You'd have to spend a lot of time on Netflix to see all of the Black Mirror: Bandersnatch endings for yourself, making all sorts of different choices – and keeping track of the ones you've gone for previously – in the streamer's interactive, choose-your-own-adventure film. Think Until Dawn and The Quarry, but with a dark, sci-fi edge and slightly less grisly deaths...
If you're impatient, then, you probably want short answers to questions like, how many Bandersnatch endings are there, and what are they?
Well, according to Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker, there are five "real" ways in which developer Stefan Butler's (Fionn Whitehead) attempt to adapt the titular adventure book into a video game can wrap up. "Real" meaning Bandersnatch actually gets released and scored by reviewers, but not necessarily well, as you'll see from the different endings we've spelled out below. There are also several other conclusions where the game doesn't get finished, released, or something else entirely. The game even loops around sometimes when a choice leads to a dead end, so it's possible to see a range of things happen.
Back when Bandersnatch came out in December 2021, I ended up watching (playing?) for way longer than I'd intended because my curiosity about the different pathways got the better of me. That's where the diagram below comes from. Welcome to my brain. After that you'll find a definitive list of all the Bandersnatch endings and what you need to achieve them.
Let's take a look, then, at every Bandersnatch ending I could find (including how to get them for yourself), and see how far the rabbit hole goes. Be prepared, certain conclusions can involve a lot of options, but not all of them matter so I've just detailed the major ones you need to follow to get to each specific ending. If you're following a path and an option we haven't mentioned comes up, don't worry, just keep going and you should still make it to the correct ending. Oh, and in case it wasn't obvious, there's major Bandersnatch spoilers to follow...
Take the Tuckersoft job ending (Bandersnatch released)
The ending: Being offered a job at the video game publisher Tuckersoft is one of the first meaningful decisions you get to make. However, if you accept the job the game will be released to mediocre scores, prompting Colin to try again in an apparently meta awareness that he's playing a game and can go again. Or, you know, just a clever tutorial to drive home how things work.
How to get it:
- Take the job at Tuckersoft
Pour tea on the computer ending (Bandersnatch unfinished)
The ending: This is another way of ending the story without any real resolution. While Stefan is struggling to make the game you can choose to shout at Stefan's dad, or ruin the computer with a cup of tea in the keyboard. Choosing the tea will simply stop the game being made and restart the loop.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Pour tea on the computer
Destroy computer ending (Bandersnatch unfinished)
The ending: Again, this is less of an ending and more of a way to just stop the story and force another loop reset. Spoilers: if, when asked, you choose to destroy your computer you can't finish the game and everything just grinds to a halt. You'll have to shout at Stefan's dad and take the drugs you get from the resulting therapy to continue.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Shout at dad
- Flush or throw drugs
- Destroy the computer
Jump from Colin's balcony ending (Bandersnatch released)
The ending: This is a very definite ending because death is kind of like that. To get this, you'll have to refuse the Tuckersoft job and work from home, shout at Stefan's dad when things are going badly and then, when you're taken to therapy, chase after Colin. You'll end up at his flat and whether you choose to or not, take acid. During a rant about reality and freewill you have the choice to make Colin jump from the balcony or make Stefan do it. If Stefan jumps, the game is finished by other people and isn't very good.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Shout at dad
- Follow Colin
- Take LSD (happens even if you refuse)
- Choose to jump
Take Medication ending (Bandersnatch released)
The ending: If you chose to go straight to therapy when Stefan's father takes you, you'll open up the option to take the medication you're given instead of throwing it away. If you do, you finish the game and it's released, but reviews badly because the meds kicked in and dampen Stefan's creative process.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Go to therapy instead of following Colin
- Take pills
P.A.C.S ending (Bandersnatch released)
The ending: This is one of the more involved endings that specifically plays off past decisions. You have to talk about Stefan's mother when you first visit therapy then, later, when Stefan is taken there by his father, run away and follow Colin. While at Colin's flat (where he rants about "program and control" on acid), get him to jump off the balcony. When you get the option to take the pills you're given you have to throw them away instead of flushing them and then, when you take a break, choose the book instead of the photo.
