Stray launched to immense success, drawing in players with its cute protagonist and cyberpunk world - and of course, its fun references & easter eggs. The game is littered with cameos from famous films and video games, populating this new world with familiar characters and lines.
Given that Stray is an adventure-platformer, the game encourages players to explore every inch of each environment. With enough exploration, players will be able to catch some subtle (and some not-so-subtle) references to their favorite media. Though, if you’ve been too busy running from the zurks, here are 7 awesome pop culture and video game references in Stray you might’ve missed!
SPOILERS FOR STRAY UP AHEAD!
1/7 - THE ELDER SCROLLS V: SKYRIM
Most game worlds have their version of merchants, and Stray seems to have taken direct inspiration from one of Skyrim’s many medieval vendors. With a bit of exploration, players can find a friendly robot named Jenkins in the slums. As he searches through the piles of trash for useful items to trade and sell, players can interact with him to hear a familiar line: “Some may call this junk. Me, I call them treasure.”
Jenkins' dialogue is actually a direct quote from themerchant Belathor, a Breton who resides in Whiterun. The NPC is famous for his somewhat sleazy attitude, claiming he’d sell anything to make a quick Septim. Though Jenkins seems much more kind-hearted, it’s clear that the robot is similarly searching for anything useful for the marketplace.
Even better, this isn’t the only Skyrim reference Stray pays homage to! After all, what is a Skyrim reference without the infamous “arrow to the knee” line?
If players explore Midtown, they can come across an area filled with stores and food stalls. Seated at one particular stall is a morose robot dressed in a run-down bartender-like outfit. When players prompt the cat to speak with this NPC, they’ll reply: “I used to own a bar. It was the coziest place around here. Until I took a screwdriver in the knee, and it’s closed now.”
2/7 - BACK TO THE FUTURE
Video games aren’t the only media BlueTwelve Studio references in Stray! Similarly to Skyrim, there are two Back to the Future references scattered in the world. One is exceedingly obvious - the good ol' Outsider robot named Doc. Sporting wires that form the iconic crazy-scientist hairdo and a similarly messy lab coat, Doc is every bit the Doc Brown parody. The robot NPC gives an impressive machine of his own invention for the scrappy main character to use, just as Doc Brown does in the film.
As Doc explains the workings of the his invention, the Defluxor (the name itself brings to mind the Flux Capacitor), he drops a line from the famous movie: “This baby needs1.21 Gigowattsto work…” 1.21 Gigowatts is exactly the amount of energy Marty needed to repower the Flux Capacitor!
Speaking of Marty McFly, Stray’s second major Back to the Future easter egg comes in the form of a robotic cameo. Players can find theNPC Seamusin the Dufer Bar in the slums, passed out at the counter. Wearing a familiar yellow-and-blue hat and puffy red vest, this robot looks every bit like Marty McFly. The only thing he’s missing are the iconic gray shoes! Not to mention, the name “Seamus” is the very name ofMarty McFly’s great-great-grandfather.
3/7 - GRAVITY FALLS
One reference that players may have missed is the appearance of a Gravity Falls journal. These journals serve as a point of mystery, and they’ve become an iconic symbol for the animated show. In Stray, a similar book rests on a shelf in the library in the slums, with a recognizable deep red cover and gold embellishments.
While the Gravity Falls journal has a large gold handprint on its cover, the Stray version sports a large gold pawprint. Could another robot have detailed the strange goings-on of the dead city? Could players find more volumes of this journal scattered around the slums? For now, we can only speculate on what knowledge these tomes might hold.
4/7 - NIER AUTOMATA
We haveu/KFCzAEto thank for this easter egg, as they shared their findings on theStray subreddit. Putting the two locations side by side, Stray’s Ant Village looks remarkably like the wooden town Rascal Village in NieR. Both are tall and roughly cylindrical and surrounded by large bristling trees. While Stray certainly took a more mechanical approach over NieR’s organic direction (understandably so!), it’s hard to deny that they look similar!
Additionally, u/KFCzAe noticed that the NPC robot Vladee had dialogue that mirrored lines in NieR Automata:
While both games are referencing a well-known thought experiment called “Theseus’s Ship,” the similarities are certainly striking. Both characters grapple with the idea of sentient existence and personhood - ideas that become even more provoking in Stray’s robot-dominant world.
5/7 - HALF-LIFE
For gaming enthusiasts, this random crowbar represents one of the most famous games in the industry: Half-Life. As the game’s signature and first melee weapon, the crowbar is nearly as famous as the game’s protagonist Gordon Freeman himself. Any game crowbar placed in a location where crowbars are rarely found is usually interpreted as a Half-Life reference - especially ones found on trams and trains.
Both Half-Life and Half-Life 2 start on a tram/train, making this crowbar appearance seem all the more deliberate. After all, the tool served as the sequel’s main melee weapon! While Stray’s little cat can’t wield the crowbar for themselves (could you imagine?), it’s a sweet nod to a series that changed gaming forever.
6/7 - MR. ROBOT
A game populated with robots is bound to have a hacker, and Stray does not disappoint! This NPC sits hidden in a dark corner of the slums, working in front of a collection of monitors and old computers. Aptly named Elliot, the robot is a fun reference to the show “Mr. Robot.” Players can interact with Elliot to glean more helpful information from binary codes, which will eventually lead the cat to the Dufer Bar.
Mr. Robot focuses on hacker Elliot Alderson (played by Rami Malek), who regularly encrypts and decodes information in the series. Ironically, the Mr. Robot in Stray is a literal robot, turning the character into something more humorous than grim. It’s a bit of a subtle easter egg, but a cool find nonetheless!
7/7 - REAL-LIFE CRIMINALS
Perhaps the wildest easter eggs in Stray are the references to two well-known real-life criminals:Al Capone and Pablo Escobar. Players can find robots named “Capone” and “Pablo” in the Jail level of the game, which occurs towards the end of the adventure. As the little cat and their robot pal B-12 travel with Clementine through the jail, the trio comes across a jail yard section of the level. Sitting in corners and against walls are robot-Pablo and robot-Capone - though who knows what their crimes were in-game.
