Stray

Start a new game and stick to the golden path only collecting items needed to progress the story. Press the button prompts to skip through conversations. I finished the game in 1:43 on my first try and 1:33 on my second (with 1 death), so it is doable with a large buffer.

Full text walkthrough: https://tigorestips.com/stray/stray-speed-run-walkthrough/

Chapter 1: Inside the Wall

Start off by interacting with each of the 3 other cats, then lie down on the cardboard to sleep. Once you regain control, hold to run to the end of the tutorial segment. Don’t stop to collect the scratching spot. You need to finish this as fast as possible.

Chapter 2: Dead City

Follow the linear path until you go through a short vent into the room with the first fan. Grab the bucket on the right and drop it in the fan to stop it. Then move one of the paint cans to clear a path, ascend the wall on the other side, and use another paint can to break the skylight open.

The next hurdle is the first Zurk pursuit used to earn the Can’t Cat-ch Me achievement/trophy. Don’t bother trying to get a perfect run here, shake off () any Zurks that latch onto you and get through here as quickly as you can.

After the chase, follow the path, knock over a plank and enter the window. Then, move the barrel closer to the roof on the right and follow the path across the beams. Next, knock over another plank to bridge the gap. Further down the path, disable the fan by pulling the battery hidden behind boxes on the left.

Chapter 3: The Flat

Start off by walking on the keyboard until the door opens. Next, flip the switch on the right side of the room and climb the shelves on the other side of the room while the machine is moving. Grab the power supply on the top shelf and insert it below the computer. Then climb on the table in the middle of the room to collect the second power supply. The third power supply is at the base of the moving machinery and the fourth is above it. With all 4 power supplies in place, prepare to run into the hidden room that is about to open.

Next, run to the end of the hidden room and use the robot to climb up to the shelf on the left. Knock over the box, grab the drone companion, and place it on the platform. Then, collect the keys and the vest and use the keys to open the door. Enter the code 3748 to exit the flat. Finally, climb into the bucket to leave the rooftop and follow the path to the slums.

Chapter 4: The Slums

After the cutscene, talk to the Guardian again and show it the postcard. Now you are free to explore the slums. First, turn around and navigate to the rooftops. On the left, you will see an open window with a blue/white face next to it. Jump through the window, run through the broken door, and collect the first notebook next to the computer.

Next, stick to the rooftops, enter the library, translate the page on the mattress, and grab the keys. Now, move to the middle of the library and jump on the piles of books to reveal the safe. Use the key to open the safe and collect the second notebook.

Move to the middle of the rooftop and distract the robot throwing paint cans to trigger a scene and open the laundry. We won’t enter the laundry room yet. First, continue on the rooftops to the opposite side from the library. Remove the power supply to stop the fan and jump down into the apartment. On the left, you will see 2 stacks of boxes. Jump on the boxes on the right and collect the third notebook before scratching the window covering and leaving through the window.

Then, work your way down to the ground floor and grab the detergent in the laundry. Immediately run to the shop keeper and trade the detergent for the electric cable which will be traded to Grandma for a poncho. Now, head up to Momo’s apartment and show him the postcard and 3 notebooks.

Chapter 5: Rooftops

At the start of chapter 5, follow the path baiting and avoiding the Zurks along the way. When you reach to gated area, lure the Zurks to you and hack the door to toggle the gates. Once all the Zurks are in the cage, hack the door again and be ready to jump across the gap. Continue on the path until you reach the skyscraper.

Once inside, lure and avoid the Zurks as you weave your way to the second floor. Then, work your way to the gated area, hack the door, lure the Zurks around the floor, and jump into the gated area. Next, move the barrel just outside the gate and use it to scale to the third floor and fourth floors.

Now, flip the switch on the right, wait for the Zurks to reach you, and avoid them as you run around the roof. After one and a half rotations, jump into the elevator, flip the switch, and ride it to the top. After using the transceiver and watching the cutscene, take the bucket back down to Momo’s flat.

Chapter 6: The Slums

Start the chapter by reading Momo’s note on the TV and using the keypad to open the window. Then, take the bucket down and navigate to the ground floor where Momo is waiting for you at the bar. After following him, give Doc’s Notebook to Seamus, scratch the picture on the left, and enter the code 2511. Immediately run into the room, climb on the left shelf, knock over the box, and give Seamus the broken tracker.

Next, run over to Elliot’s place and scratch on the door. On the second floor, give Elliot the poncho and ask him to fix the tracker. Then, return to Seamus with the fixed tracker and follow him through the next 2 gates.

