The best series like the squid game

Summary

  • Death game shows offer high stakes and thrills, revealing true colors under pressure as seen in the Squid Game.

  • All Of Us Are Dead, Sweet Home, The 8 Show are captivating series with engaging narratives and complex characters.

  • Shows like 3%, Hellbound, Death's Game and Alice In Borderland offer unique interpretations of the death game format.

Watching contestants undergo a fictional life-or-death competition quickly became an addictive experience, as evidenced by the continued popularity of the Squid Game. The high stakes, rampant emotions, and how quickly a person's true colors are revealed under duress make for a fascinating narrative that TV shows themed around death games can provide.

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Of course, Squid Game is not the first and only show to follow the death game format, as there are other shows that are also worth watching. If you've finished watching the latest season of Squid Game and are thirsty for more similar but somewhat similar titles, here are the best shows to sink your teeth into.

7

We Are All Dead

2022-Ongoing

Despite not being a show that focuses on the death game format, All Of Us Are Dead captures the same tensions and emotional levels as Squid Game. The surviving students have no choice but to rely on each other, but the show does an excellent job of building complex dynamics between characters and potential conflicts that reverberate down the line.

One of the best zombie thrillers in South Korea, the story of the series mainly focuses on a group of high school students who managed to survive the initial attack of the zombie outbreak that started in their school. As the students struggle to survive, a certain detective tries to identify the one responsible, while the Korean government moves ever closer to deciding to bomb the city.

6

Sweet Home

2020-2024

A promotional poster of Sweet Home.

Apart from Squid Game, South Korea has been killing it with its thrillers, and none more so than the acclaimed Sweet Home. Adapted from a popular webtoon, Sweet Home is praised for its gorgeous characters, gripping action and plot that draws you in instantly.

Sweet Home's story follows a rapidly evolving dystopian world that, for what seems to be no rhyme or reason, is being ravaged by monsters, with some of the human population turning into monsters. The first season focuses on Chan Hyun-su and other survivors as they try to stay alive in their Green Home apartment complex.

The second and third seasons see Hyun-su and the others escape from the Green House and into the wider world as they try to investigate and cure monsters.

5

Show 8

2024

A The 8 Show promotional poster.

Death game shows have a way of making you introspect and reevaluate how you perceive certain topics, and 2024's The 8 Show embodies this perfectly. Unlike the Squid Game, The 8 Show contestants must use their winnings to purchase staples, and each contestant is seated on a different floor.

Of course, it doesn't take long for things to turn chaotic and upside down for everyone as greed brings out the uglier side of humanity. Despite comparisons to Squid Game or Alice In Borderland, The 8 Show easily stands on its own as the well-paced narrative arc gradually escalates and the characters descend into anarchy.

4

3%

2016-2020

A photo from the show 3%.

An understated survival drama, 3% is a Brazilian production set in a dystopian future. The premise of the show takes place in a world where humanity has been divided into two distinct classes, those who live Inland and those who live Offshore.

The Inland have to enter the Process once they turn 20, just to have a chance at the idyllic and wealthy Offshore, but only a tiny number of candidates make it through – hence the show's title.

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Although the show takes a bit of getting used to in the early episodes, it quickly picks up and captivates you with its visually arresting atmospheres and masterful camera work. The dialogue is also excellent and the characters have many layers that leave the next moment feeling unpredictable as the candidates fight tooth and nail for a better future.

3

The infernal

2021-Ongoing

A Hellbound promotional poster.

The end of 2021 saw the release of the massively popular dark fantasy survival Hellbound and another notch on the belt for South Korea's entertainment industry. In the show, the world suddenly becomes plagued by supernatural monsters, with the added twist that there are people marked and bound for Hell at a certain date and time.

Of course, this event sparks chaos among the general populace, and the realistic human reactions to certain destruction make it believable and a delight to watch. Hellbound not only poses a moral dilemma for its audience, but balances it with enough gore and violence to keep things tense.

2

dead pool

2023-2024

Game of Death brings an interesting and unique twist to the game of death concept. The protagonist of the series, Choi Yee-jae, incurred the wrath of Death after attempting to commit suicide. As a result, Death forces him to play a game, where Choi will be reincarnated through 12 different lives and suffer death 12 times before Death transports him to Hell.

With a star-studded cast, the series excels at delivering its deep and impactful messages, as well as exploring sensitive but important themes such as suicide and the consequences of taking one's own life. In addition to its well-paced story, Death's Game also tells about the different struggles that each incarnation faces and how precious one's life is and why we must preserve it.

1

Alice In Borderlands

2020-Ongoing

Alice In Borderland is one of the best death game series ever made and is an adaptation of a manga of the same name. The show not only features thrilling and utterly creative games that the contestants must tackle, but also delves into the human psyche and what one might be driven to do to stay alive.

The story follows several contestants throughout the show, 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 in order to stay alive and return to the real world, teaming up with an interesting and varied cast of characters, though it remains to be seen if we'll ever get an answer to who or what he created . games.

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