“Mugunghwa Kkoci Pieot Seumnida.” “Mugunghwa Kkoci Pieot Seumnida.” If you haven’t already realized, this is the phrase that brings chills down the backs of every Squid Game participant playing red light green light.
A new season of Squid Game has arrived, and along with it, some new games. From dalgona to ggongi, these games are nostalgic gems for Koreans and are often played recreationally in Korea from a young age. Unlike Seong Gi`-hun, the main character of Squid Game, you may have never played these games before, and even though the show might make them seem easy, any non-experienced player would soon realize how difficult it is to succeed. As Korean-Americans whose parents grew up with these games, To test our chances of survival, we played and ranked each game from chances of getting shot by a guard to winning the 45.6 billion won ($31,665,127.92) prize money.
The first game played is Red Light Green Light, 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 or Mugunghwa-kkochi Pieossseubnida. In the English dub version of the show, the game is played like red light green light. However, in Korea, the doll sings the Mugunghwa song and while she is singing the players can run. When she stops singing and turns around, you must not move or you’ll risk being seen. This game is pure nostalgia for both Koreans and many throughout the world. However, in the Squid Games, I assume it’s much harder. The doll has good motion detectors and if you’re clumsy, this game might be the very last thing you ever do. And some extremely competitive players (I’m looking at you Thanos) might push you over, giving you a death sentence.
Overall ranking: 9/10
Difficulty: 2/10
Chance of survival: 80%
Ggongi is a game played mostly by children. The object of the game is to have all five beads (gonggitdol, in Korean, 공깃돌, meaning gonggi stones) in your hand by the end of the game. There are six total rounds in this game. The first four rounds consist of the player scattering the beads, starting by picking up one bead and throwing it up. In round one, you must scatter the beads, throw one up and catch it, pick up another, and catch the one you threw, all whilst keeping the beads you caught in your hand from falling. In round two, you must pick up two at once, adding one bead to pick up each round till round four. Finally, you catch them all on the back of your hand, and then catch all five to gain all five points. As simple as it seems, ggongi isn’t easy for the inexperienced. The beads are difficult to handle and if you throw them too hard then they can get away from you quickly. Hand eye coordination is key. The game gets increasingly harder as it requires you to do many things at once. Although Kang Dae-ho plays the game with ease, as someone who has never played ggongi, I can confidently say that I would not get a pass from the circle guards.
Overall ranking: 5/10
Difficulty: 9/10 (due to the difficulty of having to catch the thrown beads)
Chance of survival: 20%
Paengi Chigi is a game where a spinning top is released by a carefully strung cord. In the show, the objective is simply to get the top spinning. However, children in Korea often play to try and knock each other out of the battlefield. You must drop the top and pull the string out from it quickly in order for it to spin. These spinning tops are quite heavy and you must throw them in a very specific way to get them going. If you don’t know the secret to Paengi Chigi, it might just get you in trouble with the pink soldiers. I tried and failed many times to get the spinning top going but I kept accidentally throwing it far away or just making it fall flat without spinning.
Overall ranking: 7/10
Difficulty: 7/10
Chance of survival: 45%
Last but not least is the iconic dalgona challenge. In this game, a dalgona candy, made from melted sugar and pressed with a shape which is to be perfectly cut out with a needle, is used. The candy melts on your tongue and is bittersweet with the taste of burnt sugar, but is quite enjoyable, when you aren’t feeling the immense pressure of the pink soldiers, fearing for your life. The game is deceptively simple and the slightest pressure and impatience may result in doom. Caution and precision is the key in this challenge. Just be careful to choose the easiest shape! Out of the circle, triangle, umbrella, and star, the triangle is your best bet at winning the games.
Overall ranking: 8/10
Difficulty: 5/10
Taste: 9/10
Chance of survival: 50% (depends on which shape you choose)
“ I don’t think I would survive. Not because the games are hard, but because of the stress, especially during games like ‘mingle’ everyone is panicking and it’s harder to focus on the game,” said Srushti Manjunatha, a sophomore at Monte Vista. “Also, in the show we see people betray their friends…so it would be hard to trust anyone in the games.”
Whether you’re just playing for fun or you’re fighting for 45.6 billion won, these games will have you scrambling for your life. Squid Game has brought these games out from the old memories of children and adults alike in Korea. We wish you luck and hope you can make it out alive.
