The creator of “Squid Game” reveals his favorite game in season two

with “Squid Game” Season 2 raises the stakes and introduces a new set of harrowing challenges, and creator Hwang Dong-hyuk recently shared which game has emerged as his personal favorite.

Known for blending childhood nostalgia with life-or-death consequences, each game in the new season carries its own emotional weight and psychological complexity.

However, there is one game, in particular, that captured the “Squid Game” director’s vision more than any other.

WARNING: There are major spoilers for the Season 2 finale of “Squid Game,” now streaming on Netflix.

Season 2 of “Squid Game” brought back many familiar games While presenting a series of new and intense challenges. Ddakji, the game that The Salesman (Gong Yoo) used in both seasons one and two to recruit potential players, returns, setting the tone for the season’s high-stakes dynamics.

The season opened with a new addition: “Bread and the Lottery”, which appeared in the first episode. In this recruitment game, a salesman buys 100 pastries and 100 lottery tickets and offers them to random individuals in public places, creating an unsettling sense of chance and desperation in broad daylight.

Later in the same episode, a brutal showdown unfolds in a third game as the salesman pits Mr. Kim and Woo-seok against each other. Their fate hinges on Jokenpô – known as Rock, Paper, Scissors – a deceptively simple game with deadly consequences at that.

Another world-famous game, Russian Roulette, is making a shocking debut. This game is notorious for its life-or-death stakes, and is presented by The Salesman as a way for Gi-hun and himself to settle their escalating conflict, leaving the outcome entirely to fate.

Of course, fans of the first season will immediately recognize the shocking return of Red Light, Green Light, the iconic childhood toy overseen by the dangerous doll, Young-hee. Its presence is a callback to the series’ roots and a reminder of the ever-present danger lurking in every seemingly simple challenge.

Viewers also watched the six-legged pentathlon race, which forced participants to undertake a series of interconnected tasks requiring teamwork, precision and unwavering trust in their partners. In Mingle, alliances became both a lifeline and a potential trap, as players were forced to navigate shifting social dynamics under intense pressure. Meanwhile, the Special Round (Lights Out) plunged the arena into darkness, stripping players of any sense of security and forcing players to rely on instinct and raw survival skills amidst the chaos.

When it comes to the brutal and emotionally charged games in “Squid Game” Season 2, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has a clear favorite.

“I would say a quintet,” he said. diverse. “Not only was it the most difficult to film, but I think after we finished filming it, I enjoyed watching it myself more. Especially because in one round of matches, you get five smaller matches.

He continued, “As in the first season, I wanted to showcase the actual children’s games that Korean people grew up playing, especially those that I grew up playing myself.” “With the way I showed the world five different matches in one round, I would say the quintet was probably the most satisfying to shoot.”

Within a month of its release, “Squid Game” became the most-watched series on Netflix, breaking records as the first Korean and foreign-language show to win a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nomination. Riding the wave of its unprecedented success, Netflix has expanded the franchise with a reality competition series inspired by the show, which premieres in November 2023.

“Because I created the first season without thinking much about doing the second season, when it was decided that we would do the second season, the pressure was really huge,” said director Hwang. IndieWire. “I was thinking to myself: Will I really be able to pull this off? Will I be able to create or write something beyond the first season?”

He continued, “But once I started writing, and once I got into the story of Ji Hoon (Lee Jong Jae) returning to the games with his own motivations, things actually went much better than I thought.” “I was able to create a story that I felt was more interesting, come up with more interesting characters and create more original and interesting games as well.”