Stray is short, beautiful, and easy to finish in an evening, but a handful of players still search for a stray walkthrough because the chapter names don't always match what's happening on screen, and the collectible system rewards knowing what to look for before you're deep into a level you can't easily revisit. This stray walkthrough lays out the real chapter order, what each one covers, and how the collectible system actually works, without inventing puzzle solutions that don't hold up to scrutiny.

The full story runs 12 chapters and takes most players 4 to 6 hours for a thorough first playthrough with collectibles, or as little as 1.5 to 2 hours for a speed-focused run.

The Full Chapter List

This stray walkthrough follows the game's actual chapter structure, confirmed in order:

1. Behind the Wall (Inside the Wall) — the opening chapter, exploring the outside world with the cat's colony before the fall into the city below.
2. Dead City — your first taste of the walled city, including the first encounters with the Zurks, the game's antagonist creatures.
3. The Flat — a more puzzle-focused chapter centered on activating B-12, your drone companion, and finding a way out of an apartment.
4. The Slums — the first major hub area, populated by robot NPCs and open for exploration.
5. Rooftops — a platforming-heavy chapter navigating the city's upper levels.
6. Slums, Part 2 — a return to the Slums hub with new areas opened up and new objectives.
7. Dead End — a tighter, more linear chapter pushing the story forward.
8. The Sewers — a tonal shift into darker, more hazardous territory with heavier Zurk presence.
9. Antvillage — a hub area with its own robot community and side content.
10. Midtown — widely considered the most navigation-heavy chapter in the game, and the one most players search a stray walkthrough for specifically.
11. Jail — a tense, contained chapter late in the story.
12. Control Room — the final chapter, leading directly into the game's single ending.

What to Know About Collectibles Before You Start

Stray's collectible system is built around four categories:

Memories — B-12's personal collectibles, 27 in total, scattered throughout the game and tied to fleshing out the drone's backstory.

Badges — 6 cosmetic collectibles for B-12, found in less obvious corners of various chapters.

Sheet Music — 8 pieces, tied to an optional musician sidequest.

Energy Drink Cans — 4 in total, a smaller collectible set scattered through the environment.

The genuinely useful thing about Stray's design: none of the collectibles are missable. Every one remains accessible via Chapter Select from the main menu even after you've completed the game, so a first playthrough doesn't need to be a stressful completion run. If you want everything in one pass, this stray walkthrough's advice is simple: explore each hub chapter (The Slums, Antvillage, Midtown) thoroughly before moving on, since those are the areas with the highest collectible density.

General Tips for Getting Through Smoothly

Use B-12's inventory and scan function. Pressing up on the d-pad opens B-12's inventory, which also shows a glitchy visual clue for any Memory collectible in your current area. This is the game's built-in hint system, and leaning on it is far more reliable than guessing.

Chapter Select is your safety net. If you finish the game and realize you missed something, you don't need a fresh playthrough. Select your save, choose Select Chapter, and go back to clean up anything you missed without losing your existing progress.

There's no real combat, so don't look for a fighting solution. Stray is a puzzle-platformer and narrative adventure. If a section feels like it wants a combat response, the actual solution is almost always environmental or stealth-based instead.

Midtown is the chapter to slow down for. Of all twelve chapters, Midtown is the one most consistently flagged by players and guides as the trickiest to navigate on a first attempt, since its rooftop-and-alley layout offers several paths that look plausible but lead nowhere useful.

The Takeaway

This stray walkthrough covers the real chapter order (Behind the Wall through Control Room, twelve chapters total) and the collectible system that rewards thorough exploration without punishing you for missing something the first time through. Every collectible remains available after the credits roll via Chapter Select, which means there's no reason to rush and no reason to stress over a first playthrough.

Explore the hub chapters fully, lean on B-12's scanner when you're stuck, and remember that Midtown is where most players slow down. Everything else in Stray moves at the pace you set for it.