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Hindustan Times
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Love Squid Game? Here are 5 similar TV shows to watch
Jun 27, 2025 05:51 PM IST Squid Game Season 3 is finally out on Netflix. The latest season of the popular survival thriller series features Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-joon, Im Si-wan and Kang Ha-neul in key roles. If you are a hardcore Squid Game fan and have already finished the new season, we know you must be craving more thrill, survival games or twisted social experiments. Do not worry, we have got you covered. From deadly challenges to psychological drama, here are five shows that Squid Game fans will love: A still from Netflix's Squid Game(Netflix) This Japanese sci-fi thriller is all about survival games in a deserted Tokyo. Players have to clear life-threatening games to stay alive. It is fast-paced, brutal and totally binge-worthy. If you liked Squid Game, this one is a no-brainer. This Brazilian dystopian show is about a world divided into progress and poverty. People can escape their tough lives, but only 3% of them make it through a tough selection process. 3. The Challenge: USA (Paramount) This one is a reality competition with high stakes and big drama. The contestants go head-to-head. No, it is not deadly like Squid Game, but the pressure is real. 4. Panic (Prime Video) Set in a small town where teens join a secret game to win money and escape their lives. Sounds fun? Not really. The challenges get risky fast. 5. The 100 (Netflix) A group of teens is sent to a ruined Earth from space and has to figure out how to live, and who they can trust. Lots of action and twists. ALSO READ: Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk reveals details about Squid Game Season 3: 'It's not always a happy ending' FAQs: What are some shows like Squid Game on Netflix? Some great shows like Squid Game on Netflix include Alice in Borderland, 3% and The 100. Is Panic on Prime Video similar to Squid Game? Yes, Panic is similar in its high-stakes game format. While it is not as violent, it is packed with suspense and risky challenges. Can I watch The Challenge: USA if I liked Squid Game? Definitely. The Challenge: USA has thrilling physical and mental games. It is not deadly, but the strategy and stress levels will feel familiar to Squid Game fans.
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Squid Game season 3 X review: Fans call finale the most brutal yet, say it's ‘so traumatising yet epic'
Squid Game season 3 X review: The much-awaited third season of Squid Game has landed, and its explosive finale has stunned audiences. What started as another intense chapter in the high-stakes survival saga turned into an emotional whirlwind, with many fans calling it the most brutal moment of the series so far. Flooding X (formerly Twitter), viewers have labeled the ending both 'traumatising' and 'epic,' igniting widespread buzz online. Squid Game season 3 X review Taking to social media, fans have been expressing both satisfaction with the ending and heartbreak over the series coming to a close. Many admitted they weren't prepared for such a brutal conclusion, saying it left them in shock, some even claimed they were 'shivering' because it was that powerful. One wrote, ''SQUID GAME' Season 3 proves to be a haunting, emotionally resonant finale to one of the most compelling survival dramas of this generation.' Another added, 'This season doesn't want you entertained. It wants you disturbed.' A third went on to add, '#SquidGame S3 delivers a heart-wrenching finale! Gi-hun's desperate fight, brutal games like Jump Rope, & a bold, divisive end make it Netflix's finest.' #SquidGame S3 delivers a heart-wrenching finale! 😱 Gi-hun's desperate fight, brutal games like Jump Rope, & a bold, divisive end make it Netflix's finest. Lee Byung-hun's chilling Front Man & Im Si-wan's complex Myung-gi steal the show. 5/5! 💔 #SquidGameSeason3 @squidgame HE'S DONE WITH HER BULLSHIT LMAO#SquidGame #SquidGameSeason3 #SquidGameS3EP1 GIHUN STARING AT DAEHO WHILE HE'S SLEEPING?! STOP THATS SO CREEPY#SquidGame #SquidGameSeason3 #SquidGameSeason3 is is broken, betrayed, and back in the games are darker. The choices this time, survival might not be season doesn't want you entertained. It wants you disturbed. Watch at your own risk on @NetflixIndia… What is Squid Game Season 3 about? Squid Game Season 3 continues in the wake of Season 2's intense cliffhanger, with Gi-hun at his most broken. But the deadly competition doesn't wait for anyone. As he and the remaining players are pushed into even more dangerous and twisted games, they must confront impossible choices, each leading to devastating outcomes. At the same time, In-ho resumes his role as the Front Man to oversee the arrival of the mysterious VIPs, while his brother Jun-ho (Wi Ha-jun) secretly hunts for the island, unaware that betrayal is closer than he thinks. The cast of Squid Game includes Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Yim Si-wan, and Kang Ha-neul and others. You can stream Squid Game now on Netflix.
