How Do You Play the Games in Squid Game? Here Are the Rules for Seasons 1-3

Illustrations by Satwika Kresna

It’s all games, but very little fun (at least for the players). When Squid Game protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) enters the Squid Game arena, he’s struck by its inviting bright hues: pinks, greens, and twinkling lights. But, underneath the childlike wonder of Squid Game is violence even greater than in the rat race outside. Squid Game is a competition that promises fortune, but almost exclusively deals in pain, manipulation, and death. Even the winner leaves with blood on their hands. 

Still, there is a winner. And a series of vicious games decide the identity of that winner, who takes home a prize of 4.56 billion won (at the time Season 1 aired, this was equivalent to a little less than $38.5 million). Whether you’re a Squid Game superfan or a new viewer, you’re going to need a refresher on all the games at the center of the series now the third and final season has premiered. So keep reading for a full guide to the games of Squid Game.

This article contains major character or plot details.

What are the games in Squid Game Season 1?  

This is the game that, technically, started it all. Before officially entering Squid Game, Gi-hun is invited to compete in the childhood game of ddakji by a curious stranger known as the Recruiter (Gong Yoo) during Episode 1. 

What are the rules of ddakji? 

It’s a game for two players; each one has a folded square piece of paper (or a ddakji) to use for playing. Once one player’s ddakji is on the ground, their competitor must throw theirs at it in an attempt to flip the opposing ddakji. 

In Squid Game, the Recruiter ups the stakes, offering Gi-hun 100,000 won for each round of ddakji he wins. However, that means Gi-hun owes the Recruiter the same amount of money should he lose. And he loses. Repeatedly. Since Gi-hun doesn’t actually have 100,000 won, the Recruiter slaps him across the face for every loss.   

What are the results of the game? 

Gi-hun is slapped countless times by the Recruiter. However, Gi-hun eventually wins a round and is given 100,000 won. He is noticeably disappointed to get the money instead of the opportunity to slap the Recruiter. At the end of their interaction, the Recruiter offers Gi-hun the chance to enter a mysterious competition — which we’ll later learn is Squid Game — to play similar games for even more cash. 

Gi-hun accepts the offer once he learns his daughter Ga-yeong (Jo Ah-in) is moving to the US with her mother (Kang Mal-Geum) and stepfather (Jang Jae-kwon). 

This Episode 1 game is the opening competition of Squid Game 2020. At first, all 456 players are dazzled by the eye-catching setting of the arena. Some are excited to enjoy a game from their childhood (two players go so far as to make a playful bet). But, the mood quickly changes when the countdown clock begins. 

What are the rules of Red Light, Green Light? 

As a voice over the PA system explains, players are allowed to move forward after the eerie doll Young-hee says “Green light.” They must stop when she says “Red light.” Players will be eliminated if any physical movement is detected after “red light” is announced. Players have five minutes to get across the playing field to safety, in order to make it to the next round. 

What are the results of the game? 

The players of Squid Game 2020 realize the life-and-death stakes of the competition pretty quickly. One of the players who made the aforementioned bet (Player 324) is caught moving, and shot dead on the spot. This sparks mass panic in the arena, leading to even more eliminations due to movement during a “red light” period. 

Although 456 players entered the arena, 255 are eliminated — leaving 201 participants. One of those survivors is Gi-hun, who is coached through the game by his childhood friend Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo). Sang-woo correctly deduces that Young-hee isn’t just a doll, she’s also a motion sensor. 

What should be a delicious experience is actually an adrenaline-raising, terrifying competition of strategy. The Dalgona game takes place in Episode 3, after the players are released back into their outside lives … only to realize they have very little to return to, given the financial constraints that drove them to the competition in the first place. Their only recourse is to go back to Squid Game and play games like Dalgona in the hopes of winning the 4.56 billion won prize pot. 

What are the rules of Dalgona? 

This game is deceptively simple. Initially, players are urged to pick a shape emblazoned on a nearby wall. The options are circle, triangle, star, and umbrella. Players are then given a dalgona cookie, a honeycomb sugar confection that has the impression of their chosen shape in its center. 

