The Hidden Meaning of Stray

Thank you to Full Sail University for sponsoring this video! Check them out at www.fullsail.edu/wisecrack
Stray: How a video-game cat can teach us to be human
Stray has captivated gamers everywhere for its realistic depiction of cathood. But what if a game obstensibly about felines can actually teach us a lot about being human? Let's find out in this Wisecrack Ediiton on Stray: What is Humanity?
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=== Watch More Episodes! ===
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Written by Amanda Scherker and Michael Luxemburg
Hosted by Michael Burns
Directed by Michael Luxemburg
Edited by William Schwartz
Produced by Olivia Redden and Griffin Davis
and extra special Thank You to @TheBaldMan for letting us use their playthrough clips!
Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
#Stray #pspspspspspsps #Wisecrack
© 2022 Wisecrack / Omnia Media, Inc. / Enthusiast Gaming

[@cannibalfan01]

The voice actress for the cat, a grey tabby named Lala did a great job. I nominate her for best voice actor.

[@kendomyers]

Meow!

[@brennanscarcello1443]

I'm pretty sure that too was Laura Bailey.

[@TheDaringPastry1313]

Spoilers for Stray As we find out later in the game, our companion B-12 was a human that transferred his consciousness into the system via a pod. We find a pod later in the game in the tree house section as well. There are also other clues that lead to believe that a lot of the robots in the city are former humans that didn't transfer to their units successfully. When you free B-12 at the start of the game he says, "I can't remember my name, my memory is corrupted." There is no telling how many pods are located throughout the city and this was a way to survive the plague that affected them.

[@TheDaringPastry1313]

@LTNetjak Yeah, they just do their jobs and have a set dialog based on their job since they weren't in the slums.

[@rusty1411]

Mattpat has a great theory on this

[@d3str0i3r]

@LTNetjak interesting theory, though it's also just as likely that those robots remained robotic because they've mostly likely only had a handful of hours worth of interactions with humans that aren't too busy or too scared to chat, their interactions with humans boiled down to 1) guide scared human into city below 2)receive order from human supervisors which doesn't provide a lot of opportunity to evolve

[@Twilightts]

What I loved most about the father/son reunion is that there's no way they're actually related, not being biological. But the bond between them is just as strong and I find that poetic.

[@Mad_S]

Did you complete the game?

[@titusmagnuseinuniversumaus6354]

I fathered you by screwing your mother, screwboy.

[@EvripidouM]

Very likely that Doc adopted Seamus cause he was shy or something. But yeah family is not only blood relation

[@canles]

Only on Wisecrack I come to learn that the cutest kitty cat is actually a secret Marxist agent..

[@sicKlown86]

To be fair, we should have seen it coming. Cats are well known for their ability and joy of pissing off bougie assholes by destroying consumerist trinkets.

[@laurentsaint-laurent3659]

Maybe more Rousseau-like..

[@FeministCatwoman]

@@sicKlown86 I like your thinking.

[@andrewmcquade9413]

Animals, unlike us dumb humans, don’t believe in money.

[@austinseibel6380]

@@andrewmcquade9413 they don’t know what money is…nor what its used for

[@chaseowen2998]

I finished this game and immediately texted my roommate: "I just finished Stray and it's surprisingly an anticapitalist masterpiece."

[@krisadams4993]

So anticapitalist that you bought it?

[@FeministCatwoman]

@@krisadams4993 "You are against feudalism, yet you live in a feudalist society. Checkmate, lefties."

[@Snaaaked]

@@krisadams4993" yet you participate in society " Ben Shapiro school of thought

[@TheNewFlutist]

I do appreciate Wisecrack's attempts to criticize capitalism. They're trying as best as they can! They'll never be able to fully break it down though, so it's just fun to watch them.

[@rasaecnai]

@@krisadams4993 you are in youtube. this whole thing runs on capitalism. you are in no position to criticized.

[@LuckyBird551]

Stray is a freaking masterpiece. Pure art. People out there that keep saying that video games don't count as art have absolutely no idea what they talk about. Stray is pure art.

[@silentdissonance]

There's a couple games like that out there. Stray is among them, for sure, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Journey, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Gris are others that have a very deep meaning to them. I'd put Stray right up there with them as works of art.

