Interactive Squid Game challenge tests fans in LA
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At Squid Game: The Trials in Los Angeles, fans of all ages can relive the most emotional moments of the 2021 Netflix show.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – Squid Game fans Jabbar Lewis and Nic Ashe watched every episode of the hit South Korean series – and were convinced they would be able to handle the deadly school-yard contests. They never imagined they might actually get a chance to try them.
At Squid Game: The Trials in Los Angeles, fans of all ages can relive the most emotional moments of the 2021 Netflix show – but there is a lot less blood and no one wins any prize money.
“It’s so funny that even without the US$4.56 million (S$6.04 million) cash prize, you really feel the stakes in the game. I found myself sweating and shaking, and I would do it again,” said 27-year-old participant Ashe.
“It’s like the show kind of came to life. It came out of my TV and I got to step into the world.”
In a series of rooms, organisers of the immersive LA attraction have set up harmless versions of the brutal games depicted in the series, in which misfits and criminals took an all-or-nothing gamble: win the prize of 45.6 billion won (S$46.4 million) or die.
Participant Jabbar Lewis winning the final challenge during his visit to Squid Game: The Trials in Los Angeles.
PHOTO: AFP
Netflix says it hopes visitors will be transported into the universe of the show – and its reality competition spin-off, Squid Game: The Challenge (2023 to present), which offered a US$4.56 million prize – from the get-go.
Players are greeted by the Front Man, the overseer of the game, flanked by his minions in their distinctive fuchsia jumpsuits and black masks with symbols.
Players are greeted by the Front Man, the overseer of the game, flanked by his minions in their distinctive fuchsia jumpsuits and black masks with symbols.
PHOTO: AFP
Classic Squid Game challenges like the glass bridge and the dalgona candy game are recreated, as is the runaway favourite: Red Light, Green Light, complete with the giant, menacing, motion-sensing doll.
“It was real,” said Ms Melanie Galano.
Fellow visitor Andrew Lin chimed in: “It just felt like you’re kind of in the show.”
Participants wear wristbands that buzz when they “die” in a challenge, but some joked that they hoped for more reality.
“I expected real dying,” joked participant Choi Hyumbom. “I realised it’s not the same as the show, but I’m still having fun.”
The Red Light, Green Light challenge, complete with the giant, menacing, motion-sensing doll, at Squid Game: The Trials in Los Angeles.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Lewis, who won his round, said for him, “Squid Game just represents determination to win, the will to win. And it does require a lot of strategy”.
When asked how he plotted his win, Mr Lewis replied: “Be low-key in the background and then come up like a shark and destroy everybody.” AFP
