Stray, the new game from BlueTwelve Studio that puts you into the paws of a cat, introduces a beautiful sci-fi world. But it's all grounded by the fact that, as a cat, you can do some pretty normal cat things while playing Stray.
With that in mind, let's take a look at 10 totally normal cat things you can do in Stray. (No story spoilers here, but some of these cat behaviors are context sensitive to certain parts of Stray. If you want to go in and discover these gameplay mechanics fresh, turn back and return once you've played!)
1. Knock Things Over
One of Stray's earliest puzzles teaches you that it pays to be a bit of a nuisance by knocking cans of paint over to progress. But don't worry about just having to knock cans over with purrr-pose. You'll be able to cause some fun mayhem by knocking over bottles, books, and more as you explore.
2. Claw Up Carpets and Walls
It's ok to paws when you come across a carpet, wall, or couch that needs scratching on your adventure. Throughout Stray, you'll find plenty of places to scratch away, and if you're playing on the PS5, you'll feel the resistance of clawing away through the haptics and triggers on the DualSense. (And for trophy hunters, it's important to keep scratching away!)
3. Type Gibberish on a Keyboard
Cats are smart enough that they probably know how to type full sentences, but just hide that fact from us. (Maybe a cat typed this whole article, who's to say.) Don't be afraid to leap on any keyboard you see while playing Stray, as it just might need you to type a bunch of nonsense to get what you want.
4. Rub Against a Robot's Leg
Can robots feel love? Well, they certainly seem to react to a cat rubbing against their legs, and some of them certainly seem to love it, if the hearts on their monitor-faces are any indication. Whatever the reaction may be, don't be afraid to nestle up against any robots you can, especially if you're going for a Platinum trophy.
5. Appropriately React to Wearing Clothes
We've known Stray's cat would be wearing an adorable backpack throughout its adventure, but like in any good superhero origin story, or Solo: A Star Wars Story, it's important to find out how that hero got their iconic look. And not all heroes wear capes – some wear backpacks, even if they really don't want to.
6. Play Piano
Whether Stray's cat-tagonist has secret musical skills or not, there are opportunities to hop on the keys and plunk out a melody. Sadly, these moments aren't compatible with Rock Band 3's keytar controller.
7. Watch TV
Sometimes you need a break from exploration, piano playing, and clawing up the furniture, right? Well, you'll find a chance to channel surf early on in Stray's campaign. And you don't even need an HBO Meow-x login to watch.
8. Get Caught in a Bag
Sometimes a cat's curiosity can put you in a difficult spot, and that's certainly true for Stray – occasionally while exploring, you'll come across empty paper bags that you might think hold some secret collectible or bonus. But their contents are singular: utter confusion.
9. Play With Toys
In Stray, you're a hardworking cat, putting in the hours to make the lives of the robots around you better, and that means you deserve some fun time in between jobs. Thankfully, BlueTwelve has placed a few distractions around its world to allow you to do just that.
10. Interrupt a Gaming Session
What good would a cat be without an incredible sense of timing… to take attention away from whatever someone is doing? Stray's leading cat can do just that, throwing off the characters it meets by stealing the spotlight from whatever they're up to, and causing some delightful mayhem in the process.
Those are just 10 of the fun ways Stray lets you be a totally normal cat in a totally new world. For more on Stray, be sure to check out IGN's Stray review, read about how long Stray is to play from the perspective of several IGN editors, and if you're playing, check out our full Stray wiki guide for tips on completing quests, chasing Trophies, and more.