This language uses a substitution cipher to make the world in Stray more cryptic and mysterious. (A substitution cipher is a used to encrypt text by swapping each letter or symbol within said text with a different symbol, that can then be unscrambled with a key.) And now, HalfGlassGaming’s Josh Wirtanen has cracked Stray’s cipher, and shared how we too can do the same (thanks, RockPaperShotgun). I have embedded some photos from the game within this article, so if you are yet to play or are keen to avoid spoilers, please take this as your cue to read something else on Eurogamer. Wirtanen kicked off his decoding project with the game’s chapter titles, explaining that as these are already written in English as well as Stray’s own language, it was “a decent place to start” the decoding extravaganza. However, these didn’t always match up verbatim, with Wirtanen revealing, “the chapter subtitled ‘The Slums’ is actually called ‘Home: The Slums Part One’.” From there, he went on to take a closer look at the rest of the world’s media, including the music sheets (which, if you are currently on the hunt for these yourself, you can check out our guide on where to find them here). With all this information, Wirtanen was then able to create a key for Stray’s language (which you can see in the image below) that will enable us all to have a crack at some code cracking. Wirtanen says using this code helps to bring the world of Stray to life, although he does note that sometimes the translations can seem a little wonky and not make all that much sense. For example, the below image of the TV translates to “EATHER. In a VIP ticket for. If you want to live in clean city just”. Others do make more sense, such as this newspaper header reading “Droids News”. Given that this is a newspaper for droids, this certainly tracks. My personal favourite of Wirtanen’s translations is the bag that is simply embossed with the words “best bag”. We all need a best bag in our lives. If you are going to have a go at translating some more of Stray’s language, however, there are a few instances of the text being rotated. So, that will certainly keep you on your paws (sorry, toes!). Elsewhere in the news, mods have been taking over Stray. There are now options to play as a dog (which my canine pal The Captain and I are both thrilled to see), Garfield or even as CJ from GTA San Andreas (yes, actually).
