Squid Game came, saw and conquered the competition when it came to streaming figures, quickly becoming the most popular Netflix show in history.
A staggering 111 million users have streamed the South Korean series in its first month, beating the 82 million record previously held by period drama Bridgerton.
The new streaming sensation follows hundreds of individuals struggling in debt who are thrown into a deadly coompetition risking life and limb for a cash prize of 45.6 billion won (or around £28 million).
To get there, they have to survive a string of games – some plucked straight from playgrounds all over the world.
What games have been featured on the show?
What are the different games from Squid Game?
Some of the games played are universal, whereas others are more specific to Korea.
The first game viewers see Gi-Hun play (which doesn’t actually count as one of the games in the tournament) is Ddakji.
A card-flipping game traditional to Korean children, the game isn’t too dissimilar from what people in the UK might call pogs.
The idea of the game is to throw your card down in a way that flips the opponent’s card the other way round.
Gi-Hun keeps losing to the unknown wealthy businessman, which kickstarts his entry into the Squid Game tournament, and where the real games begin.
Red Light, Green Light
The first official round in the tournament involves all 400+ players partaking in a game of Red Light, Green Light.
A harmless bit of fun harking back to a popular playground game enjoyed around the world, right?
No spoilers for those yet to watch, but this version isn’t so harmless.
The game itself is one played around the world. In the UK, it’s sometimes known as Grandmother’s Footsteps.
It involves needing to cross a finish line, but players can only move when whoever is in charge of the game says green light (or when they’ve got their back turned to you).
If you’re caught moving once they’ve said red light (or when they turn to face you), you’re out.
Ppopgi – the honeycomb game
The second game played in the series takes baking competitions to a new extreme.
It’s based on an old Korean tradition where people could get a second sugary snack – the Ppopgi, a popular street food – for free if they’re able to get the shape removed from the outer surface without breaking it.
The shape is usually pressed into the centre of the round, biscuit-like snack, which is made from baking soda and sugar.
Tug of War
This one is recognisable the world over.
Very straightforward, in Squid Game, the rules remain the same – just with a hefty price to pay for the losing team.
The premise is simple: teams made up of the same number of people pull on a rope trying to drag the other team into the centre in order to win.
It is a test of strength and perseverance and is thought to have been played for nearly 4000 years.
Marbles
The Squid Game version of Marbles doesn’t really have any strict rules – instead, each surviving pair are told the winner will be whoever can collect all 20 marbles in the game: 10 of which they start with and 10 taken from their partner.
The players all take different angles with the marbles to best their opponent and stay in the competition.
People in the UK might have played a more traditional version, where you make an arena of sorts, and throw your marbles in to try and knock the other marbles out, allowing you to keep any that got knocked out.
Hopscotch / Stepping Stones
The final game played in Squid Game feels loosely inspired by hopscotch.
Players must leap across different squares on a glass bridge, but some are made from collapsing glass.
Users must therefore only hop on the actual glass squares and remember the patterns to avoid plummeting.
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