Players must remove the shape from their cookie, leaving a perfect cookie-cutter hole in the center, without breaking or cracking it in any way; they are given a small needle to help with the challenge. The time limit for Dalgona is 10 minutes. 

What are the results of the game? 

Since players were given the option to permanently leave Squid Game following the first round, 187 of them participate in Dalgona. Seventy-nine are eliminated, leaving 108 participants who will never look at a cookie the same way again. Gi-hun is one of those survivors, despite Sang-woo knowingly allowing him to choose the most difficult option, the umbrella. 

Many would assume that brute strength rules this game. But in Episode 4, Gi-hun, Sang-woo, and their allies — including Kang Sae-byeok (Hoyeon) and Ali Abdul (Anupam Tripathi) — prove strategy is just as important as muscle mass in Tug-of-War. 

What are the rules of Tug-of-War? 

A guard explains the rules of the third game. Players are asked to separate into teams of 10. During each round, two of these teams go head-to-head in a challenge atop two towering platforms. They are told to pull a rope towards their respective platform until their opponents fall off. 

After the first round, competitors realize there is a guillotine overhead, which slides down to sever the rope once a team drops off their platform — thereby plunging the losing players to their death.  

What are the results of the game? 

Only 40 players remain at the end of Tug-of-War. Gi-hun and his friends manage to win due to an unexpected strategy that focuses on teamwork and mind games. 

If there’s one Squid Game challenge that’s bound to bring a tear to your eye, it’s this one. Episode 6’s Marbles pits friend against friend, with a heartbreaking resolution. 

What are the rules of Marbles? 

At the start of the fifth game, the remaining players are told to find one other person to partner with. Eventually, we learn that the members of every pair compete against each other in a marble game of their choosing. Each player has 10 marbles; the winner is whoever manages to take their opponent’s 10 marbles in 30 minutes. 

What are the results of the game? 

Seventeen players sit in the dorm after Marbles. Allies are forced to turn on allies, husbands are asked to betray wives, and some of Squid Game’s most beloved characters die. Among the casualties is fan favorite Ali, who is tricked by Sang-woo.  

But one player surprisingly survives. Han Mi-nyeo (Kim Joo-ryoung) — who did not find a partner during the original pairing for the round — is still alive. She was spared due to a rule from “the old days” that would protect children from becoming outcasts.  

Some Squid Game challenges can be won through brawn. Others through intelligence or cunning. But Episode 7’s Glass Bridge is truly a game of chance.  

What are the rules of Glass Bridge? 

Players are confronted with two seemingly identical midair catwalks. There are 18 parallel glass stepping stones along the two catwalks; on one side, the stepping stone will be tempered glass (which can hold the weight of two people) and, on the other, normal breakable glass. The players have no idea which tiles throughout the field are tempered, and which are normal. 

To win, players must correctly choose and hop from each tempered glass tile to the next, and get to the other side of the catwalk. Anyone who chooses incorrectly falls to their death. The runtime for Glass Bridge is 16 minutes.  

What are the results of the game? 

All but three players are eliminated during Glass Bridge. Gi-hun, Sae-byeok, and Sang-woo survive the game and become the finalists for Squid Game 2020. They are treated to a luxurious meal for their glorious victory, complete with sharp serrated knives as utensils.

However, all is not well for the finalists. In Episode 8, it is revealed that Sae-byeok suffered a gruesome injury during Glass Bridge. At the end of the challenge, the bridge was blown up, creating an explosion of glass shrapnel. She suffered a severe abdominal injury in the frenzy and begins to bleed out. Realizing Sae-byeok’s physical weakness, Sang-woo slits her throat with his dinner knife. 

This is the thrilling end of Squid Game 2020. This final round bares the souls of its players, climaxing in a gruesome conclusion. 

What are the rules of Squid Game? 