Chapter 7: Dead End

At the start of the chapter run from the Zurk by taking the right path, then move left before jumping to the right, and dodge the 2 groups after the bridge. Instead of taking the path on the right, jump the gap to a ledge on the left, then jump back to the right, wait for the last Zurk to fall before fully crossing the pipes. At the end of the path, take the left stairs, lure the Zurks around the path, then head into the tunnel.

After the cart scene, climb up the truck and pipes and follow the path to Doc’s place. Once you talk with Doc, jump on the desk in the small room and interact with the device. Place the fuse and try avoiding the Zurks on the way back to Doc.

After Doc upgrades your gear, use the device on the Zurks outside the gate. Use the barrel to jump up to the small opening where you can flip a switch to open Doc’s path. Be ready to use the device in short bursts to take out the Zurks. Finally, follow Doc back to the slums where you will meet Momo at the docks.

Chapter 8: Sewer

Remember to use the device to clear Zurks in the sewer. First, jump of the boat, navigate over to the switch, take out the Zurks, and flip the switch. In the long alley with Zurk nests, keep to the left and then to the right as you run down the first stretch. Then, take your time in the big room with Zurk nests using the device to clear them out in short bursts.

After flipping the switch, run through the corridors taking out the Zurks until you reach the wider tunnel. From there, run and dodge to get to the end of the segment as quickly as possible while using the middle platforms to confuse the Zurks. When you reach the pipes, take the path on the right and enter the larger pipe.

In the room with 2 door locks, run to the lock on the right side. Feel free to take out a few of the nests on the way. Hack the first lock and run back to the bridge connecting the sides while clearing out Zurks that get in the way. Use jumping gaps to help get away from the enemies. Finally, follow the path to the Antvillage.

Chapter 9: Antvillage

From the start of the chapter, quickly scale the path on the left and interact with Zbaltazar for a brief cutscene. Next, continue to the right and take the ladder just before you reach the bucket. Continue scaling to the top floor, passed the garden, and up the pipes. Follow the path through the subway and to Midtown.

Chapter 10: Midtown

Immediately run to the apartment complex by taking the path on the right at the central hub, and run up to Clementine’s place. Then, use the middle section to drop down, break the 3 cameras, and interact with the cassette tape in front of Simon. Now, head to the back of the bar and knock over the bottles to wake up the worker. Run to and enter the box in front of the hat store. After the worker takes the box into the store, grab the hat, leave through the vent on the left, and run to the clothing store.

Head to the back of the clothing store, insert the cassette tape to distract the worker, take the jacket, and meet with Blazer in the next alley. After giving him the hat and the jacket, he will sneak you into the factory.

The Factory

Next, avoid being seen by the drones by positioning yourself below the first drone before running to the right when it turns to the left. With the second group, run across the barrels when the drone on the left returns to the drone on the right. Continue down the path to the switch on the wall. Then use the moving debris to block the drone line-of-sight in the next corridor.

At the end of the path, use the barren to get through the laser gate. Then, use the robot on the right to get over the fence, flip the switch, and park both robots on the right and left pressure plates. Walk the barrel onto the final pressure plate, take the battery, use the bucket on the balcony to return to Midtown, and run back to the apartment complex (right path).

Return to Midtown

Once you reach the apartments, avoid the first drone, taking the path on the right. When the second drone looks away, run around the next pillar and up the stairs, taking the right path, and jumping the the middle section before landing on the middle catwalk.

Now, follow the next drone as it paths away from the catwalk, using the ledge on the left as cover when it paths back. Run around to the left, up the stairs, and cross behind the next drone by jumping the stair railing, before jumping to the middle section. When the final drone moves away from Clementine’s place, jump back to the walkway and into her apartment.

Clementine’s Clues

In Clementine’s flat, interact with her clue board then collect the clues. The first clue is on a small round table in the adjacent room. The second is found in the loft above by scratching on a cloth hanging from a drawer. Then, head to the bathroom and interact with the mannequin for the third clue before scaling to the top shelf in the kitchen for the final clue.

Next, interact with the kitchen window to exit the apartment, but don’t jump off the ledge. Make sure the drone starts pathing away before you navigate back to the central area. Use it to scale down the complex, keeping an eye on the first drone on the bottom floor. When it pans to the right, finish jumping down and run directly to the alleyway (left at the central hub and left after the bouncer. Climb up one floor using the dumpster behind the janitor, navigate around the alley clockwise to the open window, and interact with the robot (Alex) to be let into the club.

