The ‘Squid Game’ Reality Show Should Keep Our Favorite Season 2 Challenge

It’s been two years now since Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge first debuted and began raking in millions of viewers. Based on the worldwide hit show Squid Game, the reality show was an instant hit itself, given how viewers were already primed for its appeal after the success of the drama series and the massive global phenomenon it became. The first season offered plenty of great thrills, spills, and drama to keep viewers entertained, admittedly without the deadpan intrigue of the original series.

Despite lacking the added drama of the series, the reality show excelled in what most viewers wanted to see anyway — the games! By including iconic games from the series like “Red Light, Green Light” and “The Man with the Umbrella”, the reality show tapped into the same intrigue those games conjured in the show. Now, with the show’s second season having been released on Netflix and possibly not being the end, and an order confirmed for Season 2 of Squid Game: The Challenge, many fans are wondering which games the second season of the reality show will include. Here’s a look at some of the new favorites.

The “Six-Legged-Pentathlon” from ‘Squid Game’

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Squid Game – Season 2

Release Date

December 26, 2024

Main Genre

Thriller

As one of the new games featured in Season 2, we see “Six-Legged Pentathlon” in Episode 5. A game as sadistic and entertaining as any seen on the show so far, this one would make a great addition to the reality show if it could be adapted. It starts with players being divided into groups of five and having their legs tied together.

Every time the game reaches a 10-meter interval, one player from the group has to participate in a mini-challenge. The choices of the mini-challenges include “Ddjaki,” “Flying Stone,” “Gong-Gi,” “Spinning Top,” and “Jegi.” The rules are simple — to win, you have 10 minutes and must complete all games successfully and cross the finish line. Each team, therefore, has to decide which teammate to assign to which game.

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The dramatic part of this game comes from the fact that each team will inevitably only be as strong as their weakest link. A team could successfully complete four challenges and still be catastrophically weighed down by the fifth player and their challenge. This means assigning the games is just as important. Choose incorrectly and your player could cost you the game. Of course, if you have a weak player, you may have no choice at all. Have more than one weak player and you may as well just forfeit.

Check out the cast of Squid Game Season 2 trying out the Pentathlon games behind the scenes.

“Mingle” Is a Game Meant to Undo Any Team Chemistry

Played shortly after the Pentathlon, “Mingle” is designed to nullify any advantages that may have been gained by it and cause division. For the contestants who win the Pentathlon, it’s easy to end up with a group now potentially feeling close to each other and possibly even forming a bond. However, by playing “Mingle,” old bonds are sure to break as players are forced into new sets and are separated whether they like it or not.

In this one, players are held in a colorful spinning carousel. In a game similar to musical chairs, players have to scatter and follow orders to find a specific number of people once the music stops. When that happens, they must then race to enter one of the 50 rooms and make it inside in time. Players left outside a room or without a group are eliminated. While the game seems simple, it tests players and their loyalty in extreme ways as players are separated and conflict runs rife.

‘Squid Game’s “Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One”

As the name suggests, “Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One” is similar to the classic game played with our hands. However, in this version, there’s a crucial extra step added that ensures the game becomes more complex and unpredictable as the show explores deeper themes. To play this version, contestants have to use both hands and reveal either rock, paper, or scissors, on both hands. They must then immediately withdraw one hand, leaving only one selection behind, and the game is decided based on the choice of each contestant’s remaining hand.

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This little tweak means players have to be extremely quick with their thinking and reflexes. A quick glimpse of the other person’s choices has to be enough to decide which hand to withdraw, all while hoping the hand you want to remain isn’t withdrawn by the other person. While this may seem simple enough, the main show remains enthralling no matter how simplistic the games.

As reported by Variety:

As expected, the second installation of “Squid Game” has been an immediate and massive success. Season 2 debuted with 68 million views in its first four days of availability — more than any other Netflix series has achieved in its premiere week, beating a record that “Wednesday” set with 50.1 million views in 2022.

These numbers clearly indicate that something about the show enthralls viewers, and it’s not just the games.

The Macabre Nature of Them Makes All the Difference

As entertaining as the “Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One” game was in Season 2, there’s a reason it may not work on the game show —at least not as dramatically. The TV series always bathes itself in layers of intrigue and suspense, as the players are in real jeopardy and their lives are actually in danger.

For example, even with the twist, “Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One” isn’t that interesting a game. However, add to the fact that the players are tied up in the series and forced to follow the game with a real-life iteration of “Russian Roulette,” and it becomes clear Squid Game holds a macabre edge over the reality show that it simply can never match. Like Romans at the Circus Maximus, perhaps we should ask ourselves a question. What makes the TV series that much more intriguing: the fact that we may actually have an inner bloodlust driving our viewership? Season 2 of Squid Game is now streaming on Netflix.