Screenshots & trailers
What players say
Why the number is what it is: aspect mentions counted across 388 sampled Steam reviews (377 positive / 11 negative), recent and most-helpful. Plain keyword counting, fully reproducible; nothing here is written by a machine.
What positive reviews talk about
- Story & writing36% mention it
- Visuals & art15% mention it
- World & exploration12% mention it
- Music & audio6% mention it
What negative reviews complain about
- Story & writing45% mention it
- Visuals & art36% mention it
- World & exploration27% mention it
Satisfaction by hours played
Same score, different games: see how sentiment holds up the longer people play.
Under 5h
93%
86 reviews
5-15h
98%
252 reviews
15-40h
100%
44 reviews
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 83 | 97 |
| Creator reviews (8 tracked) | – | 89 | 8 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 97% | 93 | 1249 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | 86 | 365 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 96% | 91 | 428 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 300 reviews sampled · 1222 total reviews in window · weighted 195.6 up / 4.8 down · computed 1h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (226)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 95
“At its core, Stray is a beautiful game of exploration that can be finished at your own pace. Its gameplay constitutes a calming experience that makes typically mundane activities such as jumping on ledges, walking around corners, and even just meowing, feel powerful. Ultimately, the emotional connections you build throughout your adventure are a testament that you should never underestimate an unassuming cat as it could very well be destined for greatness.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Stray is a post-apocalyptic story told from a feline's perspective. It couples creepiness with tenderness, featuring many interesting characters and puzzles as you unravel the mystery of this dying world. The visuals and audio are delightful, and the story is satisfying to see through to completion. Well done!”
read full review ↗ - 79
“Stray is as good a weekend binge as any, even if it failed my little cat-owner heart or made me grimace over rice paddy hats. As a video game, Stray is far from perfect, but as a cat-riding-in-a-bucket simulator, it’s pretty incredible.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“There’s a lot of love that’s gone into crafting this game and Stray deserves its plaudits. This is a fantastic game and easily one of the best in 2022.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Stray is a very cute adventure game where you can relax and engage in solving various puzzles using feline methods. It is worth mentioning that there is a couple of creepy moments in the game that can scare a child.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Not a game, but the dream of any cat fan, which at the same time turns out to be not just a "cat simulator", but a clearly told and interesting story.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Stray is most fun when you allow yourself to, well, stray from its narrative path.”
read full review ↗ - 85
“Stray is a must-play for every cat lover, because you simply won’t find a better game on this theme on the market. Exploring the unknown is in a cat’s nature, so it’s nice to step into that role for once and set out to discover a cyberpunk world where humans no longer have a place. After all, time spent with a cat is never wasted, and that goes for the gaming world, too.”
read full review ↗ - 90
“Stray is one of those rare games that manage to be narratively intriguing, dynamically fun, and addictively replayable all at once. If you like cats, or even if you just like great adventure games, this is a must-play.”
read full review ↗ - 70
“While animals have served as human companions, attack assists, and Easter egg distractions throughout the history of video games, Stray, in what's a rare thing, asks you to play as one. It's nowhere near purr-fect, but it's a delight nonetheless.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Stray won't challenge you, frustrate you, or take up too much of your time. Perhaps that's why we enjoyed it so much. It plays like an open-world point-and-click paired with largely on-rails action sequences. Some minor gripes and expected disparities between the Switch port and versions elsewhere aside, as we sauntered around its post-apocalyptic environments on all fours, Stray did an impeccable job of making us want to talk to everyone and explore everything it had to offer, and we had an appetite for more once it was all over. To us, that's the mark of a compelling adventure.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“While Stray is an extremely short game, it uses its runtime to tell a great story from an extremely unique perspective.”
read full review ↗
Gamepressure
Pure Nintendo
The Punished Backlog
TheReviewGeek
GameMAG
3DNews
Slant Magazine
Gaming Professors
Jump Dash Roll
Gadgets 360
Nintendo Life
eXputer…and 214 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
- Stray Patch 4Aug 10, 2023significant · resets scoring window
- Stray Patch 3Aug 3, 2022
- Stray Hotfix 2Jul 22, 2022
- Stray Hotfix 1Jul 20, 2022