Which is more difficult, ‘Survivor’ or ‘Squid Game: The Challenge?’

This article contains spoilers for the first five episodes of Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge.

Two of the most popular reality competition shows of 2023 are Survivor and Squid Game: The Challenge. But, which one is more difficult?

Both series are grueling in their own ways. Survivor, a CBS flagship series since 2000, maroons contestants on an island and forces them to compete in physical challenges while they brave the elements for 26 days with only the bare necessities to live — like water, rice, and coconuts. Their makeshift shelter is built using resources they find around their Fijian camp, and the tool they’re given is a machete.

Survivor helped set the standard of reality competition shows in terms of social and strategic play. But, it still remains as one of the most physical challenges on television. Castaways routinely lose weight in the two digits, and they return home with scars. But, most will likely say it’s an adventure of a lifetime, and they have no regrets putting their body on the line for $1 million.

And then there’s Squid Game: The Challenge. It’s Netflix’s newest and hottest competition series and it’s directly based on the South Korean scripted series Squid Game, which has remained a juggernaut for the streaming platform. The first iteration premiered on November 22 and is ongoing. Players are battling it out in childhood games, like “Warship” and “Red Light, Green Light” for a historic payday — $4.56 million.

All in all, 456 contestants donned the famous green tracksuits at the start of the season. And over a 16-day filming experience, the remaining players lived in a dormitory and slept in multi-stacked bunkbeds while eating a few small meals a day. Although the game isn’t nearly as physical as Survivor, it’s a mental and emotional grind.

The amount of money up for grabs is truly life-changing (not saying $1 million isn’t), and with players being eliminated left and right, Squid Game: The Challenge is an arduous pressure cooker.

Now, the word “difficult” is ambiguous — it can mean different things. In terms of winning the entire series, Squid Game: The Challenge is more difficult to traverse, as there are nearly 500 contestants and some of the eliminations are out of a player’s control. There were also very physical portions, which led to a potential lawsuit concerning players and the conditions surrounding the first challenge, Red Light, Green Light.

But, if we’re talking physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually difficult, I’d say Survivor takes the cake. Players not only have to live under harsh conditions, they must also navigate a strategic and social warzone. Squid Game: The Challenge may take more a of toll in one or two of the aforementioned factors, but as a guy who has never competed on these shows and writes about them for a living, I’d reckon Survivor is more difficult in totality.

A former Survivor contestant also played on Squid Game: The Challenge, and she gave her take on which was more difficult

So, who would be the best person to ask about the difference between Survivor and Squid Game: The Challenge? Well, someone who has shown up on both of the series. And that’s Jessica “Figgy” Figueroa.

Figgy is a one-time Survivor veteran — she appeared on season 33’s Millenials vs. Gen X in 2016. Although she was taken out pre-merge, she lived on a Fijian beach for 18 days as a castaway. Figgy was a contestant Netflix focused attention on for the first few episodes until her untimely demise during Warship. She spoke with Entertainment Weekly in a post-game interview and was asked to compare the difficulty of the two reality competition series.

Although she didn’t choose one or the other, she offered great insight into what it’s like to steer through the games.

“That’s a tough question. I want to compare them, but they are truly very, very different. Survivor, I’m outside, I’m on an island, I can watch the sunrise, the sunset, I can go spearfish, I can go search for coconuts when I want. Squid Game, I’m fully immersed, I am a character in the show, I’m in a dorm room with 200 bunks. Sure, there are restrooms and showers, but I’m not able to go get a coconut when I want to have a nice little snack. I’m not able to have a sense of time watching the sunrise, and I’m on the guard’s time as to when I’m fed.

“Psychologically, there’s also a difference. Survivor, I make alliances. Relationships can make or break you in that game, and you’re paranoid. Whereas Squid Game, I’m forming those relationships to propel me forward, and the conversations were less about, ‘We need to get so-and-so out,’ because we don’t do that. It’s less plotting. I found myself sometimes saying Squid Game is so much harder but I could make a fight for either one.”

Now, it’s important to mention that Figgy said her experience on Survivor directly led to her being much more confident on Squid Game: The Challenge. So, if she wasn’t a reality veteran, then she may have found Netflix’s series even more difficult.

Regardless, neither show is frivolously handing out cash to players, and outlasting the entire field of competitors while living under less-than-ideal circumstances is the only way to secure the grand prize.