Charlie Brooker's Cat Burglar Is Bandersnatch Meets Looney Tunes
Black Mirror co-creator Charlie Brooker is back on Netflix, and this time, his next Bandersnatch experiment is an interactive quiz called Cat Burglar.
15th Feb 2022 10:17
Netflix


Charlie Brooker's Cat Burglar Is Bandersnatch Meets Looney Tunes
Black Mirror co-creator Charlie Brooker is back on Netflix, and this time, his next Bandersnatch experiment is an interactive quiz called Cat Burglar.
15th Feb 2022 10:17
Netflix
While Charlie Brooker is known as the co-creator of the dark and dystopian Black Mirror, his latest venture is once again trying to break free from the confines of the tech anthology. You might remember Brooker had tried something different with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch in 2018, and now, he's once again taking a gamble.
In typically Black Mirror style, Bandersnatch was something of a viral affair that was revealed just one day before it was released. The out-there idea was a choose-your-own-adventure clone that forced viewers to interact with the story for an outing that was different every time. It was a mixed bag affair, but keen to milk the idea, Brooker is doing it again with Cat Burglar.
What Is Cat Burglar?
Homaging the old Tex Avery cartoons of yesteryear, Cat Burglar puts a modern twist on classic animation - while keeping its slapstick and hyper-violent roots. Here, you take the role of the titular cat burglar called Rowdy Cat. You have to break into a museum to steal exhibits from Peanut the Security Pup.
To progress, viewers have to be quick with their controller/remote - answering quickfire trivia or being caught in a series of elaborate traps. You have a certain amount of lives before you permanently kick the bucket, and in Bandersnatch style, you're promised every playthrough will be completely different.
These types of interactive adventures were originally aimed at kids thanks to the likes of Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and Captain Underpants: Epic Choice-o-Rama, but it's since branched out to cover more adult IPs like The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Cat Burglar pitches itself as something of a modern Itchy & Scratchy, but we admit, we're a little confused about its target demographic.
Is This The Future Of Netflix And Gaming?
Cat Burglar is the latest entry into Netflix's growing catalogue of gaming ventures. We've already covered how the streaming giant is hoping to make waves in the gaming sphere, with some countries already having video games added to their subscription for free.
Netflix is trying to compete with the likes of PlayStation Plus, Game Pass, and Stadia, but as the latter shows, it's a hard market to break into. Even though Netflix has already rolled out selected titles based on Stranger Things and others, a surplus of these choose-your-own-adventure shows is hardly going to overtake the gaming industry. In the meantime, we imagine it'll be fun to blow up Rowdy Cat with dynamite for all of about five minutes when Cat Burglar releases on February 22.

About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.