Stray

I've been going through a tough time recently and lost interest in the things I used to enjoy, like video games.
During the last Steam sale, I remembered this game. It had been on my wishlist for a while, so I decided to buy it, even though I didn’t really feel like playing. I gave it a try and played for a few minutes—until I noticed a calendar on the wall with my birthday on it (October 11th).
For some reason, that small detail motivated me to keep playing. Over time, I found myself playing more and more. It took me a few weeks, but today I finally finished it. It may not seem like much, but completing this game feels like a real accomplishment after many setbacks in life.
This game helped me rediscover my love for video games. A heartfelt thank you to the developer for creating this masterpiece.

i remember when i first played this game i was drunk, and after the cat missed the jump in the first(?) cutscene i thought it died and i started crying. 10/10

I never knew the perfect cat game existed, but after sinking over twelve hours into Stray, I now know it does. As a cat lover and owner, playing as a cat felt like an absolute dream. I really hope they release some DLC or a sequel. I'd give this a 9/10 (minus one point because I couldn’t swipe food off the counter like my tabby loves to do)

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data
---{ Difficulty }---
☑ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☐ Lovely
☑ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☑ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☑ 10

Stray is a beautiful game built on minimalism. There's no HUD, no glowing waypoints, no tutorials holding your hand—every step I figured out on my own. Puzzles and objectives reveal themselves through exploration and curiosity; I found myself distracting a shopkeeper with a blaring mixtape, sneaking into a restricted area by hiding in a delivery box, and uncovering a hidden path through a nightclub just by offering someone a drink. Nothing felt out of place or overly complex—everything just made sense.
I didn't mind its minimalistic gameplay at all; in fact, I appreciated it more than most. Stray trusted me as a player. It stripped away clutter and let the world speak for itself, and what a world it is: the city feels alive, even though it's populated entirely by robots, and I especially loved how the developers leaned into the sci-fi vibe by giving them old-school TV screens for faces. It was such a smart choice—visually unique, easy to read, and efficient from a development standpoint. Without using complex facial animations, the game still managed to convey so much emotion through simple visuals, body language, and sound.
As for the story, it's definitely the title's greatest strength—I was on the verge of tears by the end. :') At around five hours for an 80% completion rate, it's a short game, yes, but I truly appreciated how it respects the player's time while still delivering a powerful, lasting impression.
With Stray, you don't just play a game—you live and experience another world for a while. And when you're done, you might even find a part of it stays with you.

Started the game crying about a cat, ended the game sobbing about a robot. Immaculate.

Stray is a game where you play as a cat. Just… a regular little orange cat with a tiny backpack.
You fall into a forgotten cyber city full of flickering neon, rusted alleyways, and robots trying their best to be human. Your overall goal is to get back to your feline friends. Along the way, you’ll nap in cozy corners, knock over bottles for no reason, meow at strangers, and occasionally run for your life from unsettling sci-fi bugs! Normal feline activities.
The city itself steals the show. Every alley feels like it has a story. Every robot you meet is quirky, curious, or quietly lonely. There's no giant plot twist waiting at the end, but the world-building and atmosphere do the heavy lifting. And somehow, despite everything being rusted and broken, it feels oddly hopeful.
Yes, it’s a short game, you can easily finish it in an afternoon or over a couple of evenings but that’s part of its charm. It doesn’t try to stretch itself thin or overstay its welcome. It’s the kind of story that settles in quietly, like a cat curling up beside you, and then stays in your thoughts for days, soft, subtle, and unexpectedly moving.
Definitely give it a try! <3