November 2025’s PlayStation Plus Essential games offer a diverse selection. Leading the group is Stray, a visually stunning platformer where you play as a cat. EA Sports WRC 24 delivers the excitement of rally racing, and Totally Accurate Battle Simulator provides a humorous take on strategy games, complete with over-the-top physics. While the games cater to different tastes, this lineup has something for almost everyone.
PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers will have access to three new games in November 2025. These games – available from November 4th through December 1st – are a part of the monthly subscription benefit.
3) Stray
This month’s standout game is likely Stray. The visually stunning platformer was a hit when it launched in 2022, earning an average score of 84. It was initially a launch title for the updated PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium tiers, but after being removed from those tiers in July 2023, it’s now available to PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers.
BlueTwelve Studio’s first game, Stray, is a delightful puzzle adventure, not just a viral internet joke. Players take on the role of a cat exploring a beautiful but rundown, neon-lit city devoid of humans. While the gameplay isn’t overly complex, it feels great to move around thanks to the cat’s natural agility. The puzzles are simple and usually involve using the cat’s playful nature – like knocking things over and causing a bit of mischief.
I think what really makes Stray stand out is how it tells its story without any dialogue, and just through the atmosphere. It’s set in a world where humans are gone, but the robots left behind have started acting like us – the good and the bad. It’s strangely touching to see human traits reflected in these robots, and it really brings the world to life, giving the game a real sense of heart. Honestly, the story about the cat trying to find their friends is sweet, but it feels more like a way to experience this amazing world and the thoughtful ideas the game explores.
After its release, Stray didn’t receive a lot of significant updates or downloadable content. The main update included a running toggle, a tool called the defluxor, and on-screen prompts to help players shake off enemies. It also allowed players to turn off the visuals of the cat dying, which weren’t graphic, but some players might have found upsetting. The game never got features like a photo mode or any other major additions.
2) EA Sports WRC 24
EA Sports WRC 24, also known as EA Sports WRC, is a 2023 racing game developed by Codemasters. It generally received mixed to positive reviews, with an average score of 78.
This rally game features much larger tracks than previous titles from the developers, a change they attribute to using the Unreal Engine 4. However, the switch to the new engine initially caused some technical problems, which have been improved with updates released after the game launched.
The racing itself feels like a typical rally game, offering a career mode, time trials, car customization, and multiplayer with crossplay. What sets it apart is the realistic and impactful handling – a signature of Codemasters games. Drifting and acceleration are particularly satisfying, which is essential for a good driving experience. With around 70 cars and 200 stages across 18 World Rally Championship rallies, there’s plenty of content. However, the game is fairly conservative in its design and is best suited for players already familiar with rally racing games.
So, WRC 24 has been getting a good amount of extra content since launch, both free and stuff you have to pay for. They’ve got a season pass for $29.99 that includes three big packs. The first, the Hard Chargers Content Pack, adds six new stages for Sweden and Greece, plus six awesome classic cars, a bunch of new liveries, and 16 ‘Moments’ – which are basically replays of famous rallies you can drive. Then the Le Maestros Content Pack throws in six more stages for Monte Carlo and Portugal, and seven more classic cars. Finally, the Locations & Cars Content Pack is huge – it adds two totally new rally locations, Tet Rally Latvia and Orlen 80th Rally Poland, plus five new cars, a ton of liveries, and even more drivers and co-drivers to choose from.
The game received a large free update with many improvements, bug fixes, and new content. This includes new locations to explore, more customization options, extra ‘Moments’ challenges, and the addition of professional rally driver Andreas Mikkelsen as an AI opponent. However, virtual reality (VR) support is only available on the PC version, leaving PlayStation VR2 owners on PS5 without this feature.
1) Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator is a humorous strategy game that officially launched in 2021 after a period in early access. While it doesn’t have a formal critical review score, players on Steam overwhelmingly love it, with over 78,000 reviews giving it a “Positive” rating.
The game has a unique setup where players position their units on the battlefield before combat begins, then watch as the fighting unfolds automatically. These units are diverse, representing everything from pirates and cowboys to angelic beings. Success depends on carefully choosing the right units and strategically deploying as many as you can afford.
The game requires players to carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of each unit, adding a surprising amount of strategy beneath its playful surface – despite featuring amusing, floppy characters known as ‘wobblers’. Although primarily a strategy game, you can directly control a single unit, and while it’s a bit tricky due to the wobbly physics, it can be a very effective tactic. The game includes a simple campaign mode, a unit customization tool, and competitive online multiplayer.
While Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (TABS) hasn’t received any paid downloadable content, it has been consistently updated since its early alpha version in 2016, including improvements leading up to its PlayStation 4 release in 2023. These updates added features to the unit creator and generally improved the game experience. The developers at Landfall announced in 2022 that they wouldn’t be adding more content, as the team wanted to move on to new projects after working on TABS for over five years.
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2025-11-01 16:11