Dec 1

Dec 1 How Stray Can Help You Appreciate The Little Things | Winter Spectacular 2022

Who knew that a game about a cat could bring on deep thoughts about learning how to appreciate the small things more? Well, I didn’t, and that’s why Stray is one of my favourite games this year. Typically, I play games as an escape from the challenges of everyday life, to unwind after a long day, and to get my brain to stop going into overdrive over small details. However, while playing through the story, Stray forced me to think about the little things and in turn, it actually made me realise I needed to appreciate them more.

Don’t worry cat I understand. New friends can be scary.

I suspect like many people, I like to think that I embrace the small things in life and enjoy them as much as possible, but I don’t. I think one of the unspoken truths about growing up is that the little things are often overshadowed by the bigger ones, and problems always cancel out the successes. Instead of going out when it’s raining and wanting to jump into the puddles forming on the ground, you’re instead worried about if the weather will affect traffic or transport times. There are so many small moments in daily life that I feel like I’ve taken for granted, and I only realised this because of Stray.

You’re probably wondering how this minor life epiphany links to the viral video game about the cute cat, but hear me out. I could jump straight to the obvious choice, which is the ending (I won’t spoil it for you, but if you know, then you know). But, I won’t go there because it was parts of the rest of the game that really made me think “wow…I’ve been a fool” and it started when it became evident just how much the robots in the Walled City revered nature.

As I’m writing this, orange leaves are floating past my window as an Autumnal breeze knocks them from the trees. A typical sight for this season, yet one that’s easy to ignore, just like trees themselves - but that’s from the perspective of a modern human. The robots in Stray clearly care about, and for, the trees that they have. Yes, the trees in the game have been modified by humanity to withstand low levels of lighting, but even that in itself is a marvel that we could so easily look away from. While jumping through windows and into apartments throughout the city, I came across multiple posters and paintings on the walls depicting nature too. More specifically, trees. Walking through the streets, someone is tending to the trees with grace and care. Elsewhere, it’s referenced that the robots take care of the plants because they believe it’s what the humans that came before would have wanted. All of this reverence for trees made me realise that things can easily be taken for granted if you are used to seeing them every day, and being exposed to them daily can make you forget just how cool some things are. Yes, it’s easy to think “I do appreciate the small things, I appreciate trees” and I felt the same until I questioned what I actually did appreciate about small things. Then I realised, I spend more time convincing myself that I appreciate them, rather than actually doing it.

This is the real revelation I had with Stray. Sometimes it is less about being cognizant of the small beauties in life but , the power of perception and how that could change the entire meaning of the things around us. Even with the release of this game we saw it. The plethora of talented writers that contributed their thoughts, feelings, reviews, and more importantly their perspectives are all great examples of how we can all see things differently.

There’s a popular saying that goes “curiosity killed the cat” but, in Stray, the cat’s curiosity is the very thing that kept the game from feeling monotonous. It’s also the very thing that sparked my realisation of the incredible power of perception and eventually forced me to actually appreciate the little joys around me and not just acknowledge their existence.

All the way through Stray, you can interact with different mundane objects as you follow the story. Whether it’s scratching your claws on a rug or pushing a plant pot off of a ledge, this kitty takes part in novel exercises, for no real reason. This doesn’t push the story forward or earn you XP, these are little things that you can explore in simple ways for the sake of exploring them.

The game does outwardly reward you for these things, but just like the cat you play as you will find yourself taking joy in these mundane acts of mischief and maybe start to question how you see things. Is it just a tin of paint? Yes, but knocking it off the ledge to see what it does is important later in the game. Is this only a painting on the wall? Yes, but scratching it off the wall will unlock a memory or let you find a collectible item.

There are things that many people come across every single day, yet pay no attention to and I am definitely one of them. To many, those items are just there, they exist as what they are and there’s nothing more to it. But, in Stray, these things can take on a new meaning and gain a new sense of whimsy from the cat’s perspective. A cereal box is a cereal box, but then you remember that there are sometimes puzzles on the back and, boom! Your 7 am cereal becomes more interesting before heading off to work or school for the day.

There is an argument that the very fact you are a Cat in Stray is what makes these objects seem interesting, and yes I agree with that. But it doesn’t mean that we cannot learn to appreciate these things in our lives more after seeing how everything is interesting to somebody. You just have to allow yourself to see the novelty in it also…

It’s so easy to latch onto the bad in your day or in your life, the things going wrong or the things stressing you out, the sadness - they can all easily take over your day and force you to miss the little things that are going well. Stray came at a time when stress was very much at the forefront of my mind, but by spending some time as a small orange cat I realised that actually, there are good things I had been missing. Sometimes all we have to do is close our eyes, breathe in, breathe out, open our eyes and look again.