‘Stray’ has captured the attention of real-life cats

By Marianne Garvey

Cats, possibly the most disinterested animals on the planet, are getting into gaming.

“Stray,” a new game from BlueTwelve Studio and Annapurna Interactive publishing for PlayStations 4 and 5, allows you to play as a cat living in a dystopian world. Turns out, it’s so realistic looking, housecats have been caught staring at it and mimicking it for hours on end.

Players are rewarded by existing as a cat in the game. You can do all the things that make cats, well, cats. Gamers can meow, wander around outside, clean themselves, sleep a lot, scratch furniture, knock things off tables, eat.

“Stray” players have been posting their own cats watching the game on social media, copying the cats in the game, staring at screens.

There’s even a Cats Watching Stray Twiiter account now, with gamers posting their cats reacting to the game.

One woman posted a video of her cat blocking the screen, writing, “My cat wont let me play this game.”

Another wrote “Cats gonna cat.”

One fan has a houseful of cats gathered around the television watching together, writing, “Let’s start meow button.”

In the game, human players can also meow on command with the push of a button. One gamer’s cat started meowing back.

Online reviews for the game have been mostly positive … or should we say pawsitive. Had to. Meow.

The-CNN-Wire
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