[@jonathanmc1159]

Not that good as art and certainly not too good as a game.

[@canles]

All games are art

[@l01230123]

@@jonathanmc1159 Some people just have bad opinions or unreasonable standards for what constitutes fun 😉

[@jonathanmc1159]

@@l01230123 totally agree, some people get blinded by a spark

[@hellofriend545]

2:23 You’re discussing a concept that lies parallel to the idea of “umwelt”, or consciousness that is formed by the unique environmental and physiological factors that shape an organism’s unique experience! Love that you mentioned Thomas Nagel to do a brief aside about our disconnect to other organisms despite our anthropomorphic tendencies to desire to know them!! I hate how we’ve adopted “animals” as a frame of reference to compare “what defines humanity” bc it is innately reductive to the vast array of consciousness available in the animal kingdom that is forever skewed through a decidedly human lens that views it!! Fuck Plato for saying animals are automata. *gasps for air after saying all of that in one frenzied, hyperfixated breath*

[@murderdollstar69]

Netflix did a good episode discussing this on Explained. You should give it a watch.

[@ParUhDroyd]

it be crazy if this game doesn't win some awards, it's so good in every aspect from story, subtext, to gameplay and the music and the visuals, this video barely showed the most visually beautiful part of the game which is the community between the slums and midtown where they live in like a giant tree. The vibe there is similar to the slums so I guess philosophically it could be grouped in together with the slums. Stray is definitely my favorite game that's come out this year, so far. It's one I'd recommend to everyone, controls are very easy, even if you don't play video games at all you can still pick it up and enjoy it.

[@deannal.newton9772]

It did get nominated for Game of the Year.

[@deediddydoo]

I just spent my first summer on my own after teaching this last year and the instantaneous come-down from nurturing community member to isolated sad-sack made me come to the same conclusions as Honneth. The Maslow hierarchy is a codified disaster, I think it's one of the prisms through which ignorance and suffering is justified to continue.

[@narutofan08nd12]

could you elaborate why you think the hierarchy of needs is a disaster? genuinely curious. I agree with this video but to me it seems like common sense that things like food would be the first requirement to living a fulfilling life. can't live one if you're constantly worried about starving to death

[@philipbaker4970]

Same. That sounds like it'd be really interesting to get a new perspective on!

[@peytongonavy]

This makes me happy the game starts with such wholesome, community oriented activities like cuddling and play-fighting. It's an idealistic state of nature.

[@Waitwhat469]

Stray does do a great job showing what societies form based on the systems of control that surrounds them, doesn't it?

[@deannal.newton9772]

Nier Automata shows it in a similar light as well.

[@beleden1215]

Love this: Understanding humanity by trying to be a cat while robots are trying to be human.

[@TheBaldMan]

Awesome video with very nice explanations. I hope my footage helped. Thank you for the credit Wisecrack. You rock!

[@pcapusso]

The sound the robots make reminds me a lot of the sounds the creatures make in the Chibi Robot games on the 3DS.

[@Garbimba1900]

I loved this take on the videogame, a well thought-out, serious analysis! Bravo!

[@alekseimaccleod3899]

Only played the game because of this video & Dunkey's review. Yes, we force human characteristics onto the cat, but the world of "Stray" explores humanity despite the absence of flesh & blood humans. The gameplay is not especially innovative but it does enough to make you think. The themes aren't always subtle, but it's refreshing to play a philosophical thought experiment through such a unique perspective. Some rough edges are still in there, but the reflection in playing the game made it worthwhile. Also, I take it Helen didn't go for the speedrun achievement given @10:30.

[@norelyly1196]

Very well done video! I now appreciate and love Stray even more, which I didn't think was possible but here I am!

[@Bob-jn8jt]

I really enjoyed this episode. Very interesting breakdown. Keep them coming.

[@electroprime40]

"When others misrecognize you, it can make you misrecognize yourself. " WOW

[@TheTuubster]

... and this why allegorical story telling is important: It sparks reflection.

[@FAMUCHOLLY]

Thought provoking commentary... great essay!

