Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is an interactive episode of the dark science fiction anthology show, originally intended as part of the fifth series but eventually released as a standalone film on Netflix. It is the streaming service's first interactive program aimed at an adult audience. The episode follows the trials and travails of a young programmer named Stefan Butler, who has been hired by a company to create a computer adventure game based on his favorite book, titled Bandersnatch. The film begins with a brief introduction on how to play the game on your particular device, then launches into the story that should take between 40 and 90 minutes to complete.

At pivotal moments the player will be asked to make a choice about what Stefan should do, from matters as trivial as what he should have for breakfast to weightier matters such as whether he should attack his therapist, kill his father or even commit suicide. The player is given 10 seconds to make each choice, otherwise the game will pick a default path. The story delves heavily into a metafictional narrative, with Stefan questioning his own agency and feeling as if he doesn't have control over his own choices.

There are five main endings and 10–12 endings total; non-definite endings are treated more as a "game over" and the player is taken back to the last pivotal decision point so they can choose another path. In this manner a player does not need to start from the beginning to see every possible plot thread. The narrative also sometimes folds back in on itself, so it's possible to make different choices but still end up in the same places.

Though writer Charlie Brooker used Twine to write the script, Bandersnatch ultimately used a new tool developed internally by Netflix called Branch Manager. In order to ensure a seamless transition between scenes after the player makes a choice, the program pre-caches both upcoming scene choices. Earlier choices are also remembered later in the film. These two features required making some adaptations to how Netflix caches content, meaning that Bandersnatch cannot be played on older Netflix apps and devices.