Hydrogels have emerged as versatile materials with diverse applications in basic science research and applied healthcare, owing to their excellent water-retention ability, biomimetic structure, intrinsic flexibility, and unique mechanics. Stimuli-responsive hydrogels, which can alter their mechanical, chemical and/or structural properties in response to environmental cues, have gained considerable attention as soft actuators in many fields, including robotics and biomedicine. Degradation is one of the important properties that stimuli-responsive hydrogels can exhibit, and this feature can be a critical design criterion for bioactive factor delivery systems and tissue engineering applications. Various types of external stimuli, including light, pH, temperature, and enzymes, have been used as triggers to induce hydrogel degradation. However, hydrogels that degrade in response to mechanical stress have not yet been reported.