Once Upon a Stray is a 2D styled game with stunning pixel art and it's satisfying sound track. The gameplay features a puzzling environment, a variety of weapons, enemies, and comedic cutscenes as well as a story rich play through. Tangerine who is from a planet full of cats has fled his home and made it to Earth after an army of space robots invaded his home planet and enslaved every cat that walks it. After crash landing on Earth, Tangerine meets Nina who appears to be the only human alive after Earth had it's own global catastrophe. Nina has been locked in an incubation pod for many years. Her grandfather put her in this pod in order to keep her safe from the dangers of a great war that has struck the globe. After meeting Nina and freeing her from her pod, Tangerine realizes maybe they can help out one another. Nina can help Tangerine get back home while also defending him. Meanwhile Tangerine can help Nina fight off these robots. He has dealt with them in the past...

Playing as Nina will enable you to use weapons, open doors, pick up items, press buttons, pull levers etc.

Playing as Tangerine will allow you to go through smaller areas, pick up small melee weapons, and use certain machines only a small cat would fit into.

Build new weapons with materials found around each level. Material can also be acquired by killing robots. You can also build and unlock new perks with items like ammo, and medical supplies.