Drop, jump, survive
Descend floor by floor with forgiving jump timing — coyote time and jump buffer keep the controls readable while the pace ramps up.
Downward. Homeward.
Endless vertical-descent arcade
In the Forgotten City, every stray has heard the same legend — at the very bottom there is a Door, and beyond it, a place where every stray belongs. So they descend. Through Neon Ruins, Flooded Metro, Forgotten Foundations. Floor after floor. Faster than the chase that follows.
Free to play. Soft currency only — every character unlocks through play.
Strayward is a one-thumb arcade run: move, drop through floors, time your jumps, and stay ahead of the rising chase. Each run picks one danger that drives both the pressure behind you and the obstacles on the floors ahead.
Descend floor by floor with forgiving jump timing — coyote time and jump buffer keep the controls readable while the pace ramps up.
The Flood, the Cold, Traffic, Hunger, Illness, Loneliness, and more — each night names the chase and the floor hazards you will face. In Normal, every Restart rolls a new danger.
Neon Ruins, Flooded Metro, and Forgotten Foundations shift the palette and atmosphere as you go deeper toward the Door.
Ash, Patch, Nix, Pip, and Lai each carry a passive and an active skill tuned to a different survival fantasy — extra life, safety, economy, precision, or weight.
Bittersweet lore surfaces as you descend — not cute-for-kids-only, but mythic and spare. The strays remember what the city forgot.
They say the strays came first. Before the lights. Before the doors.
No one remembers who built the city — only that they left in a hurry.
Water found its own level here. So did the desperate.
A conductor's whistle still echoes, though the trains never move.
Below the foundations, the world remembers every name it was given.
The Door does not open for the worthy. It opens for the willing.
Where the descent begins — ruined neon, warm edges, and the first whispers of the myth.
Transit tunnels swallowed by water. Green ambient light and the echo of a stalled city.
Deep stone and rust. The air turns heavy long before you reach the Door.
Five launch heroes. Ash is free from the first run; Patch, Nix, Pip, and Lai unlock with coins earned in play.
Ash learned early that the city does not keep promises. Left behind with a collar that no longer rings, the orange cat kept walking anyway — alley to alley, floor to floor. One more chance is all Ash asks.
Patch never ran from the rising water. The cream Shiba planted four paws and made space for whoever was behind. In the Forgotten City, safety is rare — Patch carries it like a bandana: faded, stubborn, still theirs.
Nix treats the descent like a night market. Bottlecaps, coins, scraps — if it shines, it belongs in the satchel. Double the haul. Double the hope of buying a way down.
Pip does not flap in panic. Wings tucked, eyes sharp, the blue-grey pigeon times every drop. Wide wings catch the draft — steer hard mid-air, choose the next ledge, keep descending.
Lai walks where the city forgot to build roads, two steady legs at a time. Every landing sounds like a promise: the ledge may hold for now, but nothing below is meant to last.
Every run names one danger before the chase starts. That same danger shapes the rising pressure behind you and the lethal obstacles waiting on the floors.
Rising water. Nowhere dry.
Chase: FLOOD · Obstacle: PUDDLE
Empty bowls. Empty streets.
Chase: HUNGER · Obstacle: BAIT
Night wind through thin fur.
Chase: COLD · Obstacle: ICE
Wheels that do not stop.
Chase: TRAFFIC · Obstacle: CAR
No collar. No light. No name.
Chase: DARK · Obstacle: SHADOW
A cough no one treats.
Chase: ILLNESS · Obstacle: SICK
The quiet after the door closes.
Chase: ALONE · Obstacle: EMPTY
A stray with no master. Only teeth.
Chase: MAULED · Obstacle: ANIMAL
The city trembles. Floors crumble early.
Chase: QUAKE · Obstacle: CRACK
The descent spins. The chase surges when you falter.
Chase: VERTIGO · Obstacle: DIZZY
The cold drains you without killing — until you can't move.
Chase: FROSTBITE · Obstacle: FROST
Strayward is out now on the App Store. Descend on your iPhone or iPad, play in the browser, or catch the Android release soon.
Free on iOS. Android coming soon.