The story follows a stray cat who falls into a walled city populated by robots, machines, and mutant monster bacteria, and sets out to return to the surface with the help of a drone companion, B-12.
The game is presented through a third-person perspective. The player traverses the game world by leaping across platforms and climbing up obstacles, and can interact with the environment to open new paths. Using B-12, they can store items found throughout the world and hack into technology to solve puzzles. Throughout the game, the player must evade the antagonistic Zurks and Sentinels, which attempt to kill them.
Stray was announced in 2020 and became highly anticipated. It was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Windows in July 2022, and for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S in August 2023; a macOS version is in development.
The game received generally positive reviews, with praise for its artistic design, cat gameplay, narrative, original score, and platforming elements, though critics were divided on the combat and stealth sequences. Stray received accolades at The Game Awards, Game Developers Choice Awards, and Golden Joystick Awards, and appeared on multiple publications' year-end lists. An animated film adaptation is currently in development.
