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Squid Game just came out of nowhere and shook up pop culture when it dropped on Netflix in 2021. Hwang Dong-hyuk created this game show where broke people get lured in to play kids’ games, except if you mess up, you’re dead. The “prize” is an obscene pile of cash (almost $40 million).
The show has got all those classic Korean playground games, but now they’re Saw traps with a childhood twist. It’s all wrapped in this fake sense of “fairness”—all the rules laid out, everyone supposedly on the same playing field. But that’s a joke. The whole point is to make you think it’s fair, when the people running this circus are just as shady as you’d expect. They bend the rules, break them, and straight-up ignore them whenever it’s convenient. Fairness is just window dressing. It’s the illusion of choice—technically there, but meaningless in practice. It’s an allegory for how the real world works. Pretend to play by the rules, but the house always wins.
So Squid Game LOVES to break its own rules. Every time the system cheats, it’s a neon sign pointing at the real-life stuff we deal with—rigged systems, fake meritocracy, and more. This isn’t just sloppy writing; it’s the point. Whether it’s how they recruit people, the way they treat “weak” players, the rules switching mid-game, or the fact that some people are straight-up insiders immune to the consequences, every broken rule is a slap in the face to the idea of a fair fight.
Digging into these moments—where the rules go out the window—makes you realize how deep the show’s cynicism runs. Squid Game isn’t just a blood-soaked Hunger Games remix. It’s a brutal, in-your-face critique of how society pretends to be fair while screwing over the most desperate people.
Squid Game moments that completely ignored the rules
The initial recruitment: Consent and deception
Everyone has to agree to play, and if the majority wants out, the game ends. But you have to accept the risk. It sounds proper, but from the start, the whole thing is smoke and mirrors. Contestants are manipulated with incomplete information, such as the guy with the slap-happy Ddakji game. Nobody mentions that the “risk” is getting mowed down in a murder playground.
The so-called consent form is a joke as it doesn’t say zip about dying. Everybody figures out what’s really up after a robot kills half the crowd in Red Light, Green Light. That’s not informed consent– that’s signing your life away and hoping you make it out alive. The Squid Game organizers are picking off desperate people with half-truths and head games.
“Red Light, Green Light”: Surprise, it’s a death trap
Squid Game lays out the rules right before the game starts. In this one, players are supposed to move on “Green,” freeze on “Red,” and get “eliminated” if they mess up. Except “eliminated” here means sniped from fifty yards out. Nobody tells the players this before they’re running for their lives. They think it’s a kid’s game, but it’s a firing squad in a playground. Dropping that bomb without warning is not a rule; that’s a setup. How can you agree to play if you don’t even know the rules are dead serious—literally?
Guards and the myth of impartiality
Supposedly, the pink jumpsuit guards in Squid Game are just there to enforce the rules. But some of them are sneaking around helping Byung-gi, the doctor, carving up dead contestants for organs and tipping him off about what’s coming next– just for a little back-alley surgery. This is corruption. The staff are just as shady as everyone else, and the “neutral enforcer” act is cosplay at this point.
Violence outside the games: The nighttime massacre
Squid Game rules say the killing is only supposed to happen in the games. But when the lights go out, the guards just let the players turn the dorm into a slasher movie. They stand back while players kill each other. The organizers aren’t just ignoring the rules; they’re egging on the chaos. Forget structure, forget boundaries; it’s just survival of the nastiest.
The marble game: Partner deception
You get told you’re teaming up for some marble games. But then it turns out to be a duel to the death with your partner, and you only find out after you’re already paired. That’s not a twist, that’s emotional sabotage. Squid Game is rigged to rip people apart and watch the fallout.
And then you’ve got Sang-woo, who betrays Ali by tricking him, stealing his marbles, and leaving him for dead. It is not technically against the rules, because there aren’t any real rules about playing fair. It’s all loopholes and mind games, letting betrayal slide as “strategy.”
The glass bridge game: When the house cheats
Players have to cross a bridge by stepping on glass panels. Some are strong and safe, but others will break and cause them to fall. Except, one guy—Player 17 turns out to be a former glassmaker, claiming expertise in identifying safe panels. So what do the puppet masters do? The Front Man abruptly extinguishes the lights. Now, it’s just a deadly guessing game again. Instead of rewarding brains, they just go for more bodies to add to the highlight reel. Squid Game just moves the goalposts whenever it’s convenient.
Oh Il-nam: The guy who just won’t die
Every player has to take the risk of being eliminated in each game without exception. But then there’s Oh Il-nam, Player 001, the sweet old man. Turns out, he’s the puppet master. While others drop like flies, he is dodging death like he’s got a cheat code. In Red Light, Green Light, he miraculously survives. In Tug of War, it is the same story. In the marbles game, his “loss” is fake. The whole thing is rigged for him, and critics have roasted Squid Game for this. It nukes the idea that everyone’s equal.
Organ harvesting: Elimination with a side of horror
So, “eliminated” means…what, exactly? Just out of the game? Not so fast. Turns out, some unlucky players end up as involuntary organ donors. And we are not talking after they’re dead; sometimes they’re still breathing. Squid Game doesn’t spell it out, but the implication is pretty clear. It’s not just a game; it’s a human chop shop. The “rules” say elimination is final, but apparently, it’s just the beginning of a whole new nightmare.
Pregnant contestants and other walking red flags
You’d think with all that cash on the line, the organizers might do a little background checking. They’ve got a pregnant woman waddling into these kill-or-be-killed games, plus an elderly guy who can barely stand. So much for “rigorous” selection. It’s not just irresponsible; it’s almost like they want things to end tragically. Critics have pointed out how the baby’s birth is glossed over, and the mom’s fate is a total mess, ethically and otherwise.
The final Squid Game: Rules? What rules?
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Last round, the Squid Game itself. It is supposed to be all about strategy and playground nostalgia, but Gi-hun and Sang-woo turn it into a savage street brawl. At the end, it’s less about skill and more about who’s willing to go full psycho. The rules evaporate, and the “winner” is whoever’s left standing. It’s a blood-soaked parody of childhood games, and rules are just set dressing at this point.
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