Stray

This little kitty is sitting pretty

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INFO

FORMAT PS5 [reviewed), PS4

PRICE £24.99

ETA Out now

PUB Annapurna Interactive

DEV Blue Twelve Studios

PLAYERS 1

LENGTH 6-8 hrs

ACCESSIBILITY Controller vibration, HUD, and on-screen jump prompts on/ off; look sensitivity and motion blur sliders; invertable X and Y camera control axes; rebindable controls

When I was a young ’un, one of my favourite make believe games was pretending I was a cat. Yes, I know, you’re ever so surprised – but it’s not hard to see the appeal. For one thing, hissing is an efficient way to set boundaries, not to mention you can take long naps whenever and wherever you like, and then there’s the terminally clumsy person’s simple fantasy of possessing an ounce of feline grace. Internet spelunking suggests not only that my imaginative childhood pastime was far from uncommon, but that there’s an evergreen sheen to that daydream.

It’s a fantasy that has left pawprints all over BlueTwelve’s debut project. You are a feral feline who falls away from the only family you know into a walled city inhabited by robots… and something that skitters in the dark. As a cat, you lack the linguistic ability to communicate with the robo-denizens on your own but you’re soon joined by a friendly drone that speaks your language. Called B-12, and looking not dissimilar to a cybernised bubble-eyed goldfish, they quickly become much more than just your interpreter as you search for a way back home.

CAT FOR A DAY