Hoping to win easy money, a broke and desperate Gi-hun agrees to take part in an enigmatic game with other participants who have also failed at life for various reasons. Each is hopeful to win the more than 38 million US dollar prize, but not long into the first round, unforeseen horrors unfold. Set on an isolated island the participants are locked up until there is a final winner. The story incorporates popular Korean children's games from the 1970s and 1980s, such as squid game, but not all games are innocent...
Hoping to win easy money, a desperate Gi-hun agrees to take part in an enigmatic game; not long into the first round, unforeseen horrors unfold.
Split on whether to continue or quit, the group holds a vote; their realities in the outside world may prove to be just as unforgiving as the game.
A few players enter the next round, which promises equal doses of sweet and deadly; Jun-ho takes the opportunity to sneak his way inside.
As alliances form among the players, no one is safe in the dormitory after lights out; the third game challenges Gi-hun's team to think strategically.
Gi-hun and his team take turns keeping guard through the night and the masked men encounter trouble with their co-conspirators.
Players pair off for the fourth game; Gi-hun grapples with a moral dilemma; Sang-woo chooses self-preservation; Sae-byeok shares her untold story.
The Masked Leader welcomes VIP guests to the facility for a front-row viewing of the show; in the fifth game, some players crack under the pressure.
Ahead of the last round, distrust and disgust run deep among the finalists; Jun-ho makes a getaway, determined to expose the game's secrets.
The final round presents another cruel test, but, this time, how it ends depends on just one player; the game's creator steps out of the shadows.