A real-life Squid Game in South Korea has been cancelled and no, it’s not because of the life-or-death element of the games.
According to The Korea Times, St. John’s Hotel in Gangwon Province had recently announced its own Squid Game, minus the whole “you get eliminated, you die” part. Called the Saint Game, it was supposed to be held at the hotel’s outdoor pine tree forest on October 24th, and see up to 1100 participants compete in a series of games similar to the ones in the hit Netflix series.
They included Red Light, Green Light, tug of war, the paper tile flipping game Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) plays with the Salesman (Gong Yoo), and the famous dalgona challenge from “The Man with the Umbrella”. The player left standing at the end of all four Saint Games will receive 5 million won, which is approximately $5700 AUD. Tickets cost 10,000 won each (roughly $11 AUD) and sold out within three days.
Much like the series, the identity of the host – or Frontman and VIPs – would be revealed at the end of the games. Anyone who fails to follow the rules or doesn’t show up would be eliminated.
To be honest, take away the brutal violence and risk of death, and the challenges in Squid Game seem fun. So, in theory, this would be pure chaotic entertainment.
However, if you were hoping to catch the event in a lifestream, don’t get your hopes up. It doesn’t sound like the Saint Game will go ahead after the Gangneung government ordered the hotel to postpone it.
At the time of publishing, only eight fully vaccinated people in South Korea can gather for an event or private gathering in a hotel. That means that if this real-life Squid Game went ahead, it would be breaching current social distancing regulations in the region.
The hotel is currently discussing whether to cancel their IRL Squid Game or to tweak it so that it complies with social distancing requirements. For now, I’ll be rewatching the show for the tenth time and preparing myself for Squid Game: Australia.
