While Stray’s fuzzy protagonist is the one that gets most of the attention, one of the game’s other stars is its densely-packed and detailed world. One of the things that really lends this robot-inhabited underworld an air of mystery is Stray’s unique written language, which adorns shops, books, computers screens, and more. So, does any of it actually mean anything or are they just random symbols slapped on things to look cool? Thankfully, it turns out it’s the former.
Half-Glass Gaming writer Josh Wirtanen managed to completely decipher the language by starting with the few times translations actually are provided, such as chapter titles and the names of the various songs you can give the robot Morusque to play, and going from there. Eventually, Virtanen came up with the following alphabet…
I’ve always loved when games go the extra mile and create their own languages. So, how much extra meaning does knowing this robo-alphabet add to the game? Well, you actually can translate a lot of the text found in the game – shop signs, newspapers, computers, soda machines, ect. Heck, maybe there are some secret messages to be found! That said, there does seem to be some placeholder text in the game that doesn’t mean anything, so don’t give yourself a headache if a particular translation doesn’t make much sense.
Been living under a rock and haven’t heard about Stray? The game’s a hit on Steam and I found it be a delightful immersive feline adventure in my full review…
“Stray may be small and scrappy, but it’s also beautiful, lovingly crafted, and bounds from one genre and play style to the next with impressive grace. Even cat skeptics ought to be won over by the game, so don’t be afraid to invite this Stray in from the cold.”
Stray is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
