Stray, the cat exploration game from developer BlueTwelve Studio and publisher Annapurna Interactive, has finally gone live after months of anticipation. The game puts you in the paws of a cat who is lost within a long-forgotten cyberpunk city. Separated from your family and everything you know, you must get back to where you came from while also helping the robots you meet along the way.
Even though it was only released recently, plenty of players have already experienced the magic and charm of Stray. The game features a heart-wrenching story, plenty of adventure, and lots of achievement-hunting opportunities for dedicated players. After checking it out or playing the first chapter, you might be wondering whether Stray offers a multiplayer option for those who want to participate in the game with others.
Does Stray offer multiplayer?
Stray does not offer multiplayer and there don’t seem to be any plans to include it in the future. The game isn’t designed for more than one player, no matter how much fun it would be to meow at and pick fights with other cats while playing. Moreover, the story focuses on the loneliness of a single cat and its desperation to get back to everything it knows. Adding another cat to that would water down that emotional resonance.
Just because Stray isn’t a multiplayer game doesn’t mean that you can’t experience it with others, though. You can play the game while others watch and help with puzzles either in the same room as you or while you stream on a platform like Twitch, YouTube, or Discord. In fact, doing so might make the game experience better for those who need an extra hand or are easily frustrated by puzzles. If you’re playing on the couch with another person, you can even hand them the controller when you get to a tough sequence if you’d rather not do it yourself.
Even though Stray doesn’t have multiplayer baked in, there are still ways to share the experience with others.