Every Official ‘Squid Game’ Challenge, Ranked by Deadliness

The hit series Squid Game pit players head to head in brutal challenges based on children’s games. These games varied in difficulty and cruelty, but they all had one thing in common: they were very, very deadly. However, not all deadly games are created equal, with some of them almost guaranteeing the players’ demise while others offered a fighting chance.

Squid Game

2.5
/5

Release Date

2021 – 2025

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Hwang Dong-hyuk

Directors

Hwang Dong-hyuk

Writers

Hwang Dong-hyuk

• Lee Jung-jae

  Seong Gi-hun / ‘No. 456’

• Wi Ha-jun

  Detective Hwang Jun-ho

In honor of Squid Game’s series finale, we decided to analyze which games offered the best chance of survival and which ones would likely end in our elimination. We’re purely relying on numbers here, as opposed to which ones we think should be the easiest to beat. We’ve also only included the games that take place on the island in connection to the competition. However, it’s easy to slot in ones like Russian Roulette or Rock Paper Scissors Minus One once you see the other games’ terrifying odds.

12

Night Time Brawl

26% Death Rate

Netflix

The Night Time Brawl happened twice in the series, initially taking place during Season 1 shortly after Player 101, Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae), killed Player 271, which resulted in 107 remaining players. This total then dropped to 80 before Tug-of-War, meaning that 27 players were killed in the brawl, or about 25%. In Season 2, another brawl occurred after five characters were killed in the bathroom (including our beloved Thanos), leaving 95 survivors. The math gets a little messy here, as 35 players were soon marked dead, but two of them actually survived, while several others were killed by guards as opposed to other players. Based on the eight bodies hanging in the stairway, it appears that 25 players were killed in the brawl, leaving a similar death rate of 26%.

Violent but Survivable

Perhaps the most important character to die during the Night Time Brawl was Se-mi (Player 380, portrayed by Won Ji-an), who was stabbed to death by Player 124, Nam-gyu (Roh Jae-won), as Player 125 (Min-su, played by Lee David) watched on. Certainly, it was a hard sight to watch, not just for Min-su, but also for the viewer. Still, bloody and vicious doesn’t always equate to deadly, and unexpectedly, out of all the games in the series, the Night Time Brawls were the most survivable.

11

Six-Legged Pentathlon

30% Death Rate

Netflix

Shackled ankle to ankle, the Six-Legged Pentathlon took place in Season 2 and consisted of five players per team, each playing a different game. These mini-games include Ddakji, Biseokchigi, Gonggi, Paengi Chigi, and Jegi. If a player failed to complete their task, they’d have to go back and try again before their teammates could try their own. This led to a death rate of 110 out of 365, or 30%, leaving only 255 players left to compete.

Odds Within Odds

It’s difficult to say which of the mini-games within Six-Legged Pentathlon was the hardest or most deadly. At least one team had difficulties with Ddakji, two with Biseokchigi, and three with Gonggi, Paengi Chigi, and Jegi, respectively. Additionally, several teams appeared to fail to reach the finish line in time after completing all five games, and it’s difficult to tell when the majority of other teams met their end. However, the teams lacking teamwork were at the greatest disadvantage, as a player’s odds of survival were just as affected by their teammates’ cooperation as by their own skills and choice of mini-game.

10

Sugar Honeycombs/Dalgona

42% Death Rate

Netflix

One of the most recognizable Squid Game games, Dalgona was played in Season 1 shortly after 187 players decided to return to the competition, having previously voted to stop it. These players were then divided into four lines and given sugar honeycomb cookies with either a triangle, circle, star, or umbrella in the middle. They were then told to cut out the shape, and if they broke it, they’d lose and be executed. Sadly, 79 of the players, or 42%, couldn’t handle the task, leaving 108 left to compete.

Improving the Odds

Of course, the majority of players who died in Dalgona were those who chose one of the harder shapes, like umbrella. Advanced knowledge of the game would come in key here, as it’s what helped Player 218, Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo), pick triangle and survive. That knowledge won’t be easy to come by, but it’s also not impossible, as the players’ room gave several hints about the horrifying games to come.

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As fans eagerly await Season 3, there’s so much to discover by rewatching Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘Squid Game.’

9

Squid Game

50% Death Rate

Netflix

The titular game and final showdown of season 1, Squid Game was based on a South Korean children’s game where one player played defense and the other played offense. The offensive player would hop on one foot outside the court lines and attempt to reach the goal, while the defensive player would try to push them off the court. At least, that’s how it was supposed to play out, but ultimately, Squid Game just became a fight to the death, which Gi-hun won when Sang-woo chose to kill himself.

Another Casualty

Arguably, Player 067 (Sae-byeok, portrayed by Hoyeon) was also a tragedy of Squid Game. Although she was killed by 218 before the game took place, it seems that her death was a prerequisite for the other two being able to play it. To make the math more confusing, technically, Gi-hun and Sang-woo could have voted to end the game, meaning that no one had to die. In the end, however, Sang-woo lost, meaning the game had a 50% chance of death.