Immediately jump on the bar and grab the strange drink. Take it to Fripp on the right side of the room and exchange it for a lever. Next, place the lever in position on the stage, flip it, jump above the lowered pillar, and ride it to the top. From there, interact with the far right and the far left buttons, cross the light fixtures, and jump to the control room on the far side.

Chapter 11: Jail

At the start of the chapter, move left and right to break open the cage and follow the path ascending clockwise in the room. Jump to the first swinging beam near the end of the beam so it swings out further. Otherwise, you may need to jump to it twice.

In the second room, jump twice on the left swinging beam, and once on the right beam to descend to the cage and out the grate. Once you reach the hallway, turn around and use the AC unit to climb to the next floor. Then jump to the lower plywood, wait for the drone to move away, drop down and use the vent in the room on the right. Climb up the crate to the dumpster and to the next floor.

Next, enter the gated room on the right, through the window to the next room, and collect the keys for Clementine. After the cutscenes, jump through the office, up onto the ducts, and across the light fixture. Use the pipe on the left in the hall to avoid the lasers and the desk to avoid the drone. Then, Jump to the AC unit and across the gap after the next lasers move down.

In the next room, stay behind the small wall or box on the right until the drone paths away. Then, run into the office and flip the switch. From there, exit the office to the left and jump through the window, hiding under the desk until the circling drone passes by. After it does, run to the middle and grab B-12, working your way clockwise around the room to the window in the back right corner. Wait for the drone in the hall to move to your right before jumping through the window. Use the office again to return to Clementine.

Escape

After opening the locked door, jump on top of the dumpster and knock over the pile of bricks. After Clementine breaks the window, jump on her to get into the office and flip the switch to open the door.

In the next section, run through the first drone’s view, into the left room, and behind the boxes. Once the drone catches up, run around the boxes, and hack the door panel. Wait briefly for the doors to start closing before running out. Repeat the process with the next two drones. Run through both of their paths, into the room on the left, using pillars to block their shots. Then exit the room through the other gate, doubling back to the previous panel hack and lock them in.

Now, use the vent on the right of the next room to access the door switch, letting Clementine through. Then, scratch the door of the vehicle, jumping on its rear bumper to get over the fence. Run around, flipping the next switch before immediately running back to catch up with Clementine. When you reach the tunnel, run side-to-side to avoid getting hit and jump on the rear bumper to complete the chapter.

Chapter 12: Control Room

After the scene with Clementine, follow the path through the subway and insert the battery. Then run to the front of the subway and start it up. As the subway slows down, move to the front door for a shorter path to the stairs. Follow the path to the security door at the top.

Immediately activate the robot next to the benches and lead it to the left maintenance panel. Inspect the door panel twice and use the robot to reach and scratch the exposed wires. Run to the far side of the next room and interact with the computer before walking over all inactive keyboards.

Next, jump on the computer to your left, expose/scratch the wires, and hack the screen. Across from there, knock over the panel and repeat the process. The final hack is just on the other side of the sleeping computers where you repeat the process the third time. Finally, drop B-12 off at the control station.

After the cutscene, run out of the control room, turn right, and go through the large red doors. The achievement will pop at the start of the credits.

I'm speaking as someone who utterly stinks at speed runs and this was more than do-able as I made several mistakes and still had 15 minutes to spare. I'm not going to give step-by-step instructions, but here are some important notes I think helps. Game spoilers ahead.

- First, get all other achievements (except maybe Can't Catch Me which is actually the hardest one by far) as it will give you practice on several levels and improve your times and familiarity. As sprawling as Midtown is, it can actually be done as quickly as 10-15 minutes if you know what you're doing. Make sure to do the speed run on a different save file.

-This is any% speedrun so plan accordingly. You only need the items that propel the story forward. So only the 3 notebooks and Detergent/Electrical Cord/Poncho in Slums and specific mission items like the tracker, forget about the music sheets and who needs memories? Only the cassette tape/worker outfit/factory power source and drink/lever for Midtown. Fun fact: you don't need to say or grab a single thing in Antvillage other than show the picture to the dude up top.

-Try to combine actions where possible if dealing with a slow robot you have to wait on. For example, when I woke up the box mover in midtown bar, while he takes a million years to walk to the hat store, that's plenty of time to put the tape in the cassette player and distract the other store owner to get the worker out and then go back to the hat store.

-Press X through all dialogue possible. If you get lost because you forgot what the to do next you can always press down on the d-pad to get a hint from B-12 if you missed important dialogue.