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Stray's robot language has been decoded, here's what it means

B-12 may be a fantastic translator, but there's nothing quite like deciphering the language yourself.

Stray is a cat simulator intertwined with a cyberpunk adventure, and as a result, the game is strewn with dialogue and signs that are, at first, illegible to most. Fortunately, B-12 is the perfect translator, however, Josh Wirtanen of Half-Glass Gaming spent some time decoding the language for all to understand.

Is there anything in Stray's trailer that you can decode using the cipher below?

Josh started out by decoding the chapter titles, which are displayed both in English and in Stray's language, and he noted a few differences between translations. For example, the chapter 'The Slums' is actually named 'Home: Slums Part One' in the deciphered language.

The same can be said for Sheet Music too. Across The Slums, there are eight pieces of Sheet Music to deliver to Morusque in exchange for a pretty cute badge. One of these pieces of music, as noted by Josh, is titled 'Come On' in the games language, but Morusque calls that same song 'Cool Down'.

Despite the discrepancies, however, Josh (with the help of the comment section) was able to decode the language and present players with a translation guide. As a result, Josh says that "once you can read the in-game text, the world really comes alive."

A cipher for the language used across Stray.
This is the cipher, created by Josh of Half-Glass Gaming, that can be used to decode many signs and more across Stray. | Image credit: This is the cipher, created by Josh of Half-Glass Gaming, that can be used to decode many signs and more across Stray.

Josh then provides some examples of items that will no doubt go unnoticed by many but have a whole new lease on life once you have deciphered the robot language. For example, a newspaper is titled "Droids News", a television screen reads "If you want to live in a clean city just", and a wall reads "Time will tell" rather illusively. Sure, these excerpts of text don't necessarily add anything new to the game, but they're certainly interesting to rediscover and translate.

Josh also notes that Stray does use multiple in-game languages, and this one - from the chapter title screens - is the only one that they have been able to decipher so far, which just so happens to be on a lot of items and signs in the game too.

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Stray

PS4, PS5, PC

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About the Author
Kelsey Raynor avatar

Kelsey Raynor

Guides Writer

Kelsey's (she/they) passion for gaming began with Resident Evil, and it's been rather difficult to get them to shut up about horror games since. When they're not scoping out new scares or commiserating the cancellation of Silent Hills, they can often be found fawning over cute Pokémon and Kirby, or being very average at FPS games. They've been in games media for 3 years.
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