It may be lacking in astute Cuban political commentary or traumatic holiday hijinks, but make no mistake: Bandit Trap is a bit like Spy vs. Spy or Home Alone. We went hands-on with the home invasion multiplayer game at Summer Game Fest. 

In Bandit Trap, each map pits three-versus-one in a battle of wits, ambushes, and evasion skills. Players take on the role of either the single Trapper or one of three Bandits. The Trapper tries to hide from the Bandits, snaring them or rearming traps around the house in hopes of defending their home and the valuables within. The three Bandits meanwhile try to hunt down this loot while avoiding said traps and (eventually) making a clean getaway.

Matches start with the Trapper getting two minutes to move around their house and set up. To set up a trap, they need to go to a Trap Tower in the house and then select one of the pieces of furniture or other trappable items in a room. They’re then presented with a menu of items. In my playthrough this included a spring fist, hammer, homing rocket, water gun, ice gun, fire gun, bomb, shock ball, and tornado. 

Each Tower only covers a portion of the house and also only allows the Trapper to set five traps, so the player spends that initial two minutes moving between Trap Towers and rigging various rooms. They can also see which items in the house contain loot, so they know which rooms may need more protection.

You can also set up spring traps manually, by planting a plunger against a wall, winding an elastic band behind a heavy object opposite a door (like a sofa) and then setting the second plunger on the wall on the other side of the door.

And lastly, the Trapper can lock interior doors to slow down the progress of the Bandits.

While the Trapper is getting set up, the Bandits get to select where in the house they'll start their incursion, like the porch, garden, or pool. They also decide which Scanner they are bringing with them to scan items in the house to see if they’re trapped or contain loot, and can select two perks that will make looting a bit easier.

The object of the game for the Trapper is to do a combined 100% of damage across the three Bandits’ shared health. The Bandits, on the other hand, need to make off with all ten pieces of loot before being knocked out of the game.

As the Trapper, you tend to be in the midst of setting up your house with a mix of crazy contraptions when the Bandits first make entry. Once the house is infested with Bandits, the Trapper spends their time avoiding the Bandits, hopping into the Towers to place more traps, and hiding in furniture. If the furniture is primed, the Trapper can move it around and then manually launch the trap at a Bandit, doubling the amount of damage dealt. If the furniture isn’t, then the Trapper can just hide in it. But here’s the thing: the furniture will have your eyes, making it a pretty big giveaway you’re in there.

The Bandits use assorted tools to break locks, scan furniture, and generally tear the house apart looking for the loot. When they get hit by a trap, they take damage for the team and can eventually be knocked out. Other Bandits can revive the flattened collaborator, but the damage remains.

Bandit Trap currently has four playable maps though the developers haven’t locked in how many will be available at launch. There are also plans for new perks that allow you to do things like go through trap doors if you’re a Bandit and combine traps (like a fire and tornado trap) if you’re a Trapper. 

From what we saw at Summer Game Fest, the best-laid plans generally unravel into a mess of traps, chases, and general mayhem. It’s the sort of experience that’s just the right mix of wacky and challenging. 

Bandit Trap doesn’t have a hard release date, but the developers are expecting to release later this year.