The cat game is sweeping the internet by storm, and is there really a surprise to it? As you may have seen, the game has plenty of things going on, ranging from adventure to stealth. One of the questions people are asking “is Stray a horror game?” While it is not the full purpose of the game, there are certainly slight horror mechanics and aspects featured in the game.

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Scenes like this certainly indicate a sense of horror in the game.

Is Stray a horror game?¶

The long answer to “is Stray a horror game” is no. However, the game has some creepy moments and a few slight hints of horror. Over in the UK, Stray is rated as a 12. PEGI 12 also allows for a moderate amount of horror sequences in the game, which indicates that horror may exist in it. However, ESRB says Stray only has fantasy violence and no horror. So, it all depends on your interpretation of horror, but based on guidance, the game is not a horror game.

As for the actual horror content, there are a few moments you may consider horror. At the start of the game, you experience a few chase sequences as hordes of flea-like enemies known as Zurks appear. This happens across quite a few missions in the game, from the tutorial section to the Rooftops. Dead End, and Sewers segments.

In fact, the Sewer chapter has the biggest factor of horror in the game. You head into the sewers for one mission and come across the nesting grounds, filled with Zurk egg sacks and other strange things. In fact, one of the features you find is all the eyes in the creep staring at you as you move around. In sci-fi horror references, it can be considered as a Lovecraftian horror reference or maybe even a hivemind-like creature watching over its den. The game doesn’t do much to tell you what the Zurks are, other than they were a microbe that broke down junk, but they evolved into what they are now. Other than that, there’s no explanation. Feel free to interpret what type of scientific horror these creatures are, or even if you think they are hints of horror at all.