A game where you are the cat

Stray is the game cat people waited years for: you play an ordinary orange tabby, separated from its family and lost in a walled city of robots, where the humans are long gone. You don't fight with weapons or talk; you jump, climb, meow, nap on cushions, knock things off shelves and scratch the furniture, and the city's robots react to you as a curious little visitor from the outside. It was made by the French studio BlueTwelve, based in Montpellier, published by Annapurna Interactive and released on July 19, 2022, first on PlayStation and PC, and later on other platforms.

Stray was a hit with players and, famously, with real cats, many of whom sat in front of the screen watching the orange tabby move. A Stray rug celebrates both. Ours are printed into short velvet, so neon glows, rainy reflections and soft orange fur come out with depth, and they go in the washing machine, which every cat owner knows matters.

The orange tabby

The hero has no name, only a striped orange coat, big curious eyes and a tail that flicks while it thinks. The animators studied real cats closely, and it shows: every stretch, head-bump and careful leap feels true. A design with the tabby alone, sitting on a rooftop ledge or curled up asleep, is the simplest Stray rug and the most universal, because it looks like a beautiful cat illustration to anyone who has never played.

B-12

Early in the game, the cat finds B-12, a small flying drone that rides in a harness on its back. B-12 translates robot speech, carries items, lights up dark tunnels and, as the story unfolds, has a past of its own. The partnership between a silent cat and a tiny drone is the emotional core of the game. A design with B-12 hovering beside the cat is a sweet, understated rug, perfect for a desk area or a bedroom.

The walled city

The city was inspired in part by the Kowloon Walled City, the densely packed settlement that once stood in Hong Kong: narrow alleys, tangled cables, laundry lines, air conditioners stacked on every wall and buildings piled on buildings, all sealed beneath a great dome. In Stray, it's lit by neon and rain and inhabited by gentle robots who have taken on human habits, cooking, playing cards, sweeping their doorsteps.

Area	What it looks like
The Slums	Neon signs, rooftops, cushions and friendly robots
Antvillage	Robots who climbed up the city walls to live
Midtown	Shops, bars and a brighter, busier district
The sewers and the Dead City	Dark tunnels, danger and the creatures called Zurks

A Slums design, a narrow street glowing with signs at night, is the signature city rug, and it suits a cyberpunk-style room as well as a cat lover's. For more neon cities, see our cyberpunk rugs.

Signs in a robot alphabet

The city's signs, posters and graffiti are written in an invented script, glyphs that B-12 helps the cat understand. They glow in pink, cyan and amber across every wall. A sign design, layers of glowing glyphs on a dark street, makes a striking, abstract rug that looks like neon typography to visitors and reads as Stray only to people who've been there.

Cat things to do

Part of Stray's charm is how many small, purely catlike actions it gives you, none of them strictly necessary:

• Meowing on command, just to see who turns around.
• Scratching doors, couches and, yes, rugs.
• Knocking paint cans and bottles off ledges.
• Curling up for a long nap on a soft cushion, which the game rewards.
• Walking across a keyboard or a game board in the middle of someone's game.
• Rubbing against a robot's legs until it pets you.

A playful design built around one of these, a paw print trail, a tipped-over paint can or a cat asleep on a cushion, is a funny, affectionate rug for any cat household.

The Zurks and the Sentinels

Not everything in the city is friendly. Zurks are small, fast creatures that swarm in the dark, and Sentinels are security drones that sweep the streets with searchlights. Running from them makes for some of the game's most tense moments. A Sentinel searchlight design, a beam cutting across a dark alley, is a dramatic rug for a game room, though for a cozy room, the cat and the city are better choices.

Dreaming of the Outside

Most of the city's robots have never seen the sky. A small group in the Slums, the Outsiders, dream of the world beyond the dome, a place they know only from old stories, and the cat, who fell in from out there, becomes a living hint that it still exists. A design with a single shaft of sunlight breaking through the dome and the cat looking up into it is a hopeful, quiet rug for a bedroom, and a gentle reminder of what the whole journey is about.

Music on the rooftops

In the Slums, a robot musician plays guitar, and the cat can bring him pages of sheet music found around the city to hear new songs. It's one of the gentlest moments in the game. A rooftop design, a robot strumming beside a sleeping cat under hanging lights, is a warm, peaceful rug for a reading nook or a music corner.

Your own cat, as a rug

Many people who loved Stray did so because the cat reminded them of their own. If your cat is the real star of your house, our custom rugs can print your cat's photo in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, or cut to its shape as a shaped rug from 2.6×2.6 up to 5.2×5.9 ft (80×80 to 160×180 cm). An orange tabby in a Stray-style neon alley, from your own photo, is a one-of-a-kind gift. For more cat designs, see our cat rugs, and for the dog people in the family, our dog rugs.

Rugs in a cat household

Cat owners know what rugs go through: hair, litter tracked from the box, the occasional hairball and, if Stray is any guide, a good scratch now and then. Every Padrift rug can go in the washing machine on a gentle, cold cycle, and pet hair lifts off with a vacuum on a low setting. On smooth floors, choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, so the rug doesn't slide when your cat sprints across it. For a softer nap spot, choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back.

A cushion-sized nap spot

The cat in Stray is always looking for a soft place to sleep, and real cats are no different. A small round rug, 2.6 or 3.3 ft (80 or 100 cm), with a Stray design makes a perfect sunny-window nap spot, a little bit of the game for the cat who inspired your love of it.

Colors and rooms

Stray's palette mixes warm and cool: the cat's orange and cream, rainy blues and greys, and neon pink, cyan and amber. A city design brings color to a dark gaming room; the cat alone on a soft, muted background suits a living room or a bedroom. Pair it with warm lamps and a few plants, and leave a cushion on the floor. Your cat will find it.

A shelf of indie favorites

Stray sits beside the great indie adventures, quiet, beautiful games with a big heart. If you also love the stylish action of Stellar Blade or the gentle world of Animal Crossing, you'll find their pages too, and many more in our gaming rugs.

Sizes and levels

The cat alone or B-12 suits a 3.3 to 4.6 ft (100 to 140 cm) round rug, or an 2.6 ft (80 cm) round rug as a nap spot. The Slums at night or a rooftop scene suits a 4×6 or 5×7 ft rectangle. Under a gaming chair, choose Standard in 3.3×5 or 4×6 ft: its non-slip back lets wheels roll freely. A paw print trail suits a long hallway runner.

Gifts

A Stray rug is a lovely gift for a gamer with a cat, a cat lover who doesn't play games or a friend whose cat watched the whole playthrough. If you aren't sure which design to choose, the orange tabby on a rooftop is the safest. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that. Custom pet rugs are made just for you, so they can't be returned; please check your photo before ordering.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes to lift pet hair. The design is printed into the fibers, so the colors stay bright, scratch sessions and all.

A note on the game

Momo and the robot companions

The cat isn't the only hero. In the city's Slums, robots like Momo, a curious inventor who dreams of the Outside, and the wise Zbaltazar help the cat on its way. A rug of a small robot with a glowing screen face reading a book under a neon lamp is a tender design for players who loved the city's lonely, kind machines.

Padrift is an independent studio. Stray and its characters are named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by BlueTwelve Studio or Annapurna Interactive.