Stray: What to Do After Winning the Game
A stray title card
Every now and then, a game comes along that gets everyone's attention for a month or so, or sometimes even longer. At one point or another, "Among Us," "Fortnite," "Minecraft," and even "Wordle" have all been the center of attention. They are all phenomena that have gone beyond the gaming world and reached the popular zeitgeist. Stray is very quickly becoming one of these games.
Stray just came out two weeks ago, but it has already taken the world by storm and broken a number of records that most people didn't think were possible. Stray is an indie game with a small budget, and it was the first game that developer BlueTwelve made. However, the game has done better than anyone expected, both in terms of critical reception and in terms of sales, breaking a number of Steam records. Stray has gotten everyone's attention with its cute main character, a cat, and its beautiful art style. Gamers of all types are giving it a try. But playing Stray only takes about 5 hours on average, so people who like it may want some tips on what to do next.

What to Do After Beating the Stray

When the player finishes Stray, the last cutscene will play, and then the player will be taken back to the main menu. From here, the only real choice is to start the game all over again, but getting the Platinum Trophy is a lot of fun. Platinum Trophies are usually hard to get and take a lot of time, but in Stray, the whole process is designed to be fun and encourage exploration. Even people who don't usually try to get trophies in video games will probably give Stray's a try just to see the game's colorful world and characters again.

By the end of a player's first playthrough of Stray, they probably have most of the game's Trophies, or Achievements if they're playing on PC through Steam. This is especially true if the player has really taken their time to explore each environment fully. There are a few Trophies, though, that even the most careful players will have missed. First of all, the "Sneakitty" Trophy is hard to get because the player has to avoid waking up any of the drones during Chapter 10. Also, the "Can't Cat-Ch Me" Trophy requires the player to never be caught by a Zurk in the second chapter. This can be a little frustrating, but it shouldn't be too bad if the player plans well and keeps trying.

Even so, getting the Platinum Trophy for Stray is still a fairly time-consuming task, but this is the perfect reason for those who want to play it again. To top it all off, the last Trophy the player will likely unlock is the "I Am Speed" Trophy, which requires the player to finish the game in under 2 hours. At that point, it will probably be the player's third time through the game, and this Trophy is a nice way to see it through a new, more difficult lens.
If players don't want to go for the Platinum, they could always switch to another animal-themed game. In 2019's Untitled Goose Game, for example, the player takes on the role of a mischievous goose whose only goal is to ruin the day of the villagers he meets. On the other hand, The Last Guardian doesn't let the player directly control an animal, but the whole game is about the player's relationship with a large cat/dog-like creature, so there is an element of animal companionship there.

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