Summary
- Death game shows offer high stakes and emotion, revealing true colors under pressure, as seen in Squid Game.
- All Of Us Are Dead, Sweet Home, The 8 Show are riveting series with gripping narratives and complex characters.
- Shows like 3%, Hellbound, Death’s Game, and Alice In Borderland provide unique takes on the death game format.
Watching contestants undergo a fictional life-or-death competition has quickly become an addictive experience, as evidenced by the continued popularity of Squid Game. The high stakes, rampant emotions and how quickly a person’s true colours are revealed under duress make for a fascinating narrative that death game-themed TV shows can offer.
Related
Of course, Squid Game isn’t the first and only show that’s followed the death game format, as there are other shows that are also well worth a watch. If you have finished watching the latest season of Squid Game and are thirsting for more, yet somewhat similar titles, here are the best shows to sink your teeth into.
7
All Of Us Are Dead
2022-Ongoing
Despite not being a show that centres on the death game format, All Of Us Are Dead captures the same tension and emotional highs as Squid Game did. The surviving students have no choice but to rely on one another, but the show does an excellent job of building the complex dynamics between the characters, and the potential conflicts that have reverberations down the line.
One of the best South Korean zombie thrillers out there, the show’s story focuses mainly on a ragtag group of high school students who managed to survive the initial onslaught of the zombie outbreak that started in their school. As the students struggle to survive, a certain detective attempts to pin down the one responsible, while the Korean government inches ever closer to the decision to bomb the city.
6
Sweet Home
2020-2024
Aside from Squid Game, South Korea has been killing it with its thrillers, and none more so than the critically acclaimed Sweet Home. Adapted from a popular Webtoon, Sweet Home is lauded for its superb characters, gripping action, and plot that draws you in instantly.
Sweet Home’s story follows a quickly devolving dystopian world that, for what seems like no rhyme or reason, becomes ravaged by monsters, with some of the human population turning into monsters themselves. The first season focuses on Chan Hyun-su and other survivors as they try to stay alive at their Green Home apartment complex.
The second and third seasons see Hyun-su and the others escape the Green Home and into the wider world, while they attempt to investigate and cure the monsters.
5
The 8 Show
2024
Death game shows have a way of making you introspect and re-evaluate how you perceive certain topics, and 2024’s The 8 Show embodies this perfectly. Unlike Squid Game, The 8 Show’s contestants need to use their winnings to buy basic necessities, and each contestant is roomed on a different floor.
Naturally, it doesn’t take long for things to go chaotic and topsy-turvy for everyone, as greed brings out the uglier side of humanity. Despite the comparison to Squid Game or Alice In Borderland, The 8 Show easily stands on its own, as the well-paced narrative arc gradually intensifies and the characters descend into anarchy.
4
3%
2016-2020
An underrated survival drama, 3% is a Brazilian production set in a dystopian future. The show’s premise takes place in a world where humanity has been divided into two distinct classes, those who live on the Inland and those who live in Offshore.
Those Inland must enter the Process once they turn 20, just to have the chance to make it to the idyllic, wealthy Offshore, but only a minuscule number of candidates make it through – hence the title of the show.
Although the show takes a bit of getting used to in the first few episodes, it quickly ramps up and captivates you with its visually arresting atmospheres and masterful camera work. The dialogue is also excellent, and the characters have many layers to them that leave the next moment seem unpredictable, as the candidates strive tooth and nail for a better future.
3
Hellbound
2021-Ongoing
The latter end of 2021 saw the release of the massively popular dark fantasy survival Hellbound, and another notch on the belt for the South Korean entertainment industry. In the show, the world suddenly becomes afflicted by supernatural monsters, with the additional mix that there are people marked and bound for Hell at a specific date and time.
Of course, this event kickstarts chaos among the general population, and it’s the realistic human reactions in the face of sure destruction that make it believable and a delight to watch. Hellbound not only poses a moral dilemma to its audience, but balances it with sufficient gore and violence to keep things tense.
2
Death’s Game
2023-2024
Death’s Game brings an interesting and unique spin to the death game concept. The show’s protagonist, Choi Yee-jae, drew Death’s ire after he attempted to commit suicide. As a result, Death forces him to play a game, wherein Choi will be reincarnated through 12 different lives and suffer death 12 times before Death would transport him to Hell.
Paired with a star-studded cast, the show excels in delivering its profound and impactful messaging, as well as exploring sensitive yet important themes like suicide and the consequences of taking your own life. Aside from its well-paced story, Death’s Game also tells of the different struggles each incarnation faces, and about how precious one’s life is and why we must preserve it.
1
Alice In Borderland
2020-Ongoing
Alice In Borderland is one of the best death game shows ever created, and is an adaptation of a manga of the same name. The show not only features thrilling and utterly creative games the contestants have to tackle, but it also delves into the human psyche and what someone could be pushed to do in order to stay alive.
The story follows several contestants as the show goes along, but its main protagonist, Arisu, suddenly finds himself in an alternate version of Tokyo, where most of its inhabitants have disappeared.
He is forced to play and win the games to stay alive and return to the real world, banding together with an interesting and varied cast of characters, although it remains to be seen if we’ll ever have an answer to who or what created the games.
In Squid Game, a mysterious invitation to join a competition is sent to people at risk who are in dire need of money. Four hundred fifty-six participants from all walks of life are locked into a secret location where they play games to win 45.6 billion won. Games are selected from traditional Korean children’s games, such as Red Light and Green Light, but the consequence of losing is death. To survive, competitors must choose their alliances carefully – but the further they go in the competition, the more likely betrayal will rear its ugly head.
- Release Date
-
September 17, 2021
- Cast
-
Wi Ha-joon
, Anupam Tripathi
, Oh Yeong-su
, Heo Sung-tae
, Park Hae-soo
, Jung Ho-yeon
, Lee Jung-jae
, Kim Joo-ryoung - Seasons
-
2
- Writers
-
Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Directors
-
Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Showrunner
-
Hwang Dong-hyuk