You'll then be able to enter P.A.C.S. as the code in the safe, which leads to you discovering you're a psychological experiment. Then when you reach the "Who's there?" part of the story you can choose 'P.A.C.S.' instead of the symbol or Netflix option. This will lead to confronting and killing Stefan's father, and unlock the option to call the therapist using the number 20541. This will then mean the murder is discovered before the game is finished and when Tuckersoft release it unfinished it goes on to score poorly.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Talk about Stefan's mum in therapy
- Follow Colin
- Make Colin jump off the balcony
- Throw away pills
- Choose the book
- Enter P.A.C.S. as the safe code
Bandersnatch scores highly ending and Pearl remakes it (Bandersnatch released)
The ending: This, despite Stefan's father's brutal murder and dismemberment, is considered one of the better endings because the game is released before the murder is discovered and hailed as an instant, ground-breaking classic. You can't make an omelet, etc… Some of the options here aren't important as choosing either will get the game result but you'll have to talk about Stefan's mother in therapy, hit the desk, chose the photo, and then choose to show the symbol on screen. That'll lead to your father's death and you must dismember the body to ensure it's hidden long enough for the game to come out and be a huge success. A flash forward later reveals it's later taken off the shelves after the murder is discovered but still gains a cult status. As a result you later see Colin's daughter Pearl, all grown up and trying to remake the game in the future, and giving you the option to control her.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Talk about Stefan's mum in therapy
- Shout at dad
- If you follow Colin instead of therapy, make sure he jumps
- Flush or throw away the drugs
- Hit the desk
- Choose the photo
- Choose the symbol
- Kill father and chop up the body
Stefan is committed ending (Bandersnatch unfinished)
The ending: This is one of the endings where the game isn't released and instead Stefan is dragged away literally kicking and screaming. The main thing you absolutely need to do is choose the Netflix logo as that sets this path in stone. After that you'll end up in therapy talking about how you're on a TV show. When the doctor asks if you'd like Stefan’s story to be more exciting you can answer 'Yeah' or 'Fuck, yeah' to trigger a fight, then just keep fighting to get taken away.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Talk about Stefan's mum in therapy
- Shout at dad
- Flush drugs
- Hit the desk
- Choose the photo
- Choose the Netflix logo
- Choose to fight
It's all a TV show ending (Bandersnatch unfinished)
The ending: This is a fourth wall-breaking ending that reveals it's all a TV show and ends with the actor who plays Stefan revealing he's maybe a little too much into character. Again, the main thing is choosing the Netflix logo when you can communicate with Stefan. You'll end up in therapy again, however, chose to jump out of the window when the option arises and the camera will pull back to reveal you're on a set and the window's not real.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Talk about Stefan's mum in therapy
- Shout at dad
- Flush drugs
- Hit the desk
- Choose the photo
- Choose the Netflix logo
- Choose more action
- Jump out of the window
Stefan dies in the past (Bandersnatch unfinished)
The ending: You have to talk about Stefan's mother to access this ending as it reveals her death in a train accident. With that information you're able to retrieve Stefan's toy rabbit when you visit the safe using the password 'TOY' and return it in the past. When the option arises get on the train with Stefan's mother in the flashback/memory/past (depending on what you think that scene really is), you need to decide to go with her, which results in Stefan dying in therapy. Pretty final as endings go.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Talk about Stefan's mum in therapy
- Shout at dad
- Go to therapy
- Flush drugs
- Hit desk
- Pick up book
- Enter TOY as the safe code
Colin, Thakur, or Kitty visit and Stefan goes to prison (Bandersnatch released)
The ending: This ending is one of the most confusing options as there are several variations, not least one that brings Colin back from the dead (or another timeline according to his previous acid rant). It can also includes the game being released or not released, and the possibility of Tuckersoft going under completely. The core storyline involves getting to the stage where you kill Stefan's father and burying the body rather than chopping it up. It always ends up with Stefan in prison and the variations include:
1. Tell Tuckersoft owner, Thakur, that you can bring the game in when he calls you and Colin's wife Kitty will come around to ask about Colin.
2. Tell Tuckersoft owner, Thakur, you can't bring the game in when he calls you and Thakur will come around to visit and is killed when he discovers the murder.
3. Colin comes around to visit.
This seems to be triggered by either getting the therapist's number wrong when you try to call her, or repeating the loop and choosing the path again that would have led to Kitty visiting. Either way Colin should appear this time, apparently recovered from jumping out of his window. Like Thakur, he'll discover the murder, but you can choose to kill him or let him go.
How to get it:
- Don't take the job at Tuckersoft
- Talk about Stefan's mum in therapy
- Shout at dad
- If you follow Colin instead of therapy, he jumps
- Flush or throw drugs
- Hit the desk
- Choose the photo
- Choose the symbol
- Kill father and bury the body
Jeff Minter stabs you (Bandersnatch unfinished)
The ending: There's a secret ending of sorts where the original Bandersnatch book author Jerome F. Davies (played by legendary '80s game dev Jeff Minter) appears in a dream and stabs you, causing you to wake up.
How to get it:
- Choose the photo twice
The playable Nohzdyve ending
The ending: There's a very specific set of circumstances that will get you an actual playable copy of Nohzdyve that you can then play on a Spectrum emulator. To get it you have to pick a very specific combination of responses throughout the whole show. If you do, then on a second playthrough Stefan will listen to a Spectrum computer loading tape on the bus that can be loaded into an actual Spectrum to access this page on a promotional Tuckersoft site where you can download the Nohzdyve game. I’m not going to list all the options here because it pretty much involves every choice you can make throughout the movie (a lot), and you can access the game straight from the link above anyway.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is streaming now on Netflix. For more, have a gander at our guide to the best Black Mirror: Bandersnatch Easter eggs. If sci-fi isn't your bag, check out our lists of the best movies on Netflix and best shows on Netflix right now.
