Real-world animal shelters are streaming Stray to save cats’ lives

polygon.com:

Stray is a game that stars an adorable orange cat, which has instantly helped make it a sensation. People absolutely love cats, and it’s a compelling game where the feline protagonist navigates through a dystopian environment in an attempt to return home. The story is melting the hearts of cat lovers and tugging on their heartstrings, and animal foster and rescue organizations have even been able to stream the game to get support for the kittens and cats in their care.

It’s kitten season, which begins in late spring and runs through October, and it means that organizations are dealing with a surplus of kittens and cats in need of help. Shelters and foster organizations often have to resort to unconventional forms of fundraising, like Facebook groups, online giveaways, or streams. Stray is an excellent game for the latter of these, because, well, it’s a game that understands cats. (There’s even a dedicated meow button, which is very important.)

We're teaching these kittens how to turn on a PlayStation so they can play Stray, the new cat adventure game from <a href=«https://twitter.com/HKdevblog?ref_src=» https: www.polygon.com>@HKdevblog

and <a href=«https://twitter.com/A_i?ref_src=» https: www.polygon.com>@A_i! Wanna play with them? Donate $5 to the shelter and you'll be entered to win a code for the game! Donate here: https://t.co/FGJhY9HNae pic.twitter.com/BFLZJCxslX

It’s a very easy hook for viewers — you like the cat game? Well, we have cats right here. I’m always a fan of seeing little orange kittens on my feed, and Twitch streams of the game have become a good way to help drum up support for a worthy cause. Crits for Cats is one such organization, and it currently uses a Twitch channel and Twitter account to