending lacks impact, and it would benefit from cat customization and more content, running only about five hours. A solid, impressive indie effort, especially for cat lovers, and best picked up on sale.
Our analysis
Captivating world and philosophical themes but abrupt ending leaves wanting more.
About
- Released
- 2022-07-19
- Genre
- Platform, Adventure, Indie
Creator Mentions · 2
Sheshounet😐 mixed
WatchOur analysis
A cute and accessible indie game with pleasant cat mechanics, but the gameplay is too simple and lacks challenge for experienced players.
PushingUpRoses👍 positive
WatchOur analysis
Stray is an adorable adventure-platformer with charming robot characters, accessible design, and heartfelt storytelling, though keyboard controls and some platforming sections can be frustrating.