# Squid Game: The Challenge (2023)

> A 456-player reality competition inspired by Squid Game, where contestants test their skills for a life-changing prize.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/126968

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 19
- Episode runtime: 47 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: reality
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Jennie Kwan, Nick Martineau, Dylan Scanlon, Mai Whelan, Trey Plutnicki, Amanda Alderson, Leva Bates, Michael Van Wijk
- TMDB rating: 5.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28104766/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: tense, competitive, glossy, suspenseful

## What critics say

Audiences find it a faithful, well-produced reality competition that recreates the look and tension of its source show, with challenges praised as engaging.

## Synopsis

Squid Game: The Challenge (2023-present) is a British reality competition series produced for Netflix, inspired by the Korean drama Squid Game. Up to 456 players compete through physical and strategic challenges for a life-changing prize of $4.56 million, with eliminations shaping every round. Contestants such as Player 065 Dylan Scanlon (Dylan Scanlon) appear across the competition, while the announcer (Jennie Kwan) and the voiced Square Guard (Nick Martineau) guide the games with a menacing formality. Over two seasons spanning nineteen episodes of roughly forty-seven minutes each, the show gives its contestants a tense, high-stakes arena in which alliances form and fracture as the money grows. The tone is competitive and suspenseful, with a glossy, set-driven spectacle that echoes the source drama's bold colors and geometric games while stripping away its lethal stakes. Viewers who enjoyed Survivor and The Traitors will recognise the social strategy, and fans of the original scripted thriller will find the same visual language. Season two was better received than the first, and the format remains an ongoing reality competition built around big stakes and team dynamics.

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- [3% (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/60093)
- [Run for the Money (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/133778)

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