[@johnbradley1139]

Problem: Robots, not needing to eat or sleep (or see doctors? I haven't played the game yet), can find meaning in the slums because basic survival isn't locked behind a paywall. It's not the lack of fancy things that make human poverty a problem, it's the sleeping on the street and the starving to death. Which is to say, capitalism terrible, but opting out is not a choice that can be made as an individual.

[@SquishyProductions]

I hate that people use the fact that you can't opt out as an individual as a means to undermine, discredit, and ignore what you are saying. The classic "Well if you're a communist then why are you charging money!?" That I saw flooding the reviews for Disco Elisium. I honestly can't tell if it comes from a legit lack of understanding that you can't opt out, a form of harassment, or if it's performance for the gullible and stupid who happen across the comments. Like everything coming from the political right the lines between stupid and evil are as blurred as possible to give them deniability.

[@AliHSyed]

"#pspspspspapspsps" I'm dead 🤣

[@kendomyers]

I went to New York, taking the train from Western New Jersey which is the countryside. Ive been there many times. When I was a kid I gave money to grifters thinking I was giving to charity. In Penn Station a homeless man came to me, he looked like he wanted to cry, he saw a man from New Jersey and figured he could get some money. I was looking at my phone. He tried to get my attention, I simply took a side step and never took my eyes off my phone. It took him a few seconds to realize that I had given what I now realize is called non-recognition. Whether or not his original ask for cash was based in genuine need and emotion, I saw from the corner of my eye real emotion from his face as he realized my disinterest was intentional and there was no point in talking again, I would simply step away. The police stationed there laughed, a pan handler defeated by a country rube. Looking back I dont know what I should have done. Ive been taken by scam artists too many times...did I finally break a scammer's facade and strike at his core? Or was that a man genuinely in need who was just told, by my actions, that he might as well not exist?

[@d3str0i3r]

way i look at it, if i have the money to spare, i'd rather risk being 'scammed' out of barely enough to buy a bottled water than give nothing and be the reason someone suffered

[@CharlieQuartz]

@@d3str0i3r The grifters don’t leave their spot when you’ve given them enough for a dollar meal, though. They panhandle all day and average $8-15 per hour. Read some of their experiences and see that many make a much better living than those who work. Some have the heart to leave begging because they realize they’re taking advantage of people and taking the place of someone who truly needs a handout.

[@kendomyers]

@@CharlieQuartz What I try to do is give to the ones I recognize on my street that I know are hardup since I see them daily (I live in LA now, was back in NY and NJ recently) I also started keeping small change so I can hedge my bet, drop a quarter to an unknown panhandler so I still give if they are in need, but not too much if they arent really in need

[@circattle]

Unlike humanity, there seems to be no “bad actor” personalities in robot society e.g. those individuals who poison society and community, yet are almost impossible to remove due to ethical considerations of advanced society.

[@alvinianbenipayo3182]

most beautiful video on wisecrack to date.🙂👍

[@xerofelix7090]

As a lifelong cat owner, I find the idea of cats having their own consciousness less of a "theory" and more of a "fact". I've owned and fostered cats (and kittens) that imitate humans, find their own unique ways to communicate with us humans, and even express understanding of some pretty complex concepts, like empathy, grief, and a desire to communicate with us. My previous cat even used to come to me and "ask" me to catch flies and other bugs for her.

[@d3str0i3r]

i love how, while dogs over time changed physically to communicate by default in ways we can easily interpret even amongst eachother, cats have always been good enough at reading others [probably as a function of having to predict what their prey is gonna do] that studies have documented cats actively changing how they communicate on a person-by-person basis, demonstrating a respect for our abilities as companions while maintaining a strong independence and for the most part avoiding any reliance on humans, to where ultimately, one could argue the domestic cat is only as domesticated as a racoon or a fox who has learned how to get humans to feed it

[@rasaecnai]

My aunt had 2 cats who got well into the years. They were companions. When one died, the other one was so stricken in grief and stopped... living. It stopped eating, and just sort of wilted and died too.

[@Rocketman1292]

How have you not done a video on the AppleTV+ show, Severance yet? It takes the concept of a separate work/life balance to the extreme. I'm sure there's some French or German Philosopher that predicted this very thing, there always is.

