I’ve played a fair few choice based games, one of which I write about regularly being Life is Strange. But long before these video games, there were these “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, where you read a book and then reach a point where you have to choose to turn to a specific page with a different outcome. I never really caught on to these kind of books. In any case, Netflix and Black Mirror have created a film, where the plot centres around a young reclusive man called Stefan who’s working on a game based on a choose your own adventure book called Bandersnatch. He gets a deal with a company to sell his game, however he is given a deadline and is unable to cope with the pressure of getting the game completed.
Bandersnatch is set in the 80s rather than a dystopian setting but that standard Black Mirror vibe of unsettling forces at work is there. On this occasion, the looming presence causing the distortion is the viewers themselves as we can make choices for Stefan sending him down different paths. Choices range from mundane ones like choosing between two cereals for breakfast to choosing whether Stefan or his mentor Colin leaps off a balcony to choosing whether to murder Stefan’s dad and then choosing how to dispose of the body.
Multiple endings in games is well established, we’ve seen things like good endings, bad endings, true endings, neutral endings, pacifist endings, genocide endings, the list goes on. Likewise Black Mirror has multiple endings. Pretty much all the endings are bad endings. There is no way for Stefan to complete the game on time and get a good review without going insane and murdering someone, namely his dad. I was really hoping that there would be good ending but this is Black Mirror after all.
Bandersnatch was fun and innovative for it’s medium, though it will definitely be familiar for anyone who has played games like Heavy Rain, Life is Strange and anything from Telltale (RIP). The choice based element worked pretty well and the fact that there were so many different endings that had to be acted out is impressive.
At My Desk 