The sheer production quality of MrBeast's Squid Game means genuine comparisons are being drawn between the original Netflix show and the prominent YouTube personality's version. Viral sensation MrBeast (real name Jimmy Donaldson) is best known for the aggressive philanthropy he practices, with his giveaways and light-hearted challenges cumulatively rewarding a stunning $1 million in the last two years alone. Donaldson's latest internet stunt is an impressively faithful recreation of the Netflix's popular Korean drama Squid Game, in which 456 people compete in a series of games for a grand prize of $456,000.
The original Squid Game series revolves around a clandestine contest in which 456 players, all of whom are in deep financial debt, risk their lives to play a series of Korean children's games for the chance to win a life-changing ₩45.6 billion prize. Squid Game centers on the affable gambling addict Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae), whose initial excitement regarding the contest quickly turns to despair as he realizes the deadly nature of the challenges. Netflix's Squid Game is a remarkably sharp social commentary that not only challenges the cutthroat world of capitalist competition but also assesses how the illusion of free will gives way to all manner of exploitation within the modern age.
While MrBeast's version of Squid Game is decidedly less deadly, his YouTube video "$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!" is no less compelling given the real-life stakes involving real-life participants. Condensed into just 25 enthralling minutes, MrBeast's Squid Game manages to replicate each game played in the Netflix original, although some are handled decidedly better than others. Here's a comparison of MrBeast's Squid Game compared to the original show, as well as what Donaldson did right, wrong, better, and worse than the breakout Netflix series.
"Red Light, Green Light" Challenge
The first game to be showcased in both Squid Game versions is "Red Light, Green Light," in which anyone caught moving as the red light becomes active is eliminated from the competition as they attempt to cross the finish line before the timer runs out. In Netflix's rule-breaking show Squid Game, those failing to stand still when the red light shines are shot dead on sight, whereas in MrBeast's version, a small, harmless device strapped to each competitor's chest explodes if they move during the red light phases of the game. MrBeast also understandably forgoes using a giant, child-like omniscient robot in favor of him or his team saying the light colors intermittently.
Despite the life-or-death stakes missing from MrBeast's Red Light, Green Light game, it is no less enthralling than the Netflix original's one. While the Squid Game series uses Red Light, Green Light to display the severity of the games at hand, MrBeast uses this opening game to showcase his commitment to creating a worthy imitation of the now-famous Korean games. MrBeast's Red Light, Green Light also delivers some welcome humor to the previously taut Squid Game concepts as the YouTube star interviews some of his contestants, resulting in ample hilarity, as 224 of the competitors are eliminated in the first round.
"Ppopgi" Challenge
Mirroring the Netflix original, MrBeast's second Squid Game game is "Ppopgi," in which each player must perfectly extract a stamped shape from a "dalgona" (honeycomb candy) within a 10-minute time limit. If a player breaks the shape, they are eliminated, which in MrBeast's version again results in their chest device popping instead of being executed on-sight. While the level of detail to MrBeast's version of Ppopgi is stunning right down to the replica Ppopgi tins and one of his team sneaking a lighter to contestant 212, one notable change is the Ppopgi shapes being hidden behind question marked doors to ensure contestants that have watched the original Squid Game games do not hold an advantage when choosing a line.
Hiding the honeycomb shapes behind question marks is a masterstroke by MrBeast that adds a larger element of chance to his games. While Netflix's Squid Game utilizes Ppopgi to display Cho Sang-woo's (Park Hae-soo) propensity for deceiving his friends, MrBeast's is no less compelling in its drama. The sheer elation of the second line of contestants as it is revealed they have to extract a circular dalgona, and the fourth line's utter despair as they are lumped with the umbrella shape is worthy of any reality television series. The fact that MrBeast's game has more umbrella players successfully completing the game is also an enjoyable wrinkle, given the shape is a death sentence to all but Squid Game's old man Gi-hun in the Netflix original.
"Tug Of War" Challenge
Next in line for both Squid Game versions is "Tug of War," in which two teams compete to move their rope's flag across their respective marker lines. Although not plummeting to their death in his version, MrBeast's Tug of War set is an otherwise masterful replication of the original Squid Game platform suspended high in the air. While in the Netflix original, Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae) learns of the impending game and recruits the strongest men for his team. The MrBeast competitors already know they have to prepare for Tug of War and consequently form teams of ten.