[@Darkloid21]

So far this seems less like a reflection of reality and more like the same takes on life that people have. There isn’t a lesson in the game because it’s all written in a manner to reflect someone’s opinion of society. In reality it’s not that different from the upper aspects of society and the “lower” ones. Like…whoever made this has no idea what it’s like to live in the slums.

[@BreadCatMarcus]

Ever heard of Beale Street? The slums are notorious for burgeoning creativity. Music, art, etc.

[@jadefalcon001]

@@BreadCatMarcus Mission District in San Francisco was, until not too awful long ago, a hub of creativity and society. it's also an area with a lot of crime and a lot of poverty. In capitalist societies it's often the impoverished districts of our cities that also have a lot of creative/artist folk in them, because our economic system recognizes very little value in the vast majority of artists.

[@Darkloid21]

@@BreadCatMarcus Uhhh...you're kidding right? Those aren't slums. They're not different from several affluent areas that look the same TBH. You're not proving your point.

[@Darkloid21]

@@jadefalcon001 That's not true at all, it's that the vast majority of artists don't have value. Or to paraphrase a quote "most people aren't as funny as they think they are". Also that's a myth, the impoverished districts of cities don't have a lot of creative or artistic folks in them. That's a media myth much like the "poor people with a heart of gold". They don't have money but they're rich in family (or friends, etc).

[@diegoxd321]

there is a big posibility than the robots are actualy humans that upload their memories to robots like b12

[@Discovery_Nuggets]

Awesome review!

[@someoldguyplays]

Hey, Helen! Hair looks great. Nice cat video ;-)

[@mikeharris1987]

Never in my life have I needed something so much and never known until I received it

[@snoopy124]

You must read the game on the work of the philosophy of Diogenes. Humanity is insane on the eyes of animals

[@brianshrode72]

How dare you title the video this way. I came here expecting the triumphant return of Garrex Wormuloid. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

[@unknownunk706]

Wouldn't it be nice for them to add all the books or authors they referenced on the description. One can dream.

[@erdemalegoz1816]

It could go unnoticed by an untrained eye but if you take step back, think about the Annapurna’s old games,look at the way side character’s interaction with you and how every one of them, even though they are robot, makes you feel like they feel, let the game wash over you after finishing the storyline and you will come to realize that the main antagonist of the game is a cat.

[@abigails4088]

HO'DUP that "scientist robot" is hugging on a robot in a red "life preserver" looking jacket--- Robot Doc Brown and Robot Marty, that makes my day and makes me feel oddly hopeful XD

[@TheCreepypro]

to think a game like this would have better social commentary than most media

[@msoda8516]

I've never heard of this game but I totally want to play it

[@WildRabiea]

This game is just so cute! And makes you think...

[@StopCopCity1312]

Yeah, all the references to Blade Runner, Shenmue and Bethesda are pretty great. The way they captured cat behavior is very accurate as well.

[@WildRabiea]

@@StopCopCity1312 Right!? Developers did their homework!

[@johncamarillo8320]

I believe or more hope that being human is more lke an idea of virtues we strive for or to be than anything else.

[@JewTube001]

i love the cute kitty!

[@itchipede1015]

That animorphs cover.... *chef's kiss*

[@etelkakolcsei4230]

Fun Fact: We are playing in the years inside 2015-3500

[@alternativeware]

Awesome, another Helen video. That game is awesome.

[@deannal.newton9772]

I always thought that Stray was a lot like Nier Automata, except you're playing as a cat as oppose to a military style android who's constantly in battle against alien machines.

[@lukehardingusar]

Can you do one about Cult of the Lamb? Thanks!

[@IntellectualBA001]

Speaking of games by Anapurna, could y'all do a video on What Remains of Edith Finch?

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

I have no idea about this game but the story seems very interesting

[@Laurell_Silentshade]

Look, all I know is throughout the entire game I wasn't fed once! As a cat I would have expressed my displeasure at the lack of transaction by pooping on something. Hell I'm surprised that by the end of the game I didn't fall over from starvation.

[@nordicexile7378]

Yeah, that bothered me, too. On the other hand, there is an achievement for players who can speed-run the whole game in two hours. That wouldn't be real-time in the game because of things like the tracker repair duration not being shown and the time the cat was unconscious on the way to jail, but still it could have been less than a day in the cat's life. Have to hope that wasn't too long to go without food for our furry friend! 😊

[@dande3139]

Do Philosophy of "A Hat in Time"!!!

