Most video game characters are brave humans who set off on daring adventures. But the main character of Stray, which came out last summer, is a different beast—literally! Players control an orange cat that gets separated from its fellow felines. The game follows the cat’s quest through a deserted city to rejoin its family. The city doesn’t have any humans but has plenty of humanlike robots.
From the start, Stray was made as a tribute to stray animals. The main character is even based on a real-life cat named Murtaugh—an actual stray adopted by the game’s creators. Another cat, Oscar, served as model and actor for the digital stray. Thanks to him, the digital cat’s actions are strikingly realistic.