Interestingly, life imitates art in MrBeast's Squid Game, as many female competitors are ostracized from teams due to their perceived lack of strength. However, unlike the original Squid Game, both all-male teams progress to the next round. This is one game where MrBeast's version feels decidedly less impactful, with no message of unity and fortitude to fall back on - in addition to much lower stakes. Given MrBeast's balanced and fair approach to the other rounds of his Squid Game, Tug of War feels unbalanced and harder to watch as his contestants turn the game into a boy vs. girl competition when they could've randomized the team selection instead.
"Marble Game" Challenge
In one of the most heartbreaking sequences of the entire Netflix series, the "Marble Game" pits allies against each other as they have to agree on, and then play a marble game of their choice to decide a winner. In Squid Game, the players are told to pair up before being informed they will compete against their chosen teammate. In MrBeast's game, however, he eliminates this choice and instead automatically pairs the contestants with the player they have been emotionally closest to in the tournament, resulting in several gut-wrenching pairings, including a set of roommates and best friends.
As with Tug of War before it, MrBeast's Marble Game results in some situations that mirror the events in Squid Game. One player sacrifices himself for his friend à la Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su) from the Netflix show, while two close female friends decide to play one throw of a marble for the entire game just as Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) and Ji-yeong (Lee Yoo-mi) do. Whereas Tug of War's execution leaves a lot to be desired, MrBeast's Marble Game showcases the best of his recreation of the original Squid Game story, with several contestant subplots playing out in compelling ways. Watching each pair of contestants create bizarre, marble-based games also leads to some hilarious moments as his team tries to understand the rules of several of the unfolding marble playoffs.
"Glass Bridge" Challenge
The most grandiose of events in both Squid Game versions, "Glass Bridge," has players crossing a two-panel wide bridge, where the panels are each made of either tempered or regular glass, the latter of which cannot support their weight. MrBeast keeps the uncertainty of the series' vests, swapping the unknown quantity of the game itself for hidden vest numbers that are only revealed after being selected by a player. MrBeast's version also swaps the shattering glass panels for something more akin to a trapdoor, with his contestants waiting on the platforms for a second or two before knowing if they are safe.
The viral big-money millionaire MrBeast's Glass Door, like the games before it, unintentionally recreates the human behaviors witnessed in Squid Game as the players harass each other and refuse to jump to boost their survival chances. While the original Glass Bridge is undoubtedly more riveting and sees Han Mi-nyeo (Kim Joo-ryoung) exact revenge on the callous Jang Deok-su, the proximity of the final 16 MrBeast contestants to the grand prize still makes his Glass Door highly entertaining, as six players make it to the final game.
"Musical Chairs" Challenge
The climax of MrBeast's competition swaps the complex and eponymous "Squid Game" for the Western childhood classic Musical Chairs. MrBeast and his team, quite rightly, deduce that none of his players understand in detail how to play the Korean Squid Game tournament, with the YouTube sensation instead using the now-iconic "Pink Soldiers Theme" as his Musical Chairs song. While this is certainly a simple solution to a potentially complex final game problem, using Musical Chairs does rob MrBeast's final game of the raw emotion and physicality that the Netflix series' finale demands. The severity of Gi-hun's violent final confrontation, however, is built over hours of drama in the Netflix original, so it is perhaps unsurprising MrBeast instead chose a universally understood game that does not overtly promote lethal aggression amongst his final competitors.
MrBeast's Squid Game Production
Although MrBeast's Squid Game was never likely to capture the visceral allure of the Netflix series, his expensive production is still a highly entertaining stunt. The faithful recreation of each Squid Game set is commendable, with the attention to detail in each competitor's tracksuits especially noteworthy. Less impressive from the YouTube star is the overt sponsor product placement that at times ruins the immersion of an otherwise strong Squid Game re-creation, even when armed with the knowledge that these same sponsors likely made the mammoth winnings pot possible. It must also be stated that while some details, such as the guard's uniforms and the glowing gold piggy bank were omitted by MrBeast, his benevolence when handing out massive amounts of money to the winning and losing players alike highlights the reason behind his continued popularity online. While MrBeast's Squid Game cannot hold a candle to the drama and detail of the original series, his YouTube video is an admirable homage to the groundbreaking Netflix original that succeeds in bringing Squid Game to real life.