There were a lot of mid-COVID releases that became a cultural moment, but Squid Game was among the most widespread.
Sure, plenty of us lined up to catch a glimpse of the absolute mania that is Joe Exotic, but Squid Game captured the attention of the nation — several nations, in fact — when it was released in September of 2021. Another season of the dystopian, but eerily believable, series is headed to Netflix eventually, but in the meantime we have Squid Game: The Challenge, a reality series based around the unflinching social commentary its predecessor is seeped in.
Instead of serving as a critique of our capitalistic society — one in which people are more likely to find financial aid in a deadly competition than their own government — Squid Game: The Challenge ponders if those dangerous games were actually all that challenging.
Spoiler alert: They were, and The Challenge is driving that point home, intentionally or not. The competition pits the largest number of competitors ever against one another, bringing a whopping 456 players together to compete for a $4.56 million prize. The game show breaks several records, in its unique approach, including the largest winning pot in game show history. It also boasts a truly staggering number of competitors, all of whom are real-world people looking to test their mettle for a life-changing amount of cash.
Squid Game: The Challenge players
It would be excessive to detail the background of each and every one of The Challenge‘s 456 players, considering how many there are, but we’re still curious about the courageous souls that decided to test themselves against Netflix’s wild game. The streamer provides a brief synopsis for each player over on its website, but only presents them with their first name. We’ll follow the same format, but with so many players to get through, we’re going to skip the chunk of contestants who were eliminated early in the game.
As of episode 6 — which is set to arrive on the streamer on Nov. 29 — only 63 of 456 players remain. As was the case in the original series, those early games did well in shaving down the competition. Now, only the most determined players remain to try their hand at that $4.5 million prize.
- Player 33 — Figgy
- Player 34 — Hannah
- Player 35 — Megan
- Player 41 — Jastin
- Player 57 — Madison
- Player 68 — Abdulla
- Player 103 — Stephanie
- Player 107 — Tayo
- Player 135 — Vanessa
- Player 136 — Carlos
- Player 142 — Anna
- Player 186 — Onur
- Player 187 — Kevin
- Player 188 — Sam
- Player 194 — Saïd
- Player 218 — Michael
- Player 220 — Jessi
- Player 226 — Aiyanna
- Player 248 — Chaun
- Player 258 — Brownie
- Player 264 — Tyler
- Player 267 — Amanda
- Player 270 — Adrian
- Player 273 — Darylle
- Player 297 — Kwame
- Player 343 — Brianna
- Player 350 — Lindsey
- Player 352 — Radhika
- Player 357 — Nayo
- Player 362 — Kiara
- Player 367 — Camilla
- Player 386 — Mimi
- Player 389 — Taylor
- Player 396 — Scott
- Player 414 — Rebecca
- Player 422 — Riley
- Player 432 — Bryton
- Player 433 — Alex
- Player 434 — Joe
- Player 435 — Catherine
- Player 438 — Shelby
- Player 447 — Yongjun
- Player 452 — Mark
Plenty of the listed competitors are facing down their own eliminations as episode 6 and beyond loom, of course but, for now, a heaping handful of players are still holding on. They’ll see more challenging games shave their numbers down as episode 6 and beyond arrive on Netflix.
Episodes 6 through 9 are set to release on Nov. 29, with the season’s final episode dropping a week later, on Dec. 6.