[@martincotterill823]

Brilliant!

[@ajfilmguy]

Thanks for this video! Have you ever played/read the visual novel, “The House In Fata Morgana”? I’d love a video on that incredible story :)

[@ChurchOfThought]

Pouncin on that like button. Thanks for the analysis of such an awesome game.

[@SL4PSH0CK]

Reminds me of watching irl streams of degen nights and seeing the cat changes the atmosphere, thats what sold me from buying the game.

[@BasicDrumming]

Great video.

[@kourtneyr.scruggs0988]

3:00 Take this sound bite out of the context of this video and it goes to help explain a lot of ignorance and biases in the world.

[@alexr2347]

These hashtags pspsps to my heart.

[@TAP7a]

I didn’t realise this game was so based

[@raxelleon8189]

Who else saw the references to the Philip K Dick short story Autofac in this game?

[@griffin3508]

How has wisecrack not done an indepth look at how dota dragons blood is a great allegory for vary's power riddle.

[@Chungaysuar]

Cats either in internet and now game give new way to think.

[@jeremiahlarkins618]

Someone said they found stuff that suggests the robots in the game are humans downloaded into robots.

[@mannyvalerio6822]

And just like in the real world, the way out may just be to make like a cat and break stuff.

[@LightsOnTrees]

very good cat

[@beyondthabottomline5498]

An Animorph reference! 😁

[@l01230123]

So! Full sail is a terribly reviewed organization. Pretty ironic of a philosophy channel to promote this while critiquing capitalism. Why care about the people's time/money/mental health you're trashing when you can make more yourself? 🤷‍♂😘

[@GyanPrakash]

She’s so cute 🥰

[@shawniebeans8382]

12:51 Spoiler warning ⚠️ (not mentioned in video) just a heads up. Regarding Games DEEP story.

[@AssasinFX]

We love you Helen ❤

[@j_yh]

Shocked. You can take sponsor dollars from so many companies. How could you take money from Full Sail “University”?? Higher education in the US is fked up enough without encouraging impressionable young people to go into debt over a for-profit “school” like that. You guys need to do better research on your sponsors and not just your scripts.

[@popcornfilms1]

Woah

[@tamartin64]

You guys should be more careful about who you let sponsor your shows. Full Sail is a slightly better version of University of Phoenix, and its accrediting body is for exclusively private online colleges. Full Sail has a graduation rate of 39%, and after ten years Full Sail students don't make anymore than workers with just a high school diploma. FS is just taking peoples' money.

[@imilegofreak]

This! And it only takes one google search to see that Full Sail is just a diploma mill with sadistic staff and non-existing support infrastructure.

[@Garbimba1900]

It's Helen again, yay!!!

[@juniorpatriciocruz53]

@Helen

[@damientom]

Thank for the philosophy. But the robots in Stray actually had human consciousness transferred to them like Momo.

[@punkhead93]

Pls pls pls do a deep or dumb for Death Stranding.

[@JustJulyo]

I'm pretty sure all orange cats are destined to be evil

[@mayoshock6170]

You can meow at will, GOTY!

[@cuckoophendula8211]

Yay! I've been waiting for someone to do a video analysis on the themes behind the story. (SPOILERS) Before watching this, I saw the cat representing nature, B12 representing the last vestige of human consciousness, and the companion robots as the legacy of mankind. In the end, the tough truth is that human consciousness won't be able to outlast nature in the long run. And like our children before us, the robots will have the tendency to outlast each of our individual life spans as well. Meanwhile, I feel like there's another theme in regards to mankind's relationship to nature and how there's a loose thread in the end on how our legacy would continue this interrelationship. While mankind has had a tumultuous relationship with nature throughout its history (via eras of survival, commensalism, and exploitation), the teamwork between the cat and B12 demonstrated the most invaluable relationship between us, which is companionship. As the companion robots have never met nature until they met the cat (as the walled city represents everything unnatural including the artificial plants and the zurks), the companionship between B12 and the cat could probably be seen as an example that the robots should follow once the human's legacy (the robots) finally meet the outside world of nature. In a way, this is another one of B12's last gifts to the robots.

