You know that specific post-game depression? The one where you’ve finished Stray, the credits have rolled on that bittersweet ending in Walled City 99, and suddenly every other game feels too loud, too human, and way too complicated. You just want to knock a glass off a table. You want to scratch a rug and meander through a world that doesn't care if you're there or not. Honestly, BlueTwelve Studio tapped into something primal. They proved we don't always want to be the "Chosen One" with a broadsword; sometimes, we just want to be a ginger tabby with a drone in a backpack.
Finding games similar to stray isn't actually about finding more cats. Well, it's partially about that, but it's really about "atmospheric immersion." It’s about that quiet, lonely feeling of exploring a world from a perspective that isn't five or six feet off the ground.
Why Stray Stuck With Us (And What to Look For Next)
Most people think Stray worked because cats are cute. That’s a surface-level take. The real magic was the scale. By shrinking the protagonist, the developers turned a mundane alleyway into a platforming puzzle. A dumpster isn't just trash; it's a staircase.
If you're hunting for a follow-up, you have to decide what part of the cat simulator you liked most. Was it the "no-thoughts-head-empty" animal vibes? Was it the neon-soaked cyberpunk mystery? Or was it the platforming that felt fluid and low-stress?
One big misconception is that every animal game is basically Stray. It isn't. Some are high-octane chaos, while others are essentially walking simulators with paws.
Little Kitty, Big City: The Obvious Successor
If the moody, depressing robot-filled dystopia of Stray felt a bit too heavy for you, Little Kitty, Big City is the literal antidote. You play as a black cat who falls out of a window. That's it. Your goal is to get back home, but the city is full of birds to pounce on and hats to wear. Double Dagger Studio basically took the "jerk cat" mechanics—tripping people, stealing bagels, being a menace—and turned the saturation up to eleven.
It’s shorter. It’s sillier. But the movement? It feels remarkably similar. You’re still looking for those glowing prompts to jump, even though the stakes are significantly lower than "escaping a parasitic hive mind."
Untitled Goose Game: The Chaos Factor
You’ve probably seen the memes. You play as a goose. You have a dedicated honk button. While Stray is about the quiet dignity (and occasional clumsiness) of a feline, Untitled Goose Game is about being a feathered jerk. House House created a masterpiece of stealth-comedy.
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It hits that same "non-human perspective" itch. You aren't saving the world. You’re just trying to steal a gardener’s keys so you can throw them in a pond. It’s tactile. Every object in the world reacts to you. If your favorite part of Stray was pressing 'O' to meow at nothing or knocking paint cans off ledges just to see them fall, this is your next stop.
Exploring Atmosphere: Beyond the Animal Kingdom
Sometimes the best games similar to stray don't feature animals at all. They feature that specific "solitary explorer in a weird world" vibe.
Journey
If the ending of Stray left you staring at the wall for twenty minutes, play Journey. It’s a masterclass in wordless storytelling. You are a robed figure in a vast desert. There is a mountain. You go to it. Like Stray, the lore isn't dumped on you via dialogue boxes; it’s painted on walls and told through the environment. It captures that same loneliness, but it adds a layer of beautiful, anonymous cooperation if you happen to run into another player.
Outer Wilds (Not Outer Worlds)
Don't mix these up. Outer Wilds is a space exploration game about a 22-minute time loop. Why is it like Stray? Because it respects your curiosity. There are no quest markers. You explore a miniature solar system because you want to know what happened to the people who were there before you.
The Nomai in Outer Wilds feel a lot like the Companions in Stray. They are gone, or mostly gone, and you’re just picking up the pieces of their lives through the ruins they left behind. It’s melancholic. It’s brilliant. It’s also much harder than Stray, so be prepared to crash your ship into the sun at least a dozen times.
The Technical Side of Animal Movement
A lot of people don't realize how hard it is to animate a quadruped. In Stray, the cat’s movement is semi-automated for a reason. If they gave you full manual control over every jump, you'd be clipping through the environment and looking like a glitchy mess.
This brings us to Okami HD.
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You play as Amaterasu, a sun goddess in the form of a white wolf. It’s an older game, sure, but the "animal feel" is incredible. It uses a "Celestial Brush" mechanic where you draw on the screen to perform miracles. It’s more of a traditional action-adventure—think The Legend of Zelda—but it captures that majestic, non-human power better than almost anything else.
Tchia
Set in a fictional archipelago inspired by New Caledonia, Tchia has a "Soul Jumping" mechanic. You can inhabit the body of almost any animal or object. Want to be a bird? Jump in. A crab? Sure. A lantern? Why not.
While the protagonist is human, 70% of the gameplay involves seeing the world through the eyes of the local fauna. It’s vibrant and tropical, a far cry from the subterranean darkness of Stray, but the DNA of "exploration through transformation" is definitely there.
Unusual Recommendations for the Brave
I'm going to go off the beaten path here. If you liked the "living in the walls" aspect of Stray, check out Rain World.
Fair warning: Rain World is brutal. You are a "slugcat." You are at the bottom of the food chain. Everything wants to eat you. It is a survival platformer with an ecosystem so complex it feels like a living thing. It’s not a "relaxing" game. It’s stressful. But the feeling of being a small, vulnerable creature in a massive, decaying industrial world? It’s Stray on hard mode.
Endling - Extinction is Forever
This one is a tear-jerker. You’re a mother fox trying to keep her cubs alive in a world devastated by humans. It’s a 3D side-scroller that forces you to hunt, find shelter, and avoid predators (us). It shares Stray's environmentalist undertones but hammers them home with a lot more emotional weight. If you liked the bond between the cat and B-12, the bond between the fox and her cubs will wreck you.
Why We Keep Looking for These Games
There is a psychological term called "umwelt." It’s basically the idea that every organism experiences the world differently based on its senses. A tick experiences a world of heat and light; a cat experiences a world of textures, verticality, and scents.
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Stray was a mainstream breakthrough for "umwelt gaming." We're tired of being the soldier. We're tired of being the hero. We want to see the world through a different set of eyes.
Whether it's the upcoming Copycat (which looks like it’s going to be another emotional rollercoaster) or the weird, surreal vibes of Endo, the genre of non-human exploration is finally growing up.
If you're looking for your next fix, start by narrowing down what you actually want.
- For pure cat vibes: Little Kitty, Big City.
- For the emotional punch: Journey or Endling.
- For the "tiny creature, big world" puzzles: Untitled Goose Game or Rain World.
- For the mystery: Outer Wilds.
Your Immediate Next Steps
Go check your library. If you have PlayStation Plus Extra, half of these are often included in the catalog. Start with Little Kitty, Big City if you want something light, or Journey if you want something profound.
Don't expect another game to be "Stray 2." That specific mix of cyberpunk and feline grace is rare. But if you open your mind to other animals—or even just other lonely worlds—you’ll find that the "Stray feeling" is actually a whole subgenre waiting to be explored.
Avoid the mobile clones. There are a ton of "Cat Sim 2024" games on the app stores that are just ad-filled trash. Stick to the indie gems on PC and console. They’re where the actual soul is.