Choose Your Own Misadventure
Netflix is a game platform, now. What a time to be alive.
Black Mirror is a fantastic and haunting series, with great production values and excellent writing -- but its most distinctive feature (like its spiritual predecessor, The Twilight Zone) is how it subverts the expectations of the sci-fi viewer, and challenges the assumptions - especially the optimistic, happy ones - normalized by its contemporaries.
Bandersnatch does that, too, but it also subverts the expectations of the adventure game player.
Narratively, and here be spoilers:
Mechanically, Bandersnatch has some room for improvement, but also gets some things surprisingly right. Specifically, regarding how you can find and view alternate paths/endings.
Con: There's no "save file" equivalent, so once you've reached the credits, Netflix can't tell you which endings you've seen and what choices you might want to re-attempt.
Pro: In many cases, before the credits, Bandersnatch does give you the opportunity to return to a pivotal moment and try something else. It uses smartly sped-up/re-cut footage to start the story over, and bring you quickly back to the moment of choice.
It ain't perfect, but Bandersnatch is wonderfully entertaining; it has real, meaningful interactive qualities; and it treats its Adventure game heritage with respect and awe. This is an all-around treat for the game aficionado.
Also, Jeff Minter is in it. (I did a double-take when I saw his name in the credits.)
Better than: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Not as good as: Her Story
I mean really: If we can call dreck like Shadow of Destiny a "game," Bandersnatch has more than earned its place here.