[@CordeliaWagner]

It's said it takes place 7 million years after the extinction of humans. Why is everything so 90s looking? Why is everything human made still intact?

[@cuckoophendula8211]

@@CordeliaWagner Yeah, that was the main problem I had with the 7 million years theory. I kind of took the little scribble mentioning 7 million years (via days since the companions gained a soul) to demonstrate that they've gained something resembling a religious belief system.

[@SacClass650]

Cats affirm their nature; increasingly we humans affront ours to a damaging degree. The robots are the apotheosis of this increasing adrift, they represent the insidious creep of relativism, subjectivity and illiberal transcendence.

[@cambriakilgannon12]

Nah that's not what it's about.

[@SacClass650]

@@cambriakilgannon12 It's my reading of it, doesn't have to be yours.

[@gvd72]

@@cambriakilgannon12 What’s your interpretation then?

[@cambriakilgannon12]

@@gvd72 It's certainly not that the game is saying relativism and subjectivity are insidious, or that "affronting our nature" is an inherently damaging thing, or that we have done so to a damaging degree. This interpretation isn't really supported by the text of the game.

[@cambriakilgannon12]

@@SacClass650 I'm just saying that your reading of it is not even close to anything being implied by the game. You can keep being wrong if you want, you'd just be wrong in doing so

[@JoseLuna-tj7qh]

I genuinely don't know how to feel about this, but well I also don't how to feel about the current state of affairs... Guess that means something

[@ronnyskaar3737]

Makan til vås.

[@gergoskorka4819]

This version doesnt work. Working one is on my channel!

[@kieranmahon4382]

"cat fandom" lol. It's much more than a fandom.

[@GothicOctopus]

BUT it's another piece of art that reinforces the idea that "poor people are nice" AND that you can feel morally righteous for being a lower class citizen. but also you get to be a cat and I still want to play it.

[@theboiionder]

Wait a robot barber shope ight bet

[@beboboi]

Is it just me or doesn’t stray remind me of murder drones

[@fede22081]

#pspspspspspsps let's definitely make it a thing.

[@MrGGLz]

Imma lean on the latter

[@huli566]

Stray players reading 9,000,000 dialogue boxes: "wow, great gameplay!"

[@Reese_Calloway]

"Nature is a morally neutral place where people generally act towards self preservation and compassion" ROFL

[@l01230123]

Life would be fair if we just all lived in forests! 🙃

[@XIII_Vanitas]

It's actually true, for the most part. When society breaks down during natural disasters, most people go above and beyond to help others. We're evolutionarily hardwired to be empathetic and act upon it.

[@Eclispestar]

The robots are humans. Game Theory.

[@mueffe1357]

Can't wait for somebody to turn these cats into wolves. Again.

[@dylanclark9903]

Y’all didn’t even mention the paint. It’s everywhere, on every level. The game seems to be drawing parallels between art and the human soul. 1) slums are full of organic art and even gardens and so much heartfelt life 2) art is commodified and constrained into commercial spaces via fashion and clubs and shops in midtown (losing a little humanity) 3) control room has no art… except for the huge window of the city. Because their only art is power and control over the city. And the robots are sweeping floors and doing menial tasks as depicted in the relic bought in the slums. Plus the Freudian levels seem pretty obvious too… Found the economic centered analysis of this video kinda lame and lackluster. There is so much more on display in Stray. The game is a genuine piece of art.

[@krisadams4993]

Or, perhaps it is just a game?

[@andygarcia5518]

sweetheart

[@Lonesurvivor256]

HELEN!!

[@abigails4088]

it doesn't JUST apply to interspecies mentality... I think the "BLACK EPISODE" of Always Sunny in Philadelphia highlights this very well. Sure, the gang "KNOWS WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE BLACK FOR A DAY" but nothing can replace the collective experiences of living that way *FOR AN ENTIRE LIFE* ...walking a mile in another person's shoes cannot TEACH you anything, it can only *SHOW* you. ...just like no amount of "I love butt stuff" can give a straight (but not narrow) man the same life experience as actually being GAY.