At the start of Squid Game, Gi-hun played a game with a stranger that involved a blue and red tile, and his reaction when he finally won foreshadowed his season 1 ending. The mini-game was a prerequisite activity to determine if the down-and-out protagonist had what it took to compete in the brutal Squid Game. By winning, Gi-hun proved that he would make an entertaining addition to the event orchestrated by the elite at the expense of the poor—and also demonstrated that he would do whatever it took to get revenge after it was said and done.
Squid Game season 1 met Gi-hun at rock bottom. So, when he ran into a man who offered him ₩100,000 if he could beat him in a simple game involving two tiles, Gi-hun was eager to accept. However, there was a catch. If the future Squid Game player 456 lost, he would either have to pay the cash (which he didn't have) or allow himself to be slapped by the stranger. They played repeatedly, with Gi-hun losing every time—but he kept trying. Finally, Gi-hun won, but he almost threw his prize money away to slap the stranger.
Gi-hun's Reaction To Winning The Tile Game Paralleled His Squid Game Win
Every time Gi-hun lost against the ever-smiling recruiter in Squid Game, he would be publically humiliated with a painful slap. This happened again and again, to the point that when Gi-hun finally won a round of the tile game, he had entirely forgotten about the prize money. The ₩100,000 had been the whole reason he was willing to be slapped by the Squid Game recruiter in the first place—but instead of asking for it, Gi-hun lifted his hand to hit the stranger back. After the pain and humiliation, Gi-hun desired only to make his opponent pay. Thankfully, the stranger caught Gi-hun's hand and gave him the money instead.
If Gi-hun had managed to slap the stranger, he would have forfeited the cash prize (since the slap was meant to replace the money Gi-hun didn't have). Even once the money had been placed in his hand, and he remembered the purpose of their match, Gi-hun almost looked disappointed. He had been so overtaken by the need for revenge that the money he had been so desperate for only an hour or so before seemed pointless. Incidentally, this is exactly what happened again after Gi-hun won the full Squid Games.
After Squid Game's main character risked his life—and watched hundreds lose theirs—to win the massive cash prize of ₩45.6 billion (equivalent to $38.2 million), the money no longer seemed important to him. The end of Squid Game season 1 saw Gi-hun hesitant to use his prize. Instead, when he had the chance to walk away and reclaim his life with financial security, Gi-hun chose to turn his back on it and seek revenge—just like he did when he won the preliminary tile game.
Why Was The Tile Game So Important In Squid Game?
It's no coincidence that Gi-hun's reaction to winning the tile game was so similar to when he won the Squid Game. In a sense, this simple contest was a smaller-scale version of the contest that would be set on the mysterious island. The Squid Game prize money was significantly smaller, and so were the stakes for the players. But they ultimately asked the same question: how far is someone willing to go to get money? The Squid Game needed contestants who were so desperate that they would risk their lives for a chance at wealth, and the tile game was the perfect way to gauge this.
If someone were desperate enough to allow themselves to be slapped repeatedly just for ₩100,000, they would be more likely to risk their lives for the kind of prize money the Squid Game was offering. The game's purpose was to entertain Squid Game's masked VIPs, so it needed players who would put on the best show. Gi-hun's match with the recruiter proved that he would do precisely that. However, it also proved that money wasn't the most crucial thing when it came down to it. Gi-hun demonstrated that he would risk everything to get revenge, something those involved with the game are likely to see in Squid Game season 2.