Welcome to the new year, weirdlings!
Thank you so much for being here, whether you're new or are someone who has stuck with me through these long years. Your time is precious, and I appreciate you using some of that time to read my thoughts on the fantastical, horrifying, and weird.
As part of my personal goals, I've declared 2026 the Year of Games. My main focus for this year will be focused on creating and writing about games — and that will be reflected in the content I share here, with more game reviews and critiques to come. (I'll sneak in some movie and TV reviews, too, if something in particular excites me.)
This is all part of a shift in my creative energies and my desire to design games full time. I've been making small games for several years now, works that are creepy, nostalgic, or wistful. This includes several are free browser games that take only a few minutes to complete, which can be found on my portfolio. I'd be delighted if folks took a few minutes to play one or two of those tiny games.
I wish you all the best in what will likely be another hell scape of a year. I hope you find things that bring you joy and creative outlets to sooth your soul.
And now on to today's discussion of Stray.
'Stray' is a Cute Cat Game
In Stray , developed by BlueTwelve Studio, the player gets to experience what it's like to be an ginger tabby cat exploring the ruins of the human world. At the start, the cat is living with a group of fellow strays, who wander along giant pipes and culverts, likely looking for food — when one of the pipes suddenly gives way causing the kitty to fall into a deep crevasse, with their cat family helpless to do anything but watch him disappear into the dark.
Alone in an underground structure full of garbage, the kitty must find their way back outside (hopefully to return to their family). Fortunately, he's not alone in this journey. Neon signs and lighted arrows guide the cat through dark tunnels, helping him to avoid danger, and ultimately leading him to a small, empty apartment with a secret room full of computers and technology. After solving a simple puzzle, the cat encounters a new friend in the form of a small, floating robot.
B-12, as this robot is named, would also like to reach the Outside, because that's what it's long-dead creator wanted. So, it straps a battery pack to the kitty's back and together, they head off to escape to the world above.
Embodying a Cat
One of the delights of Stray is the way in which it allows the player to embody what it's like to be a cat. As this little, orange, furry creature, you get to jump up onto chairs, shelves, balconies, and ledges, allowing you to explore vertically and, importantly, get a chance to know bottles, pots, and other objects, sending them crashing to the floor — like the delightful little annoyances cats are.
It's not quite free roam. Not every ledge or pipe can be jumped on, and hopping up on something requires a button prompt. This system guarantees that kitty will pretty much make every jump, requiring less precision on the part of the player. (Admittedly, a part of me wished I could prompt the cat to do the typical cat thing of misjudging a jump and just flinging themselves into empty air, but from a gameplay perspective, that would likely be more frustrating than fun.)
Other cool cat things you can do include meowing at any time, rubbing up against the legs of robots while purring, jumping in and out of boxes, and scratching walls, furniture, and rugs. At certain points, kitty can also curl up onto a cozy surface to take a nap — a quiet moment of peace in which the camera slowly zooms out to reveal a wider look at the underground city.
The Ruins of the World
The world of Stray is a beautiful ruin. When the player first fall into the underground, they find themselves first in the Dead City and then in the Slums. Everything has a dirty, rusty orange sheen to it, signaling the years of the city's decay. The only vibrancy or color comes from the street art adorning the walls or the glow of neon lights.
The Slums used to be a place where the poorest of humanity lived, deep within this underground city. It's a clear sign of social stratification. However, these people found ways to make this place homey. The apartments might be cramped, but they are cozy, with soft cushions, piles of books, and art and posters on the walls. Exploring this part of the city, you can feel the way it must have once bustled, the streets overcrowded and full of people just trying to get by in difficult times.
But humanity is just a memory here. All that's left are the companion robots wandering the empty streets.
The true remnants of humanity are shown in how these companion bots exist in the world. They have claimed homes, have a small market, visit the local bar. They adorn themselves in hats, ponchos, and other forms of human clothing. One group gathers together to meditate, seeking some sense of peace. Another bot sits in a corner with a guitar, practicing music and hoping to discover new songs to play.
Kitty's companion, B-12, is essential in communicating with these companion bots, providing translation (more for the player than the cat). Finding your way up out of the Slums and through the various levels of the city requires seeking out and meeting a number of specific bots, learning their stories, and solving small puzzles to help them obtain the small things they desire or need.
Most of the bots, when asked about the Outside and shown an ancient postcard as evidence, declare it to be a lovely myth. It's unclear how long they've been down in the dark depths, but they have no recorded memory of ever seeing the sun or greenery. There is a sense of melancholic routine to their existence, walking the same paths, sitting in the same chairs, having the same conversations — something that feels altogether human.
Only a small group believes in the possibility of the Outside, predictably called "Outsiders" and it is these bots that you need to connect with to progress through to the elevator and up toward the light. The Outsiders have been desperate to achieve their goal, willing to push through considerable dangers to reach beyond the confines of the city.
Surprise, It's a Horror Game!
The cat first meets the Zurks in the Dead City. At first the creatures look adorable, with their single glowing eye and cute squeaks. When surprised by the appearance of the cat, they run off to hide in dark corners. Then, more and more of them emerge from the shadows.
When the Zurks start to swarm, all cat can do is run, evade, or attempt to shake them off when they start to cling to the cat and chew away. If too many pile on, the cat will collapse and die, consumed by the creatures.
The Zurks, it turns out, are a human-made virus designed to address the mounting piles of garbage. However, they have grown and expanded beyond their initial purpose, becoming a deadly hazard for everyone — since the creatures consume flesh and metal alike, leaving the robots also terrified.
This is where the game surprised me the most. All of the cuteness was washed away in the visceral horrors of the Zurks. Where these creatures have taken over, the walls are covered in fleshy membranes with clumps of glowing egg sacks glopped into the corners and on the walls. Every little footstep in these infested areas is uncomfortably squishy.
Escaping the Slums requires entering the sewers, right in the heart of the Zurk's nesting ground. This dark maze of tunnels grow increasingly thick with clutches of the tiny, terrifying creatures — and the deeper you delve, the more terrifying it becomes, because the Zurks have evolved into a greater terror than I was prepared to imagine.
Final Thoughts
I started playing Stray, because it seemed like a cute escape from Soma, a horror game that had me quite stressed. And Stray satisfied that desire for an adorable cat adventure with robots — at least until it turned into a horror game in its own right.
Fortunately, the horror didn't throw me off. Rather, it added to the game experience, providing a threat to keep things exciting and a mirror to the sense of continued decay that had been left unchecked. There's a wistful beauty to this game, in the way the bots form bonds with each other in the absence of humans and find ways to bring meaning to their perpetual existence. It's a lovely game (even when it left my heart pounding), and the ending pulls everything together in a satisfying way.
Have you played Stray? What did you think of the experience?