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Squid Game Season 3 Review: A brutal, thoughtful, and satisfying farewell to the deadlier game
Story: After his defiant stand to end the brutal competition, Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a.k.a. Player 456, is pulled back into the deadly game. Now under the ruthless control of the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), the stakes are higher, the rules more unforgiving, and the consequences bloodier. As each round pushes players to their limits, Gi-hun must fight not just to survive—but to hold on to what's left of his humanity. Review: Squid Game returns for its third and final season, and in many ways, it delivers exactly what fans were hoping for: higher stakes, deeper character arcs, and a fitting conclusion to Netflix's global phenomenon. Picking up immediately after the harrowing events of Season 2, this six-episode finale plunges Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a.k.a. Player 456, back into the nightmare he once escaped—only this time, he returns not just to survive, but to confront the game itself. However, he miserably fails in his first try with some other rebellious participants. Gi-hun begins the season weighed down by guilt and betrayal, haunted by the failed rebellion and the loss of his closest allies. His reluctant reentry into the game, now harsher and more unforgiving than ever, sets the tone for a season that leans heavily on psychological tension. The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) tightens his grip over the proceedings, pushing the players into even more brutal and morally compromising scenarios. Parallel narratives introduce a richer cast of returning—a mother-son duo, a transgender woman seeking identity, a crypto-scam survivor, and a rogue pink-suited guard (Park Gyu-young) whose arc quietly challenges the very structure of obedience within the game. Meanwhile, In-ho (the Front Man) resumes his command and prepares for a new batch of VIPs, as his brother, detective Hwang Jun-Ho (Wi Ha-Joon), resumes his search for the elusive island—unaware of a traitor within his own ranks. Director and writer Hwang Dong-hyuk ups the ante both visually and thematically. The familiar iconography—the looming red-light-green-light doll, the candy-coloured staircases, the piggy bank of cash—returns, but now under a darker and more introspective lens. While the season wastes no time plunging viewers into the action, it also dares to slow down in parts, peeling back the layers of its characters. That shift in tone may feel like a dip in pace for some, especially compared to the adrenaline-heavy momentum of Season 1, but it allows the show to ask more thoughtful questions about humanity, choice, and guilt. Performance-wise, Lee Jung-jae is once again outstanding. As Gi-hun evolves from a desperate survivor to a man grappling with responsibility and moral ambiguity, Jung-jae injects nuance into every conflicted decision. Lee Byung-hun's icy turn as the Front Man remains a highlight—menacing, unreadable, and ever-strategic. Their scenes together, crackling with tension and ambiguity, form the emotional core of the season. Kang Ae-Sim also leaves a strong impression as a well-meaning older woman who forms a tender bond with the pregnant Jun-hee (Jo Yuri), embodying the show's core themes of sacrifice and survival. Not everything lands perfectly. A few subplots—particularly involving the VIPs and a brewing betrayal—feel underdeveloped or rushed, and the emotional resonance occasionally wavers under the weight of exposition. However, the series regains its footing in the final episodes, culminating in a climax that answers long-standing questions while leaving just enough ambiguity to linger in viewers' minds. Season 3 doesn't just rely on spectacle; it dares to be meditative, even philosophical. In choosing to explore what makes people human when stripped of everything but choice, Squid Game ends not with a bang, but with a disturbing whisper that echoes long after the credits roll. It reinforces, once again, that survival is as much a mental game as it is physical—and sometimes, the toughest opponent is the person staring back in the mirror.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Squid Game season 3 review: thrilling conclusion probes humanity's dark depths
Lead cast: Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Im Si-wan, Wi Ha-joon, Kang Ha-neul, Park Gyu-young Korean filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk's death-game spectacle Squid Game returns for its third and reportedly final season with six new episodes that follow on directly from the mid-tournament cliffhanger at the conclusion of December's season 2 We will steer clear of spoilers here, but this article does assume that readers are caught up until the end of season 2. It should also be noted that critics were able to screen all but the final episode of the new batch. Viewers should already know that the previous season of Squid Game featured a new cast of players, most of whom scraped through the first three rounds, which claimed the lives of hundreds of other players. Play
India Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- India Today
‘Squid Game' on, and Indians are excited
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated June 30, 2025)All good things come to an end, and so it is with Netflix's hit Korean drama, Squid Game. The most-watched international original of all time in India, the series concludes with the finale streaming from June 27. Such has been the show's cultural impact that the hooded pink jumpsuits and green tracksuits are a common sight at cosplay parties. Lead actor Lee Jung-jae, who essays player #456, the emotional heart of the show, never imagined Squid Game would strike a chord as far as India. 'To be able to speak to people from all over the world is one of the biggest joys to come out of it,' he said in an exclusive interview with india of Squid Game's universal appeal can be attributed to it shining a light on the economic disparity that compels the have-nots to take extreme measures to survive. For Lee Byung-hun, who plays the man behind the mask running the disturbing game, it's what makes the 'global phenomenon' status of the show feel bittersweet. 'We are happy [about the show's success], but the fact that global audiences loved it also means that they resonated with the saddening themes of losing hope and being divided and taking sides.' Production director Hwang Dong-hyuk says he hopes the show inspires viewers. 'What I want to tell through season three is that we need to look into our own inner worlds and try to find some empathy and a conscience.'With the finale poised to break viewing records, Dong-hyuk admits he is ready to 'say goodbye to the show' he conceived back in 2009 when he had hit rock bottom. 'I projected so much of myself into the show,' he says, 'but it is time to leave it behind, prepare for the next step.'advertisement Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends
