The gaming world has thrown up various opportunities for us to live our best lives as a 19th-century outlaw or aristocratic, tomb-raiding Brit in brown hot pants, but now developers have outdone themselves by allowing people to step into the shoes – or paws – of a stray cat. Watch the trailer for the new game, which was released yesterday, here:
Stray is the debut adventure game from indie developer BlueTwelve Studio and publisher Annapurna Interactive, which follows the story of a street cat who is on a mission to return to its family.
It bills itself as a ‘third-person cat adventure game’, set amidst the ‘detailed neon-lit alleys of a decaying cybercity and the murky environments of its seedy underbelly’... in a world inhabited by robots, no less.
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After giving it a go, one gamer hailed the new release the ‘purrfect game’ on Twitter, while another shared footage of their own cat clawing at the screen as they played, saying: “Stray is a 100/10 game. This is priceless.”
Another said it was the ‘best game humankind has ever created’, while a fourth added: “Stray was a beautiful game… incredibly art directed (that lighting!) Loved exploring its world. Congrats to Blue Twelve Studio! Can’t wait to see what’s next for them!”
Speaking to LADbible’s sister site GAMINGbible last month, BlueTwelve producer Swann Martin-Raget said it was ‘always very important’ to allow users to feel as annoying as felinely possible while playing.
He said: “A huge portion of the team are cat owners - or owned by cats, depending on how you see it.
"We all have this loving relationship with our animals, but we also know very clearly how cats can have a bit of a… temper.
“We also have cats in our office that work with us every day. Sometimes they turn off the computer when you're about to save your work, or start ‘singing’ during an important call.
"So it's a very nice reminder that even though they're absolutely cute and adorable, they also have their own personalities. Having that in the game was really important from the start.”
From the moment the first footage of the game appeared online, social media users were instantly obsessed by the premise – a huge reaction that the team at BlueTwelve weren’t quite anticipating.
“We were not prepared and we still are not!” Martin-Reget said.
“We really are always surprised and always humbled, but because the game isn’t out yet it does add quite a lot of pressure to what we do. We want to do it right.
“I don't think [the reception] changed anything in our approach because the idea of the game was quite far along, but it definitely added a desire to really have this experience be as polished as possible. And especially for cat owners who are going to play the game.
“They’re as expert as we are, so they're going to get all the details! We are absolutely thrilled by the reception so far. But yeah, it's intimidating.”
Play Stray on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam now.
Topics: Gaming
Jess Hardiman