Stray is an adventure game played by a single player in a third-person perspective.[2][3] The player controls a stray cat, who can leap across platforms, climb up obstacles,[1] and open new paths by interacting with the environment, such as clawing at objects, climbing in buckets, overturning paint cans, and operating a vending machine.[4][5][6] The narrative progresses by solving puzzles, often involving moving obstacles.[7][8] Optional activities include sleeping, meowing, and nuzzling up to non-player characters, most of which elicit a response.[1][9] Some levels have open-world elements, allowing the player to roam freely.[7]
The player is accompanied by a drone companion, B-12, who assists by translating the language of other characters, storing items found throughout the world, providing light, and hacking into various technologies to open paths and solve puzzles.[10][11] Throughout the game, the player finds several of B-12's memories, providing more context for the story.[7] Most of these memories are optional, but some are unlocked through story progression.[12] The player can collect badges, including several optional throughout the world, which are displayed on the cat's backpack.[6]
The world is populated by robots, who often employ the player to locate objects that reveal more information and progress the narrative.[13] Some robots provide optional tasks, such as Morusque, who plays songs upon being provided with music sheets found around the slums.[14] The player can interact with most robots in the world.[7] Stray features two types of enemies who can kill the player: Zurks, a large, mutated bacteria that can swarm and devour the cat;[12] and Sentinels, security drones who will attempt to shoot the player upon spotting them.[13][15] For a portion of the game, the player can attach a Defluxor to B-12 to destroy the Zurks,[16] though it can only be used for a limited time before B-12 overheats and requires a brief period to cool down.[15] The player can evade Sentinels by avoiding their sight lines, indicated by glowing lights.[17]
