All 10 Games in ‘Squid Game’ Season 2, Ranked

Netflix’s biggest series, Squid Game, is back for Season 2, and both players and audiences are treated to new, twisted games this time. As seen in the acclaimed first season, the show took traditional childhood games and turned them into terrifying battles for survival. Prior to Season 2’s release, creator, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk only confirmed the iconic “Red Light, Green Light” as the sole returning game, making way for new horrific games. The return of the show also promises even higher stakes, new memorable characters, and another round of unforgettable moments.

As teased in the trailers, Seong Gi-hun, played by the historic Emmy-winner Lee Jung-jae, is back in the game. He is joined by new faces made up of familiar, top-tier Korean actors, such as Lee Byung-hun (I Saw the Devil, The Magnificent Seven), Yim Si-Wan (Unlocked), and Park Gyu-young (Sweet Home), just to name a few. The players are once again faced with seemingly innocent games in order to survive and walk away with a staggering cash prize. This article will be diving into the games played in Season 2, so naturally, there will be spoilers. Revisit this page when you’ve finished watching the latest season, or proceed with caution, just like the players do.

10

Special Game

The Special Game is an unregulated and deadly bonus event designed to eliminate more players, especially the weakest. Occurring between the official games, this chaotic fight takes place in the players’ lobby. Having won the previous game, Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-jae) is aware of the violence that can happen among players when the lights go out. In the last game he participated in, 27 players were killed in the special game.

In Season 2, the Special Game becomes even more intense as the players are divided into two: those who want to continue the games and those who want to stop. After a fatal brawl in the bathroom, the players who wanted to continue attacked the other side with forks and broken glass bottles. While the special game becomes pivotal for Gi-hun’s plans, the game itself is a sneaky and downright violent way to eliminate players. Unlike the actual games, which require skills and strategy, the players only rely on their brute force in this round, displaying a spectacle of carnage that the game organizers and their mysterious backers wanted to witness.

9

Russian Roulette

Played by The Salesman

Russian Roulette is a high-stakes game involving a revolver loaded with a single bullet. Players take turns spinning the cylinder, pointing the gun at themselves, and pulling the trigger. For cinephiles, this game was infamously depicted in the 1978 film The Deer Hunter. The enigmatic and psychopathic Salesman, played by Gong Yoo (Train to Busan), is obsessed with this game, playing it twice with different people.

In Season 2, The Salesman first played it with Gi-Hun’s business partners, combining it with the classic rock, paper, scissors game. However, when he became bored with the game, he upped the ante and only left one cartridge empty in the cylinder. With Gi-hun, he became cocky and ruled out spinning the cylinder before each player’s turn. The game’s tension comes from not knowing whether the chamber is loaded, making it a gamble of life and death. Nevertheless, Russian Roulette is less about skill and more about sheer nerve and chance, making it one of the most dangerous games ever conceived.

8

Flying Stone

The second game in the Six-Legged Pentathlon

The second game in Season 2 of Squid Game is the Six-Legged Pentathlon. It involves five Korean childhood games that must be completed in under five minutes while having the players’ legs tied to each other. The third game is called Flying Stone or biseokchigi. To play the game, players throw one stone to try to knock over another stone placed at a distance without crossing a previously drawn line. Seems straightforward, but precision and accuracy are required to hit the target stone.

Most players during this game are stressed out as their throw fails to knock the standing stone. The distance also becomes an obstacle because if they cross the line, the eagle-eyed guards will declare their attempt as a failure. Being a group game, other players and spectators are frustrated by watching the assigned player fail repeatedly. The game’s simplicity makes it deceptive, as throwing technique, power and angle can affect the outcome. Those with a steady hand will be rewarded, but when faced with a life-or-death situation, no hand is steady. Just like that, Squid Game has turned another simple game into a deadly one.

7

Jegi

The fifth game in the Six-Legged Pentathlon

Jegi or jegichagi is a game where players use their feet to keep a weighted shuttlecock-like object, or the Jegi, off the ground. Usually played during winter or the Korean New Year, the game is similar to hacky sack or footbag. As the final game in the pentathlon, the goal is to make five consecutive kicks without letting the Jegi fall to the ground.

Jegi is easy to learn but quite tricky to master. Maintaining control and rhythm during successive kicks demands good balance and coordination. In the pentathlon, one of the player’s legs is tied to the other player’s, making it harder to keep the balance. However, in Gi-hun’s case, having another leg tied to an agile player makes a difference to continue keeping the Jegi off the ground. When playing the Jegi, it is more common to kick the Jegi with the side of the feet. But, as the main goal is just to make five consecutive kicks, any part of the feet is fair game, just like Player 333, Myung-gi (Si-wan Yim), who kicks the Jegi like a soccer ball.

6

Spinning Top

The fourth game in the Six-Legged Pentathlon

The fourth game in the Six Legs pentathlon is the spinning top. The players need to wind a string around a spinning top, launch it onto the ground, and make the top spin on the ground. Fans of anime and manga might recognize the modern update of the game through Beyblade. For the unfamiliar, this might be slightly difficult as players must master the technique of winding and releasing the top properly.

