Best Netflix Shows Like Squid Game

Another great season of Squid Game has just released on Netflix. But if you binged it in one day, don’t worry; here’s our list of the best Netflix shows like Squid Game.

Alice in Borderland

Alice in Borderland is a sci-fi Japanese drama. It follows Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), an unemployed gamer who finds himself in a parallel, desolate Tokyo. Here, he and his friends must fight for their lives through challenges and games of various difficulties. During the two seasons, Arisu and his friends slowly unravel the mysteries of this strange world.

If you love the life-or-death high-stakes games in Squid Game, this critically acclaimed Netflix series should be your next watch.

All Of Us Are Dead

When a science teacher’s experiment goes horrifically wrong, a zombie outbreak spreads through a high school. As the zombies begin overtaking the fictional Korean city of Hyosan, the high school students who survived the initial attack must band together through this apocalyptic nightmare.

All Of Us Are Dead has two things we loved in Squid Game: heart-racing tension and an ensemble cast with gripping backstories. Its first season is an entertaining blend of gory zombie violence, funny moments, and heart-warming scenes.

3%

3% is a dystopian Brazilian drama. It’s set in the future, where most of humanity lives in an impoverished place called the Inlands. Every year, twenty-year-olds from the Inlands have the opportunity to move to The Offshore, an idealistic virtual paradise. Through a series of challenges called The Process, young adults are eliminated until the successful candidates remain- the 3%. Meanwhile, a secret resistance is brewing. Mysteriously named “The Cause,” they are determined to end this system for good.

3% is one of Netflix’s earliest originals. Its premise – people living in poverty participating in challenges to join the rich – is similar to Squid Game.

Sweet Home

When Cha Hyun-su survives a tragic accident that kills his entire family, he falls into a deep depression. Haunted by his memories, he decides to leave his family home and move into the rundown, dingy Green Home apartment building. But things go from bad to worse when monsters begin to take over the city. Cha Hyun-su and the rest of Green Home’s residents must team up to defeat this terror in Netflix’s Sweet Home.

This Korean thriller will have your heart racing throughout its three seasons. With its final season premiering summer of 2024, it’s the perfect fix for your Squid Game cliffhanger blues.

Black Mirror

If you haven’t watched Black Mirror by now, you’re seriously missing out. The anthology series explores the relationship between future technology and humanity. Episodes are set anywhere from the very near future to hundreds of years away. Fifteen Million Merits, USS Callister, Playtest, and Nosedive are some episodes that really remind us of Squid Game.

Related: 5 Things We Want to See in Squid Game Season 3

Culinary Class Wars

Culinary Class Wars is an intense Korean cooking competition series. One hundred chefs from around Korea are split into two teams, legacy chefs and newcomers, to compete for the grand prize of ₩300 million (240,000 USD). The contestants are judged by legendary South Korean chefs, Paik Jong-won and Anh Sung-jae.

If you love the competitiveness of Squid Game, you’ll enjoy the high-pressure world of Culinary Class Wars.

Squid Game: The Challenge

Squid Game: The Challenge brings the intense games from Squid Game to reality – minus the killing, of course. The reality show brings together 456 players, all in need of money. They compete in challenges inspired by Squid Game season one for the grand prize of $4.56 million.

Squid Game: The Challenge is full of contestants you’ll be rooting for. Even though the stakes aren’t as high as the fictional series (thankfully), this show will still have you on the edge of your seat. With a second season in the works, now is the perfect time to catch up.

Physical 100

Physical 100 is the ultimate test of strength and endurance. The Korean competition series brings together one hundred athletes, all at the top of their respective sports, and puts them through grueling challenges to see who is truly at their physical peak. The competitors include South Korean sportspeople, nation-representing athletes, and fitness influencers. The winner walks away with a cash prize of ₩300 million (240,000 USD).

The parallels between Squid Game and Physical 100 are clear. With a captivating premise and impressive challenges, Physical 100 is a high-quality reality show.

Hellbound

In the (then) future year of 2022, frightening Angels start appearing in South Korea, stating the exact day a person will die. When this day comes, relentless demons chase down and brutalize the individual for all to see, taking them to Hell. In Hellbound, the people of Korea know nothing but fear and dread.

The ensemble cat is full of well-written, interesting characters who all deal with the threat of Hell in different ways. Some turn to a cult-like religion sweeping over the country amidst the chaos, while others take matters into their own hands. From Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho, Hellbound is one of the best Korean fantasy-thrillers on Netflix right now.

Snowpiercer

Expanding on the Bong Joon-ho film of the same name, Snowpiercer is set in a frozen wasteland on Earth, where all of humanity resides on one endlessly moving train. This train, made up of 1,001 carriages, has a strict class hierarchy. The limited resources available are distributed evenly, and those at the bottom of the train’s hierarchy often starve to death.

Snowpiercer is another ensemble cast series that explores class struggle and inequality. Like Bong Joon-ho’s critically acclaimed film Parasite, this series delves into classism in an intriguing, intelligent way,

And that’s our list of the best Netflix shows like Squid Game.