Stray has captured the hearts of players by allowing them to roam the streets as a cat with a little backpack and a big journey, but the popularity of Stray following up on the popularity of Untitled Goose Game makes one thing clear for developers: players like being annoying, cute animals. While both games have objectives to complete, they also allow players to be a bit silly and bother humans.
Stray is about a cat who falls into a strange city filled with robots and machines. Players work to find a way out of the city as the cat without a name and back to the surface world that is the cat's home with the help of a robotic companion named B-12. The style of Stray makes it an indie game that includes several genres, such as adventure, platforming, and puzzles, in order to find a way out of the city.
Aside from trying to escape the city, Stray allows players to be cute cats, letting them purr, knock down objects, and even scratch furniture. While there are games that let players be annoying as humans and inconvenience other humans, like breaking every piece of pottery somebody owns as Link in Zelda games, it's much more endearing to be a nuisance as an adorable critter. In Untitled Goose Game, it's endlessly entertaining to honk at people, then hide from them as they get frustrated. It's refreshing to have these games include more lighthearted elements.
Stray & Untitled Goose Game Are Escapism At Its Finest
Video games are excellent tools for escaping the stress of the day and the burdens of regular life. Stray and Untitled Goose Game both rocketing to popularity show that there is a demand among players for the chance to forget their worries and instead become critters who solve puzzles and cause a little mischief for humans, as is shown by the positive reviews and reception of Stray. Even games that take being an animal to a more ridiculous level have seen their share of popularity, like Goat Simulator, which has continued to be popular since its initial release in 2014.
Considering the length of time between each game's release, interest in playing as critters hasn't died down. Stray managed to blend a cyberpunk style with the joy of mundane life as a cat so that even collecting objects is a fun task. Playing as critters doesn't limit developers to create any specific genre, as shown with Untitled Goose Game's more puzzle-oriented, semi-stealth gameplay, or Stray's adventure and platforming genres. Whether Stray will see customization options, DLC, or a full sequel is still unknown, but one thing is sure: players are already looking for more cute animal adventure.