Technically, the true rules of the playground game are described in the opening scene of the series. In a voice-over, Gi-hun explains that Squid Game gets its name from the court it’s played upon, which is shaped like a squid. There are two teams: offense and defense. Defense can run on two feet within the bounds of the game, while the offense has to hop on one foot outside the lines of the court until they successfully pass the neck of the squid. In the final battle, attackers must rush from the entrance to the squid and attempt to tap the top of the court with their foot. If someone is pushed out of the court, they “die.” But, if a player manages to get to the top of the squid, they are victorious. 

Gi-hun’s words come back into play in the Season 1 finale, when childhood pals Gi-hun and Sang-woo enter a truly deadly version of their youthful pastime. A coin is flipped to decide which player is offense or defense. Gi-hun wins the coin toss and takes offense; this mirrors his Episode 1 flashback. The traditional rules apply, but, as a  guard explains, a winner can also be named if his opponent dies during play. 

What are the results of the game? 

Gi-hun wins the game — and Squid Game 2020 — on a technicality. After a vicious Squid Game — wherein Gi-hun is choked with his own jacket, knifed in the abdomen, and stabbed through the hand — Gi-hun finally gets the upper hand on Sang-woo by biting his ankle. 

Still, Gi-hun attempts to do the right thing. He stabs the space next to Sang-woo’s head, sparing his life. Rather than winning the final round, and all the money that comes with it, Gi-hun asks if they can end Squid Game and split the cash. But, after an emotional conversation about their pasts, Sang-woo refuses. He stabs himself in the neck, giving Gi-hun a win he never wanted. 

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What are the games in Squid Game Season 2? 

When Gi-hun’s hired help start to hunt for the Recruiter in Episode 1, they also discover this surprisingly simple — and cruel — game. 

What are the rules of Bread and Lottery? 

It’s an easy choice: Bread or Lottery? The Recruiter kicks off the game by purchasing 100 buns at a bakery and 100 scratch-off lottery tickets. He then takes his purchases to a park, and offers 100 unhoused people the choice of one or the other. If someone picks the bread, they are allowed to eat it. If someone picks the scratch-off ticket, they also get a coin for their efforts — which they must return once they’re done with the lottery ticket. No one is allowed both the bread and the lottery ticket, which means there is a lot of leftover bread at the end of the game. 

The Recruiter promptly stomps all over the perfectly good remaining food as punishment for all the people who chose gambling over sustenance.  

What are the results of the game? 

A mess (and a treat for the birds). The Recruiter leaves crushed bread all over the ground, stunning the crowd of unhoused people. At least the Recruiter’s antics give Mr. Kim (Kim Pub-lae) and Woo-seok (Jun Suk-ho) an opportunity to send their boss Gi-hun a photo of his target.  

The Recruiter really loves his games. In Episode 1, he gives Mr. Kim and Woo-seok a deadly crash course in this game of chance.  

What are the rules of Rock, Paper, Scissors? 

As the Recruiter succinctly explains, “You form a shape with each hand, then take one away. The game is decided by the remaining hands.” So each player does rock, paper, or scissors with both of their hands, and then pulls away one of their hands. The victor is whoever wins the round with the remaining hand under the traditional rules of Rock, Paper, Scissors. 

Naturally, in any game with the sadistic Recruiter, there’s a “penalty” for the loser. That punishment is the added element of Russian Roulette (which we’ll talk about even more soon). Whoever loses each game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Minus One must then enter a round of Russian Roulette, with the Recruiter’s hand on the trigger. He sells the entire ruthless game on the premise that there’s only a one in six chance of dying. 

What are the results of the game? 

Self-sacrifice. The Recruiter grows bored with the game after playing a few rounds by his original rules. So he flips the odds. The Recruiter fills five of the gun’s six chambers with bullets and then has Mr. Kim and Woo-seok play Rock, Paper, Scissors, Minus One again. The friends manage to tie for a few rounds, until their luck runs out; Mr. Kim throws scissors and paper, while Woo-seok does double rock. This means all Mr. Kim has to do is remove his scissors, and he will survive. 

