Squid Game: The Challenge – Games and rules explained

Before the anticipated finale for Squid Game: The Challenge arrives on Netflix, here’s your guide to all of the games, challenges, and tests in the competition series, including their rules.

Do you want to play a game? No, this isn’t the next Saw movie. We’re talking about Squid Game: The Challenge, the spinoff game show based on the epic Netflix series, which saw contestants competing for a life-changing cash prize – but the stakes were deadly. 

In the new real-life version, 456 players took part in the challenge in a bid to win $4.56 million. Many of the features are the same as the original show, the key difference being that no one dies if they’re eliminated.

But there have been some changes to the games, as well as some extra tests thrown in. So, here are all of the games, tests, and rules explained. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Contents

Game 1: Red Light, Green Light

Test 1

Game 2: Dalgona

Test 2

Game 3: Warships

Test 3

Game 4: Ddakji

Test 4

Game 5: Marbles

Test 5

Game 6: Glass Bridge

Test 6

Game 7: Circle of Trust

Squid Game: The Challenge games and rules

Below, you will find a list of all of the games and tests, as we break down the rules for each one. 

Game 1: Red Light, Green Light rules

Netflix

The first game is the iconic Red Light, Green Light, in which all 456 players must stand behind the starting line. The rules are as follows: 

Players can move forward when the doll starts singing

They must stop moving when the doll stops singing

If they fail to stop moving when required, they will be eliminated

Players have five minutes to cross the finish line, or else they will be eliminated

Test 1 rules

Netflix

The rules are simple for the first test in Squid Game: The Challenge. Two players are selected and secretly made to choose from the following options:

Giving a player an advantage in the next game

Choosing to eliminate one player

Game 2: Dalgona rules

Netflix

The infamous Squid Game Dalgona challenge rears its ugly head in Episode 2, but this time it’s been split into two sections in order to give everyone a fair chance. In the first part, the rules are as follows: 

Players must separate themselves into four teams and stand in queues

The first four players from each of the queues enter the Dalgona room and choose one of four shapes: circle, triangle, star, or umbrella

They have two minutes to agree among themselves who gets what shape for their teams

If they can’t decide within two minutes, all four are eliminated and the next four people from each team are sent in to do the same

This is repeated until everyone is in agreement

Once all of the teams have been assigned their shapes, the main part of the game can begin, which follows these rules: 

Each player must take a honeycomb cookie indented with their team’s shape

Using a needle, each player has 10 minutes to separate the shape from the rest of the cookie

If they break their shape or do not complete the game within 10 minutes, they are eliminated

Test 2 rules

Netflix

The rules are simple for the second test too, starting with a phone ringing from inside the dormitory. Whoever picks up the phone first is given a treat. However, when the phone rings a second time, they are instructed to: 

Convince another player to pick up the call within two minutes

If another player accepts the phone in this timeframe, they will be eliminated

If they aren’t able to convince another player to take the call within two minutes, the person who initially answered the phone will be eliminated

Game 3: Warships rules

Netflix

The third game in Squid Game: The Challenge is called Warships, and is essentially a human-sized Battleship. Initially, all of the contestants are made to split into eight teams in a blank room, before team pairs are picked at random to play against each other. 

One of the teams in each of the four pairs is red and the other is blue. The rules are as follows:

Each team has a vertical facing board split up into coordinates, ranging from A1 to H8, and these represent the opposing team’s board

Each team also has their own horizontal board with the same coordinates

Each team must each pick a Captain, who must then pick a Lieutenant, and they will determine where to fire their missiles on the vertical board

The rest of the team must split up into boats of various sizes and decide where to place themselves on the horizontal board

Both the red and the blue teams must take turn firing missiles at the opposing side

Players are only eliminated if their entire ship is sunk

The first Captain and Lieutenant to sink two of the opposing team’s ships win and pass the game

The losing Captain and Lieutenant are eliminated along with the players of the sunken ships

Test 3 rules

Netflix

For the third test, staff members bring a numeric keypad into the dormitory. The contestants must form a single line, and they are told to vote for a player to eliminate. The three players with the most votes are sent home. 

But there’s an interesting caveat: if they vote for a player who’s already been voted for, it won’t show up on the board. But if they vote for a new player, it will, meaning it could cause them to have a target on their back. 

Game 4: Ddakji rules

Netflix

Though not an official game of Squid Game: The Challenge, as it doesn’t involve all of the contestants and no one gets eliminated, it’s worth mentioning Ddakji with it being such an integral component of the original Squid Game. 

