After watching Squid Game, I went down a rabbit hole researching Korean game shows. What I found blew my mind: while the deadly premise is fiction, almost everything else comes from very real Korean entertainment.
Game shows, variety programs, survival competitions—they've been MASSIVE in Korea for decades. And Squid Game draws directly from this tradition in ways I didn't fully appreciate until I started watching the source material.
Running Man: The Obvious Connection
Running Man (2010-present) is Korea's most famous variety game show, and once you watch it, you see Squid Game everywhere. Celebrity contestants compete in physical and mental challenges, often based on children's games—sound familiar?
- Physical challenges derived from traditional Korean games
- Alliance and betrayal dynamics (without the death, obviously)
- Elimination format that builds tension
- The mix of comedic and dramatic tension
Running Man keeps things lighthearted, but the core idea of adults competing in playground games translates directly to Squid Game's darker vision.
The Genius: The Strategy Element
I binged The Genius (2013-2015) after someone on Reddit recommended it, and WOW. Celebrity contestants in complex psychological games requiring strategy, manipulation, and alliance-building. It's addictive.
- Marble games where trust is weaponized (the marbles episode felt very Genius)
- Voting and elimination mechanics that tear groups apart
- The constant tension between cooperation and betrayal
- High-stakes decision making where one wrong read is fatal
If you finished Squid Game and want more strategic competition without the murder, The Genius is mandatory viewing. I'm not exaggerating when I say it changed how I watch reality TV.
The VIPs Are Us (Uncomfortable Truth)
Here's the thought that keeps me up at night: the VIPs in Squid Game—those wealthy foreigners who watch players die for entertainment—they're commenting on US. On reality TV culture. On what we watch.
- I Am a Singer (extreme pressure performances that destroy people)
- Produce 101 (public voting creates parasocial investment in teenage trainees)
- Physical: 100 (competition at its most primal and punishing)
All feature real people in high-stakes situations for audience entertainment. Squid Game's uncomfortable question: how different are we from the VIPs, really? The distance between watching someone cry on camera and watching someone die on camera is smaller than we'd like to admit.
Hwang Dong-hyuk's Point
Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has said explicitly that Squid Game is partially about how reality TV exploits desperate people. The contestants who enter Korean survival shows often genuinely need the prize money—trainees who've invested years of their lives, athletes past their prime, ordinary people hoping for a break that never comes.
Squid Game just literalizes that dynamic: people so desperate they'll risk death for money while wealthy viewers enjoy the spectacle from their comfortable living rooms.
Sound familiar? Every time I watch reality TV now, I think about this. Which is probably the point.