As seen in the fourth and fifth episodes of Season 2, several players are depicted having difficulty winding the string. Most memorably, Player 044, Seon-nyeo (Gook Hee-chae), is on the verge of a spiritual breakdown as she repeatedly fails to properly wind the string until Player 120, Hyun-ju (Park sung-hoon), slaps her back into reality. The same goes for Player 001 in Gi-hun’s team who keeps failing to launch the top, losing so much precious time for the team and keeping the audience at the edge of their seats.

5

Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One

Played by The Salesman

Initiated by The Salesman in the series, Rock, Paper, Scissors Minus One puts a twist on the classic Rock, Paper, Scissors. Each player uses both hands to reveal their choices simultaneously. After the initial reveal, the call of “minus one” means each player quickly removes one hand, leaving the remaining hand as their final play. The winner is decided based on the usual rules of the game.

The “minus one” call adds a layer of complexity. Players need sharp reflexes and quick thinking to anticipate their opponent’s final move. In the show, The Salesman makes Gi-hun’s trusted henchmen play the game instead of just killing them. The game becomes extra deadly as The Salesman adds Russian Roulette to the player who loses. With such a high stake, any player is prone to make mistakes. One of the players, Woo-seok (Jun Suk-ho) makes a mistake by drawing two rocks with both hands, while his boss Dae-pyo (Kim Pub-lae) puts out paper and scissors. The game is true to The Salesman’s twisted nature, but he does not anticipate one of the players’ good hearts.

4

Mingle

The third game in Squid Game

Mingle, the third game in the second season, takes place on a colorful spinning carousel. Quite similar to musical chairs, once the music and carousel stop, the players must find a specific number of people following the game orders. Once they find the right number of players, they must race to enter one of the fifty rooms scattered around the hall. The game goes on for five rounds and each room is surveilled so the players cannot cheat.

Having the game after the group pentathlon is cruel to the game makers but smart of creator Hwang Dong-hyuk. Mingle is certain to break the chemistry that was built after the previous game, adding new conflict between the characters. The weird group dynamic led by the mischievous Thanos (T.O.P.) quickly becomes more intense as the most innocent of the group betrays the only person who trusts him, while the mother-and-son (Kang Ae-shim and Yang Dong-geun) duo’s relationship is tested when they are separated in one of the rounds.

3

Red Light, Green Light

The first game in Squid Game

Red Light, Green Light is the first game in both the first season and the second. The classic game involves players trying to reach the finish line while the all-seeing giant robot sings her song, facing another direction. When she stops, the robot looks back at the players and catches anyone who moves, signaling the guards to kill them. To increase the stakes, the player has to cross to the safe zone before the time is up.

As the survivor of the previous game, Gi-hun warns the group that the game is not the usual children’s game but a fatal one. Nevertheless, the other players do not believe him until one of the players gets shot. Once he gains their trust, Gi-hun manages to lead the other players by employing strategies to stay hidden from the robot, giving Red Light, Green Light a new twist instead of repeating the same routine. Gi-hun keeps the players in a line while bringing them to safety, minimizing unnecessary movements by having the bigger players cover the rest. Although viewers have seen the game before, it remains a heart-pounding spectacle. Squid Game‘s third and final season is poised to bring back the giant robot to terrorize the players.

2

Ddakji

Played by “The Salesman” and the first game of the Six-Legged Pentathlon

Squid Game viewers first saw the series’ take on ddakji in season one, as The Salesman recruits Gi-hun by playing this traditional Korean game. Using folded paper tiles, the goal is to flip your opponent’s tile by slamming your own down onto it. Players take turns trying to create enough force to make the other tile flip over, often strategizing their throw angles and power. It’s a game of skill, precision, and sometimes, a bit of luck.

Squid Game viewers first saw the series’ take on ddakji in season one, as The Salesman recruits Gi-hun by playing this traditional Korean game.

The game makes it to the actual Squid Game as the first game in the pentathlon. Some players, like Jun-hee (Jo Yuri), known as Player 222, can win the game with a single attempt. But for the unlucky players, this simple game can immediately turn frustrating when they’re unable to complete it, especially because the game is just the first in the round, and four other players have their lives depending on it. Though the concept is simple, mastering Ddakji takes practice. It’s no wonder that The Salesman keeps winning and recruiting people for the game.

1

Gonggi

The third game in the Six-Legged Pentathlon

Gonggi is a Korean traditional game played with five small colorful and lightweight stones or marbles. Players throw one piece into the air while picking up others from the ground before catching the airborne piece. For the final move, players have to catch the pieces with the back of their hand before throwing them up in the air and catching them airborne. As Squid Game suggests, the game is more popular with girls.

Suffice it to say, for audiences unfamiliar with traditional Korean games, gonggi is the hardest game in Season 2, requiring a mix of dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and quick reflexes. This innocent game gets even harder when combined with the threat of death. Several players are seen practicing with pebbles before their turn, warming up their hand reflexes. In Gi-hun’s team, Dae-ho (Kang Ha-neul) completes the game thanks to his muscle memory, as he played it with his sisters when he was little. The American remake of Squid Game, planned by David Fincher, has big shoes to fill to have a game as hard as gonggi.

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