In this case, two Ddakji tiles – a red one and a blue one – are left on the side in the kitchen, available for the first two players to find it. Once they do, they begin playing, unaware that the rules are as follows: 

Each player takes turns attempting to flip their opponent’s Ddakji tile on the ground by throwing their own tile onto it

The player who flips their opponent’s tile the most times within an unspecified time frame wins a candy bar

Test 4 rules

Netflix

In the final test for Batch 1 of the episodes, five volunteers must put themselves forward in front of the rest of the contestants. The volunteers must choose one of six jack-in-the-boxes and then take turns opening their box, each of which contain one of three options:

An advantage in the next game

The power to eliminate other players

Immediate elimination

Game 5: Marbles rules

Netflix

As was revealed at the end of Episode 5, the next game is Marbles. All of the players have unintentionally selected their partner, except for player 222, who automatically passes onto the next round. The rules for Marble are simple: 

All pairs have 20 minutes to devise and play their game of Marbles. The game can be played in any way a pair agrees

The loser will be eliminated, and any pairs that fail to pick a winner by the end of the time limit will also be eliminated

Test 5 rules

Netflix

In the fifth test of Squid Game: The Challenge, the remaining players must pick a captain, although they’re not immediately told why. Once they’ve selected their captain, the chosen leader must stand at the front of the group and select another contestant they want to stay in the game. 

The person selected by the captain must join them at the front of the group, and then they pick a player they want to stay in the game. This continues until 20 players are standing at the front. The remaining contestants who aren’t picked are eliminated, making this round a test of allegiance. 

Game 6: Glass Bridge rules

Netflix

Like Dalgona, Glass Bridge is split into two parts in order to give the players a fair chance. In the first part of the game, players are made to line up in front of a claw machine and they take turns picking one stuffed teddy. Each toy contains a number representing the order they will be in for the bridge. The lower the number, the less chance they have of passing. But to really make things fair, the player must give their selected number to another player.

Once the order is determined, the players enter a room featuring a suspended glass bridge made of a series of pairs of glass squares. The players have to cross the bridge one square at a time, but they’ve got a difficult choice to make: one side is made of glass that is safe to stand on and the other is not. If they pick the latter, they fall through and are eliminated. 

Every contestant must cross the glass bridge and make it to the other side, and they have 30 minutes to do so. In Squid Game: The Challenge, the group decide to add their own rule into the mix: the first player in line must decide which glass tile to stand on next, and if they pass, then the player behind them must move past the person at the front and pick the next one. This way, whoever’s at the front doesn’t have to make all the decisions, and they mostly all have a fair shot. Only one player – 278 – doesn’t agree to play along.

Test 6 rules

Netflix

The sixth test is also very simple, starting off with a rope triangle on the floor of the dorm and a dice in the middle. The rules are as follows: 

The group must select a leader, who will go first

The players can either nominate themselves or another player to roll the dice

They must continue taking turns, and the first three players to roll a six are eliminated

Game 7: Circle of Trust rules

The final game of Part 2 sees players sitting in a circle on chairs with desks and a stand in the middle with a present on top. They must all put on blindfolds, and one player is selected at random and tapped on the shoulder to take their blindfold off. The rules are as follows:

The player who is tapped on the shoulder must take their blindfold off, get the present, and place it on the desk of a contestant they wish to eliminate

They must sit back down and put their blindfold back on before all players are instructed to take their blindfolds off

The player with the present on their desk will be sent home, unless they can correctly guess who gave it to them

This continues until six players are eliminated

That’s all of the games, tests, and rules in Squid Game: The Challenge so far, which we’ll keep updated when the finale drops.

Squid Game: The Challenge Episodes 1-9 are available to stream on Netflix now. You can check out our other coverage below:

Squid Game: The Challenge finale release time

Squid Game: The Challenge all eliminations so far

Squid Game: The Challenge release schedule

Squid Game: The Challenge filming locations

Squid Game: The Challenge reviews

Is Squid Game: The Challenge real?

Squid Game: The Challenge soundtrack

How are players eliminated?

Why Player 299 joined the show

Did the players actually fall in Glass Bridge?

Players allegedly asked to “pretend” to compete

Squid Game: The Challenge player details set conditions

Squid Game: The Challenge producers hit back

Squid Game: The Challenge contestants threaten lawsuit

Squid Game: The Challenge receives audience backlash