There was a time when you couldn’t move for being bombarded by all things Squid Game. Hallowe’en costumes; online parodies; Netflix billboards fifty feet high plastered with the protagonists’ faces: Squid Game took over the world when it premiered in 2021 and we couldn’t get enough of it.
Now the general mania has subsided somewhat, but a few months ahead of the Netflix reality TV spinoff Squid Game: The Challenge, which will undoubtedly reignite those particular fires, trendy VR gaming company Sandbox is bringing out its own gaming experience.
Developed in partnership with Netflix, Squid Game Virtuals, which takes place at Sandbox’s Holborn studios, lets you and up to five other people go toe to toe as contestants in the infamous competition – fortunately without the obligatory death, dismemberment and grievous bodily harm. Never fear, however, there’s still plenty of scope for virtual backstabbing.
To accurately track movement, contestants are all kitted out with motion-tracking gadgets for hands, feet, the head and even a vest that vibrates aggressively when you die (which, in my case, was often). Topped off with the VR headset and earphones, you feel a bit like a high-tech version of the Michelin Man.
The game itself is simple – which is good for the tech illiterate. With the headset on, and located in one of Sandbox’s play spaces, you’re transported to the Squid Arena, where you will compete against the other players in a series of easy VR challenges for a virtual piggy bank full of virtual cash.
Some of these challenges – such as Red Light, Green Light – are taken directly from the show, usually with a weird twist to make things more interactive (instead of playing Granny’s Footsteps, you’re tasked with collecting coins and depositing them into a giant piggy bank without getting caught moving). Some are entirely new – such as a game taken straight from Hole in the Wall, where you and fellow contestants need to fit yourself around a series of obstacles as they move towards you.
Pleasingly, there are also lots of opportunities for the ultra-competitive. Some game solutions involve only one player getting hold of the answer that prevents instant death when the time ticks out – raising the question of whether or not to share it with fellow contestants. How strong is your friendship? Forget Monopoly; this is the ultimate test.
And the VR tech is GOOD, really good. One of the best challenges involves having to leap across a bridge made entirely from glass panels, hoping it won’t break beneath your feet. When the challenge started, I had to physically force myself to move – and when the glass broke, the swooping in my stomach was entirely real, even if the footage of me hitting the ground was mercifully fake.
What this isn’t, is a blow-by-blow retelling of the Netflix series. People coming here to experience the real Squid Game will (again, mercifully) be disappointed. The iconic pink-suited Squid minions of the original show make an appearance, but there aren’t any secondary characters to interact with or mini-quests to complete as there would be in a video game.
Instead, this is a simple, easy-to-play experience that lasts roughly forty-five minutes. It won’t get the heart pounding, but it will get it pattering gently – and even better, everyone gets to walk out alive.