8

Tug-of-War

50% Death Rate

Netflix

Tug-of-War is pretty straightforward, so far as death games go. It involved 80 players splitting into teams of 10 that faced off against each other, two teams per term, on raised platforms. These teams would then try to pull the other team over the edge, where a multi-foot death drop awaited them. By the end of Tug-of-War, 40 players remained, once again landing the death toll at 50%.

Rigged Odds

To be fair, there’s reason to think that Tug-of-War was rigged, meaning that, if you were playing with Player 001, Ol Il-nam (portrayed by O Yeong-su), your odds of winning could have increased to 100%. Plus, his strategy appeared to help his teammates, which meant better odds already if you were using it. Still, this is a look at the game’s death risk overall, and only half of the teams that played would go on to survive.

7

Red Light, Green Light

56% Death Rate

Netflix

This next game is another that was featured twice in the series, serving as the first game in both Seasons 1 and 2. The players were placed on a field and had a set amount of time to cross it, but each time the giant doll turned around, they’d have to freeze in place. During Season 1, a staggering 255 people died in this game, bringing the total down to 201, which meant a death rate of 56%. In Season 2, Gi-hun was there to advise the new challengers, which helped bring the death toll down to 91, or 20%, which averaged out to a death rate of 38% in total.

Testing the Odds

Sure, 38% is lower than some of the other numbers on this list, and we did say we were just going off of the math. However, we don’t really consider Season 2’s statistic to be an adequate reflection of the game’s deadliness. The Season 2 players had advanced knowledge and Gi-hun’s help, two things that, by all means, gave them an unfair advantage (at least, unfair by Squid Game standards). So, we’re only using that first number here, which showed just how unforgiving Red Light, Green Light could be to those who didn’t know what to expect from it.

Related

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6

Marbles

54% – 58% Death Rate

Netflix

One of the more heartbreaking events in Squid Game, Marbles forced allies to turn against one another in games where only one could survive. Some of the teams played Odd or Even, while others opted to see who could throw a marble closer to a target instead. In Gi-hun’s case, he played with Oh Il-Nam and nearly lost the game (and his life), only to emerge victorious, but at the cost of his Gganbu.

Losing Our Marbles

Marbles is another one of those games where the math gets frustrating. The game included 38 players, since Player 212, Mi-nyeo (Joo-ryoung), was allowed to sit out the round after the doctor was killed, thus leaving an odd number of participants. Of the 38 who played, only 17 survived, meaning that 55% were killed. However, if we add in Mi-nyeo as a survivor, that means the death rate is just shy of 54%. On the opposite end, if we include Player 069 as one of the game’s deaths, since he killed himself right after, then the numbers inch closer to 58% and 56%, respectively.

5

Hide and Seek

58% Death Rate

Netflix

Also known as Keys and Knives, Hide and Seek consisted of 30 hiders who were looking for an exit and 30 seekers who were trying to find them. The hiders had to either stay hidden or find the exit within a set timeframe, while the seekers would be killed if they didn’t kill a hider in time. In total, 35 players were killed, leading to a 58% death rate. If we consider Player 149 Jang Geum-ja’s (Kang Ae-sim) suicide to be connected to these deaths, that percentage rises to exactly 60%. Either way, it was among the series’ most terrifying, tragic, and twisted games.

The Key to Survival

Some huge deaths took place during this game, including those of Yong-sik (played by Yang Dong-geun), Dae-ho (Kang Ha-neul) and Seon-nyeo (Chae Kook-hee). Most upsetting, Player 120, Hyun-ju (Park Sung-hoon), was killed by Player 333, Myung-gi (Im Si-wan), after selflessly trying to tell her friends that she’d found the exit. So, while Hide and Seek wasn’t the deadliest game overall, it was among the deadliest and most brutal games for our main characters.

4

Mingle

61% Death Rate

Netflix 

Round and round we go in this next game, Mingle, which involves the players waiting to hear a number and then searching for enough people to form a group of that size. The players would then run to a room with their group, but unfortunately, there weren’t enough rooms to go around. 155 players out of 255 perished, coming out to a 61% fatality rate and leaving only 100 players left.

Odd Man Out

In this game, your odds weren’t in your favor if you found yourself the odd man out. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to Player 095, Young-mi (Kim Si-eun), when she tripped and Myung-gi took her spot. What followed was an upsetting execution, and our first real glimpses of just how evil Myung-gi could be.

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3

Jump Rope

64% – 67% Death Rate

Netflix

What’s so deadly about Jump Rope? Well, when you raise a platform hundreds of feet in the air and make the rope so heavy it can knock players down in one hit, you have your answer. This game likely could have been won by more players if they hadn’t turned on each other and started throwing people off both sides. However, as it stands, 16 players, including Player 222, Jun-hee (Jo Yu-ri), were eliminated out of 24 (25, if we count the baby), leading to a death rate of either 67% or 64%.

The Beginning of the End

Jump Rope really drove home just how sinister some of the players could be. It also showed how some of the kindest were driven to murder by those around them. Specifically, we’re thinking about how Nam-gyu’s death was directly linked to Min-su’s actions. We’re not saying we blame the guy, we’re just sad to see how the games spiritually killed the players, even when they physically left them alive.

You can view the original article HERE.