This new season’s plotline picks up right where the first season left off. After winning a massive prize of 45.6 billion won (roughly 31 million USD), Seong Gi-hun re-enters the deadly survival game, determined to uncover the mastermind behind it all and take revenge. In truth, Squid Game isn’t a brand-new concept. Its premise is similar to works like Battle Royale, and some of its game elements have been accused of copying or borrowing ideas from Kaiji and Alice in Borderland. However, the show’s simplicity, striking visuals, and underlying social and economic themes helped it resonate with audiences around the world. Within four weeks of its premiere, Squid Game hit a record-breaking view count on the streaming platform.

This new season’s plotline picks up right where the first season left off. After winning a massive prize of 45.6 billion won (roughly 31 million USD), Seong Gi-hun re-enters the deadly survival game, determined to uncover the mastermind behind it all and take revenge. In truth, Squid Game isn’t a brand-new concept. Its premise is similar to works like Battle Royale, and some of its game elements have been accused of copying or borrowing ideas from Kaiji and Alice in Borderland. However, the show’s simplicity, striking visuals, and underlying social and economic themes helped it resonate with audiences around the world. Within four weeks of its premiere, Squid Game hit a record-breaking view count on the streaming platform.

The first season’s success secured plenty of funding and resources for Season 2. In addition to the returning creative team, several well-known young actors and pop stars have joined the cast. Director has said this was a deliberate move, explaining that Season 1 didn’t feature many young contestants because, at the time he was writing, it was less common for younger people to carry massive debts. But with South Korea’s sluggish job market and the crypto craze, many in the younger generation are now sinking into serious debt.

Yet despite high expectations, Squid Game 2 currently holds a 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while its audience score (“popcorn index”) sits at 64%. Despite a drop in critical acclaim, its popularity has reached an all-time high. On its second day of release, it claimed the number one spot in all 93 Netflix markets worldwide (leading in viewership), marking the first time a Netflix production has ever achieved this feat, with a perfect score of 930 points.

Having watched Squid Game 2 in one go, I personally feel it falls short of expectations. So, what do we want from survival game shows now?

When modern audiences watch a survival-style show or film, what exactly are they looking for? Some answers I would give are: how the game master designs and runs the gameandhow the players interact within these rules, challenging or bending them, which often in turn introduces a dystopian angle. These elements are what truly make a survival show compelling. Revealing human nature or illustrating Darwinism is a byproduct of these elements. But with Battle Royale having come out over 20 years ago—and modern audiences have been exposed to all kinds of survival game stories—they now crave fresher thrills.

From this perspective, making a second season of Squid Game could be seen as a risky decision. Compared to other survival stories adapted from manga, Squid Game wasn’t originally known for mind-bending plot twists. Instead, it stood out for its realistic setting, which helped stir emotional connections. It also featured simple, universal gameplay that broke down cultural barriers. The show’s repeated use of striking symbols, bold color contrasts, and classical music underscoring brutal