Squid Game, Netflix’s most-watched series of all time, wrapped up its extraordinary run with an explosive third season. The show garnered a sizable audience for its dystopian thriller game show concept, in which cash-strapped individuals play children’s games with a deadly twist in hopes of winning a cash prize.
While one or more children’s game inspires every challenge, each boasts its own unique, deadly element. Viewers can use our guide to find the 10 most brutal Squid Game challenges, ranked from the most brutal based on violence, difficulty, and the brutality of the elimination process.
10. Ppopgi
Like Red Light, Green Light, Ppopgi became one of the most memorable games of Squid Game Season 1. In the game, players are given Ppopgi, also known as Dalgona candy, which have shapes etched in the center. The honeycomb-like toffee is extremely brittle and fragile, and players are tasked with whittling it down to the center shape without breaking or nicking it. While Ppopgi is one of the least physical and, therefore, least violent and brutal games, it’s still one of the most difficult in the series, as one wrong move or tremor of the hands is enough for an instant loss.
9. Mingle
In Squid Game Season 2, Mingle is a bit like musical chairs, but with a merry-go-round and doors. Players stand on the merry-go-round platform as long as it's moving with music playing. As soon as it stops, a number is called out, and players must break into groups of that number and find refuge in a room. However, there aren’t enough rooms for everyone, so those stuck outside when time runs out are eliminated. If a room doesn’t have the correct number of players, those inside are also all eliminated. Mingle is a challenging game, considering it requires swift reaction and movement times. The panic it induces when one can’t find a room or a group adds to the brutality.
8. Squid Game
Squid Game Season 1 concludes with the two finalists competing in the titular game. Squid Game is a South Korean game in which an offense and a defense team play on a squid-shaped playing field. The defense must defend their area inside the squid, while the offense tries to infiltrate the squid and reach the head. Its rules are simple, but Squid Game adds another twist by giving the finalists the option to kill one another to win the game. Hence, the game quickly turns into an all-out fight to the death between the two finalists. The game is violent, brutal, and heartbreaking, considering the finalists were once friends.
7. Jump Rope
In Squid Game Season 3, the game of jump rope is similar to hopscotch and tug-of-war in that it’s played high in the air, resulting in the gruesome death by free-fall. What’s particularly difficult about the game is that it’s played immediately after the brutal hide-and-seek game, meaning numerous players are forced to play with injuries they sustained in the highly physical previous game, such as a broken ankle. Additionally, each player must cross a narrow bridge while jumping rope. As a result, some malicious players intentionally block the path to add additional challenges for the weakest and most vulnerable players. The game is brutal, difficult, and, at times, highly unfair.
6. Tug-of-War
Squid Game Season 1’s tug-of-war is another game with an exceedingly high death toll. The game is played the traditional way, with players forming teams and pulling at opposite ends of a rope until one team crosses the center line. However, the players play the game on an elevated platform, with the entire losing team in each match falling to their deaths. The deaths are as brutal as in hopscotch, but far more numerous due to the teams. It’s a less-difficult game, as strength or strategy can win, but the elimination process is very brutal, as the losing team can often predict their impending demise before the agonizing plummet.
5. Six-Legged Pentathlon
The six-legged pentathlon in Squid Game Season 2 is one of the most challenging games to win, since it consists of a series of games rather than a singular one. Players form teams of five and must successfully complete five mini-games before time runs out. The teams play Ddakji, Flying Stone, Spinning Top, and Korean versions of Jacks and Hacky Sack. While the individual games aren’t terribly difficult, the pressure and nerves are at their highest as players are forced to complete five games as quickly as possible with the threat of death hanging over them. Naturally, many find themselves so unnerved they’re unable to complete games they’ve played dozens of times, making for some of the most stressful and tense deaths of the series.
4. Marbles
It’s hard to imagine a game of marbles turning brutal, but Squid Game Season 1 found a way to make it the darkest and most challenging game. The game starts with immediate trickery, as players are directed to separate into pairs and most choose their allies before they’re informed that they’ll be competing against their partner. In each group, the winner will be whoever can acquire all their opponent’s marbles first. Pink Guards instantly eliminate the loser.
What sets the game of marbles apart in Squid Game Season 1 is that each pair gets to decide their own rules for the game. Some play traditional marbles, but most resort to some form of manipulation and trickery, resulting in extreme difficulty and some of the most heartbreaking betrayals in the series.
3. Hopscotch
Squid Game Season 1’s version of hopscotch differs drastically from the children’s version. In Squid Game, the game is played hundreds of feet in the air as players attempt to walk across glass panels suspended in mid-air and must guess which panels can bear their weight and which will shatter immediately upon stepping on them. The game turns gruesome as players make the wrong guess and plummet to their deaths instantly. Not only is the nature of elimination brutal, but the game is one of the most difficult, relying on sheer luck rather than any type of skill.
2. Red Light, Green Light
Both Squid Game Seasons 1 and 2’s opening game is Red Light, Green Light. Like the children’s game, it’s a game of reflex, where players move during the green light and must instantly freeze during the red light. However, the significant difference is that a giant Young-hee doll calls out the light color and instantly and fatally shoots anyone detected as moving during the red light. To make matters worse, as the opening game, the players play Red Light, Green Light before they’re informed of the deadly nature of the competition. Hence, they panic when the first shot rings out and ignore the rules, resulting in a stampede and bloodbath that makes it, by far, the deadliest game in the whole series.
1. Hide-and-Seek
Squid Game Season 3 starts with a bang, opening with what’s easily the show’s most brutal challenge: hide-and-seek. The game makers turn the innocent game into a hide-and-seek-and-kill game. Players are randomly divided into two teams: blue and red. Those in blue are given keys and a head start to enter the arena and hide. Several minutes later, the red players, who are given knives, enter the arena to hunt down and kill the blue players. If a red player doesn’t successfully kill at least one blue player, they’ll be eliminated when time runs out.
Hide-and-seek is by far the most violent and physical game in Squid Game, giving contestants free rein to commit murder. It’s also exceedingly difficult for both sides, as one side is unarmed and hunted, while the other side must commit the unfathomable act of murder.
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