Netflix’s spectacular South Korean series Squid Game dominated screens around the world in 2021, becoming the platform’s most-watched TV show to date. With its themes of class warfare, violence, and emotional drama, the first season of Squid Game united audiences around the world in cheering on Lee Jung-jae’s Seong Gi-hun as he barely made it through the deadly game show — only to sign up for more.
With Netflix finally releasing the highly anticipated second season of Squid Game on December 26, 2024, there’s still some time to kill (so to speak) before we can feast our eyes on the next chapter. But if you’re looking for other TV shows like Squid Game to watch in the meantime, check out our selection and find out where to stream them all below!
Squid Game: The Challenge
Squid Game: The Challenge is a 2023 reality competition series inspired by the fictional Netflix show. Also featuring 456 players, The Challenge takes competitors through many similar games to Squid Game — although fortunately it doesn’t eliminate the players by killing them. If you’re looking for a series with high-stakes competitions that also features the same costumes and aesthetic to Squid Game, make sure to check out The Challenge.
Alice in Borderland
This ongoing Japanese Netflix series from 2020 follows the story of Arisu, an obsessive gamer who finds himself thrown into a post-apocalyptic version of Tokyo where he and a group of others must compete in perilous games to survive. If you loved the games and high-stakes competition of Squid Game, make sure to watch Alice in Borderland.
3%
3% is a Brazilian Netflix series spanning four seasons that aired between 2016 and 2019. The series takes place in an unspecified near future in Brazil, where impoverished young people from the “Inland” are recruited to compete in something called “The Process”. If they succeed in “The Process”, they are allowed to live in the wealthy “Offshore” society — however, only 3% manage to make it through the deadly games. If you’re looking for a series like Squid Game that explores themes of class warfare in the context of a deadly competition to get to the top, make sure to watch 3%.
The 8 Show
This 2024 South Korean Netflix series that sees eight desperate strangers recruited to participate in a competition in which they are locked in a building together; the longer they stay, the more money they make — but in order to stay longer, they have to figure out how to put more time on the clock before time runs out. To make matters worse — or more entertaining for the viewers — they find out that some participants earn more than others, fueling class conflict that causes the competitors to turn against each other.
If you want a show like Squid Game that has an even more realistic bent, social satire, and even some comedy, make sure you check out The 8 Show.
Panic
The American teen drama unfortunately only lasted one season, but is still worth a watch if you are looking to see people compete in deadly games for a massive cash prize. Panic sees a group of recent high school graduates trying to escape their small Texas town called Carp by engaging in a yearly competition — although this year the rules have changed and they have to decide if they’re willing to put it all on the line to get out.
Death’s Game
Death’s Game is a South Korean fantasy-thriller series from 2023. The series follows the story of Choi Yee-jae, a young man who commits suicide after failing to find a job for over seven years. But once dead, he comes face to face with Death — who is none too pleased with his choice and decides to punish him by making him reincarnate and die twelve times before sending him to hell. But as Choi begins living other lives, he realises he can cheat death by staying alive.
Black Mirror
Black Mirror is a British anthology series created by Charlie Brooker. In many ways, Squid Game could very well be an episode of Black Mirror, because it explores similar themes of social commentary, dystopian, hyper-capitalist realities, and class warfare. While Black Mirror’s focus is often more on the role of technology’s impact on society, the series is very much in keeping with the shock value Squid Game offers, in addition to the thought-provoking social commentary.
All of Us Are Dead
All of Us Are Dead is a South Korean 2022 zombie-horror that is also a coming-of-age story mixed together in one series. The series follows the events after a high school science teacher accidentally sets off a zombie apocalypse, causing the students trapped inside the school to have to band together to fight for their survival. Although All of Us Are Dead doesn’t feature a competition as a key plot point, the high-stakes fight for survival mixed with the escalating tensions and unclear outcomes make it quite similar in vibe to Squid Game.
And Then There Were None
Based on Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel of the same name, And Then There Were None was adapted in 2015 by the BBC into a limited television series. The series follows the story of eight strangers who are invited to a remote island off the coast of Devon, England, where they are slowly murdered one by one as punishment for their past crimes. Although And Then There Were None doesn’t share Squid Games competition aspect, it is similar in picking apart themes of justice and injustice in the confines of a space from which there is no escape.
Hellbound
This 2021 South Korean Netflix series incorporates dark supernatural fantasy elements into a story of injustice and power. The series takes place in a world in which a being known as an ‘angel’ begins to appear, issuing ‘decrees’ that predict the immediate or future condemnation of someone to hell. In something called a ‘demonstration’, the condemned person is destroyed by three monsters before their soul is dragged to hell. Amidst the chaos, religious groups New Truth Society and Arrowhead fight for power while playing off of people’s fears. Like Squid Game, Hellbound deals with themes of power, injustice, and the struggle to survive.
Where to watch shows like Squid Game online
Check out all the shows like Squid Game streaming online down below!