But Mr. Kim is a good mentor. He doesn’t remove either of his hands, thereby disqualifying himself. The Recruiter menaces Mr. Kim into another round of Russian Roulette, which kills him. Woo-seok is left breathing, but traumatized. 

Episode 1 closes with a final bloodthirsty game. The Recruiter and Gi-hun have their long-awaited showdown in this high-stakes competition. 

What are the rules of Russian Roulette? 

The Recruiter decides to shake up the rules for this game of Russian Roulette. The first time it is played in Episode 1, the Recruiter resets the gun barrel during each draw, offering a player a five in six chance of survival every time. But, when he plays with Gi-hun later in the episode, he decides to make the experience “a little more serious.”  

This time, the Recruiter spins the cylinder of a gun’s barrel once at the beginning of the game. Then, he and Gi-hun take turns shooting the weapon at themselves without resetting the barrel. That means the likelihood of the chamber containing a bullet and the gun going off increases each time someone pulls the trigger — and that it is inevitable the gun will fire by the sixth round. The Recruiter and Gi-hun must play this game until one of them is shot.  

What are the results of the game? 

A true surprise for the Recruiter. Ahead of the fifth draw, the Recruiter mocks Gi-hun, calling him “trash.” But then Gi-hun pulls the trigger … and lives. This development leaves only one remaining chamber in the gun — and it’s sure to be holding the bullet. The Recruiter accepts his fate, and dies by suicide.  

Everyone’s favorite deadly doll is back for another round of Red Light, Green Light. 

What are the rules of Red Light, Green Light? 

Red Light, Green Light follows the same rules as it did in Season 1. Players are “eliminated” — or killed — for any stray movement after the command “red light” is uttered by Young-hee. Yet, this time around, one of the players actually is aware of the savagery ahead. So, in Episode 3, Gi-hun attempts to lead his fellow players to survival by urging them to stay frozen when necessary.  

What are the results of the game? 

Gi-hun mostly manages to pull off his plan to save as many people as possible in the first game of the competition. Only 91 players are eliminated during Red Light, Green Light. While that is a staggering loss of life, it’s an improvement upon Season 1’s 255 deaths during the same game.

The puppet masters of Squid Game see all — including Gi-hun’s familiarity with the traditional obstacles of the competition. So, they throw an unexpected curveball at the players (and viewers) with this game in Episode 4. 

What are the rules of the Pentathlon? 

Gi-hun enters the second game of Season 2 expecting to salivate over a particularly stressful dalgona cookie. Instead, players are thrown into this six-legged relay race. Each team consists of five players, who must attempt to finish the race in five minutes. In that time, each player must complete a different mini-game. Teams can only move onto the next mini-game once a player has completed the task at hand. 

The games within the Pentathlon are: Ddakji, Flying Stone, Gong-gi, Spinning Top, and Jegi. The rules for these mini-games are as follows:

• Ddakji: The rules for this game are the same as in Season 1 (see above).
• Flying Stone: To win Flying Stone, a player must stand behind a line and attempt to knock over one stone by throwing their own. Every time a player misses their attempt, the entire team must walk to the thrown stone, pick it up, and walk back to the original location to throw again.
• Gong-gi: To win Gong-gi, a player must throw five dice in the air in a row and catch them, in increasingly complicated stages. Then, once a player has passed all the stages, they must throw the five dice in the air as a group and catch them all on the back of their hand to end the mini-game.
• Spinning Top: To win Spinning Top, a player must successfully wrap a cord around a top, hold the complete item, and throw the top in a way that makes it spin. If a player does not achieve all of these directives, the entire team must walk to where the top has landed and start the entire process over again.   
• Jegi: To win, players must kick a jegi — which looks a bit like a badminton shuttlecock — with their feet or ankles five times in a row.      

What are the results of the game? 

Season 2’s major players are spread across a few teams. They all struggle through the Pentathlon — including the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), who enters the game in Episode 3 as Player 001. Still, they all survive by the end of the round. One hundred and eleven of their fellow contestants aren’t so lucky, leaving the game at 255 players. 

The opportunity to mingle is usually a good thing in life. But in Squid Game, the social imperative is more terrifying than anything. As with Marbles in Season 1, this Season 2, Episode 6 game tests the bonds of friends, allies, and family members.  

What are the rules of Mingle? 

Players are placed on a spinning circular carousel that is surrounded by colorful doors. Once the carousel stops, a number is called out. Players must gather in a group consisting of that exact number — no more, no less — and walk through one of the doors together, into an adjoining room. Throughout the game, different numbers are called out. If players are not grouped in a room according to the requested number (or cannot find a room to enter), they are eliminated. Dead players cannot be counted toward the group size. 

What are the results of the game? 

This is the most brutal Squid Game round of Season 2, leaving only 100 participants remaining. Many of the key characters — save for innocent Young-mi (Kim Si-eun) — survive the merry-go-round of horror, but their relationships within the arena pay the price. Geum-ja (Kang Ae-sim) must live with the fact that her son Yong-sik (Yang Dong-geun) abandoned her. Se-mi’s (Won Ji-an) true friendship is rejected by Min-su (Lee David) in favor of unstable Thanos (Choi Seung-hyun). Even Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) comes away from Mingle suspecting something very dark is hiding behind Player 001’s friendly guise.   

This article contains major character or plot details.

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What are the games in Squid Game Season 3? 

Season 3’s first game might start out sweet, but it’s actually nothing but vicious.  

What are the rules of Hide and Seek? 

Players are initially brought into a waiting room, where they must take a large gumball. Half of the gumballs are blue, and the other half are red. These delineating colors decide each participant’s team. The blue team are the “Hiders” and the red team are the “Seekers.” Both teams are let loose in a dizzying maze, where they must fulfill their team’s assignment within 30 minutes. Hiders are tasked with hiding throughout the maze or escaping through an exit door. Meanwhile, the Seekers must find at least one Hider and kill them. If a Seeker fails to eliminate a player from the opposing team, they will be killed instead. Before the game begins, a player is allowed to swap teams with someone from the opposing side, if both parties agree.   

Both sides are given accessories for this challenge. Hiders receive keys for the many doors of the maze, and Seekers have decorative knives.

Young-hee returns for one more round of terror — and she brings a friend! 

What are the rules of Jump Rope? 

The instructions for this game (much like Glass Bridge before it) are fairly simple: Walk from one side of a platform to another. Unlike Glass Bridge, players don’t even need to strategize a path forward. There’s only one route, and it’s very clearly laid out for them. Sure, there’s a gaping hole in the middle, but that’s nothing compared to exploding glass, right? The difficulties arise when you realize Young-hee and her new friend Chul-su are towering above the walkway, manning a gigantic metallic rotating jump rope. 

So, players must make it across the walkway within 20 minutes without being hurled off the platform by the jump rope. Naturally, the best way to avoid the “rope” is to jump as you go, like a kid on a hot summer’s day. Happy hopping.    

The entire series culminates in this lofty challenge, which compels the final players to reveal their truest nature.  

What are the rules of Sky Squid Game? 

The last round of Squid Game combines the competition’s dedication to strategy with its thirst for blood. At the start of the game, players stand atop one of three hulking towers. Each of the towers is a different traditional Squid Game shape: the first is a square, the second is a triangle, and the third is a circle. 

To advance from one tower to the next, players must push one or more of their fellow competitors off of the structure. On the second and third towers, the round only begins once a player presses a button in the ground, setting off a countdown clock. If players do not eliminate a participant by the time the clock runs out, all players will be eliminated. Gi-hun must remember all of this — along with his wits — as he strives to protect himself … along with one very special ally. 

Will Gi-hun be victorious? And, will he manage to keep his morals all the way through the final round? To find out, watch Squid Game’s breathtaking conclusion, streaming now. And, keep coming back to Tudum for all of your news from the arena. 

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