There's a 99% chance you've already watched Squid Game, or at least seen it online somewhere, but I'm going to leave my review anyway and tell you what it's about.

Squid Game is a South Korean show hosted on Netflix. There's a contest where 456 players risk their lives to win the cash prize amounting to ₩45.6 billion (approximately $38M). To win, players need to play a series of children's games. The title itself is a popular game that children play in Korea. Why would the players risk their lives for a huge cash prize? It's because they're in deep debt and desperately need money.

The "survival" genre (if I may classify it as a genre) is pretty common even before. I've watched similar movies like Hunger Games (2012) and Cube (1997). I know there's a lot more of this type of story out there. I think the unique thing about Squid Game is the challenges themselves. It's children's games, how difficult could it be, right? Very tough.

I enjoyed learning a lot of popular Korean kids' games and comparing them to what I grew up with. The squid game is surprisingly similar to what Filipinos have: patintero. The gameplay is mostly the same: there's a fixed boundary that the defenders are limited to, and then the attackers need to get from one side to another, and back again.

Another aspect about Squid Game that I think most K-Drama fans are familiar with is the variety of characters and each of their backstories. I've only ever watched a handful of K-Dramas but so far, it's a common theme to have multiple characters and subplots running; the series not only revolves around two or three main characters. I don't think it's as confusing as it sounds, especially when you think about keeping track of all the stories but I think they're all introduced organically enough and most of the time, at some point, you'll start to see the connection of each of the characters.

Another great feature about Squid Game is diversity. I do appreciate that the cast involves an Pakistani that isn't portrayed stereotypically and a view on the life of North Koreans escaping to South Korea.

I've only ever said good things so far so here's something I didn't like: the ending. For obvious reasons, I will not discuss it for the sake of those that haven't watched it yet. It's not that it's a bad ending, but the wrap-up of events doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Although if a season 2 ever comes up, I'd be down to watch it even though we have an entirely new set of characters. Hopefully, they introduce new challenges this time.

Overall, I highly recommend this game to anyone (with proper age guidelines, of course, this is not a series for everyone). It's dark and entertaining to watch at the same time.