Top 10 Ways You Can Play Squid Game
#10: “Teardown” (2020)
Tuxedo Labs
For those of us who never outgrew our childish love for knocking over towers of blocks, the gaming world constructed “Teardown.” This sandbox game gives players the opportunity to smash, blowup, shoot, and utterly destroy the environment around them, often very creatively. The video game modding community quickly saw the concept as an outlet for recreating and exacting revenge on the memorable antagonists of “Squid Game.” Having nightmares about that creepy robot doll? Why not pick up a hammer and show it who's boss? Dislike the scary masked guards? Try spray painting them! Or, if you think you have what it takes to survive the “glass bridge challenge,” Teardown welcomes you to try that too.
#9: “Apex Legends” (2019)
Electronic Arts
This may not be the only Battle Royale where we land on an island with dangerously shrinking borders (more on that later), but it has satisfactorily provided a playground for “Squid Game” experimentation. Online cooperation allows players to cleverly devise their own versions of the show’s deadly trials. Variations include a battle where squads must stop if they are seen by the enemy, much like “Red Light, Green Light.” And, there’s a contest where teams attempt to draw the shapes from “Honeycomb” with in-game items they obtain. The ability for weapon and outfit customization has even inspired a fan-made triangle guard prototype, followed by an unofficial teaser trailer that leaves us hungry for a “Legends/Squid Game” crossover.
#8: “Among Us” (2018)
The Staff Play The WatchMojo Game
Innersloth
Adorable cartoon spacemen couldn’t have any parallels to “Squid Game,” right? Mod-friendly multiplayer “Among Us” sees online gamers control teams of huggable armless astronauts, whose goal is to complete various tasks aboard their ship. However, elusive “imposters” hide among them, tasked with sabotaging the mission. Weeding out the digital mutineers is a perfect cat-and-mouse game for the deductive minds who were able to discern Front Man’s identity. “Squid Game” fans have created a precocious online modification of Among Us that lets you find out if you can beat “Red Light, Green Light” with imposters scattered among you. Could you trace honeycomb puzzles while the shapes rotate? Can you identify the hidden front man before he reverses your controls…?
#7: “Roblox” (2006)
Roblox Corporation
If you’re looking for a smorgasbord of choices for your “Squid Game” experience, “Roblox” has you covered. The game creation system has made it easy for users to assemble an eye-popping selection of minigames that quickly went viral. Aside from “Red Light, Green Light,” users have also turned Roblox’s popular jailbreak formula into an escape challenge that lets players choose their role as a masked guard or a numbered contestant. Options to compete for a pooled jackpot (just like the show) are also available, along with the ability to either help or betray competitors. Think of all the fun you could have taunting your friends as you push them over at the “Red Light” finish line!
#6: “Fortnite” (2017)
Epic Games
The verdict remains undecided on which has inspired more internet memes, “Squid Game” or “Fortnite.” Regardless, the marriage of these two cultural phenomenons has been seamless. You can test your precision skills by blasting down the “Honeycomb” shape patterns off the wall, which is harder than it looks. You can work with your online partners to figure out which glass bridge platform will shatter next. You can combine wits to guess “odd or even” in a new take on the “Ddakji” game, or send each other into the air and outside the lines of the iconic squid shape. Any modded option that you choose, Fortnite’s “Squid Game” iterations are just Looney-Tunes-level of forceful fun.
#5: “Core” (2021)
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Manticore Games
Continuing with the world of online free-to-play titles, we come to “Core,” which has its own answer to the public’s cry for more “Squid Game.” Using the platform’s game creation system, a team of users produced five levels inspired by the show, collectively called “Squid Fish Game.” The stages include Squid classics like “Honeycomb” and the titular “Squid Game,” while adding new challenges like hopscotch and “Dangerous Night.” Rather than a murderous free-for-all, the goal is to complete the tasks as quickly as possible, transforming recognizable scenes into race tracks and time tests. Atmospheric music is also a welcome addition, with eerie carnival tunes implemented for the glass bridge, and ambient piano notes serving as your “Red Light, Green Light” cue.
#4: “Zero Escape” Series (2009-16)
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Spike Chunsoft, Aksys Games, Rising Star Games
Had your fill of mods and familiar fatalities? Let’s meet new characters and fresh games that tantalize with the same lethal stakes. The “Zero Escape” Trilogy provided us escape rooms before escape rooms were cool. The series follows nine strangers after being taken by masked kidnappers. When they are subsequently trapped inside puzzle-filled rooms, players must make choices for their characters in order to unlock the doors and find their way to freedom. The narrative plays with many of the same themes found in “Squid Game,” including morality and the “prisoner’s dilemma.” There’s also a twinge of metaphysical philosophy. Plus, the win-or-die brain teasers will leave your keyboard as drenched in sweat as Gi-Hun’s honeycomb.
#3: “Minecraft” (2011)
Mojang Studios, Xbox Game Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment
The sandbox game to end all sandbox games may be a cliche choice, but that’s just a testament to Minecraft’s creative liberation. The online world that lets you recreate Middle-earth has exploded with duplications of “Squid Game” contests, including a “Red Light, Green Light” map where losers spontaneously combust. Available add-ons let players sculpt identifiable characters, from the obvious (like the guards) to the unexpected (like the “Ddakji” salesman). Various mods provide dungeons and items based on the show. We’ll never understand why fans keep recreating that creepy doll. The ever-expansive nature of “Minecraft” means there’s no telling what else avid Squid Gamers will come up with. We suppose the pixel is the limit.
#2: “Grand Theft Auto V” (2013)
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Rockstar Games
From one sandbox that pokes your imagination, we come to another that makes you question sanity. Given the gaming community’s love for utter chaos and destruction in the GTA series, “Squid Game” mods are right at home in its universe. The games found on previous entries take on a sadistic GTA twist here. Vehicles destructively burst onto the playing field without warning. The robot doll will begin walking towards you and firing in unpredictable directions. Newly-imagined areas involve gunplay within the dreary players’ quarters and running across elongated glass bridges - among others. And in classic GTA fashion, the spoils go to the most reckless players.
#1: “Danganronpa” Series (2010-2017)
Spike Chunsoft
The deliciously macabre tales of “Danganronpa” could be the distant cousin of South Korea’s gritty drama. Each game focuses on sixteen students imprisoned by Monokuma, an anthropomorphic bear that gives “Squid Game’s” robot doll competition in creep-factor. In visual novel style, users play minigames and interact with characters to help them escape. This requires students to off a peer, then evade a “guilty” conviction during the “class trial” phase of the game. It’s a story that, like “Squid Game,” necessitates that its survivors use wits and keep a laissez-faire relationship with morality. If you loved “Squid Game” but wished you could hit a button to control your favorite human racehorse, then the “Danganronpa” trilogy will suit you fine.
