Squid Game: The Trials

The escalation of branded experiences continues! Following in the footsteps of popular San Diego Comic Con activations (among others), comes a real-life experience based on the wildly popular Netflix series, Squid Game. I’m one of millions who watched and enjoyed the show. Although I wasn’t obsessed with it, I WAS intrigued to hear about Squid Game: The Trials. I love games more than nearly anything else, so getting a chance to play larger-than-life games, against dozens of other people, in sets straight out of the show, with funding from Netflix’s immense resources, had me incredibly excited. How’d I do? Let’s find out!

Theme

Upon entering the Korean Night Market that serves as the central hub, the initial impression is “wow!” Decked out in lots of bright pink and glowing lights, there seem to be eye-catching displays everywhere you look. There is an enormous gift shop (of course), with some genuinely cool items. I’ve never wanted a bag of marbles so much! But I decided to delay my shopping until after the Trials. Food and drinks, both appropriately Korean, are offered at separate “stalls.” Tables dot the center of the room, so you can have a break while you eat, or wait for your turn. There is a roped-off VIP lounge. Large photo opportunities are in the corners, along with some arcade-style games like the claw machine. There’s a lot going on, and it all looks high-quality.

Without much waiting, our group was called to compete. Although I had seen the whole series, one of our group had never seen it, and the other 2 had only seen an episode or two before losing interest. I wondered how they would fare being thrown into the unfamiliar world of Squid Game, but it didn’t faze them much. The initial processing room sets the tone, and from there, you are walking through separate rooms, mostly inspired by the show, each featuring one challenge. You don’t really need to know the plot to understand you’re in a vaguely sinister competition against everyone else. The winner earns a nice reward and the losers…well, you better hope you don’t lose. With the impressively-decorated rooms and especially the pre-recorded videos (with subtitles thank goodness), enough of the story is conveyed that even neophytes will understand what’s happening.

Games

Games are a great source of joy to me, and I couldn’t wait to get going. The technology used in the processing room was very cool. Everyone gets a numbered wristband that tracks yours points and shows your picture and score on a group leaderboard. This seemed to work nearly flawlessly. Kudos to the tech team for integrating this kind of system into a game with dozens of players.

Unfortunately, the gameplay has problems. In the first game, (the “glass bridge”), everyone was supposed to move onto safe squares when ordered. My initial group took our first step; one player was eliminated and walked off the “bridge.” Then we waited for the next order. It never came. Suddenly we were all eliminated–the staff told us that the order had been given and we should have “listened carefully.” Effectively saying that even though none of the players moved a muscle, it was our fault for not listening? Obviously the problem was with the game itself, since the next group got a more thorough explanation than ours. I asked 2 separate staff to just let our group go again since obviously there was poor communication, but they didn’t budge. We were eliminated without even getting to play 1 of the 6 games. That gave me a bad taste I had a hard time shaking off.

Other games had minor quibbles, but at least I got to play the rest. The saving grace is that there is no elimination until the last game, Red Light Green Light. This was also the most fun and really brought me back to recess in elementary school. The game sets were very high-quality and added quite a bit to the immersion. The final game was the only one with direct competition with other players–and it felt a bit awkward to suddenly be responsible for directly attacking strangers. However, anyone doing the Trials had to know what they were in for, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. I also wasn’t very good at it, and I was quickly eliminated. The winner got a fun extra moment in the spotlight that everyone else was invested in, so the conclusion was pretty smart.

VIP Lounge

I was fortunate enough to attend the VIP area after the Trials. There is a bar with some special cocktails, including the “Red Light” and “Green Light.” You can also get a mini-flight with a small version of each. They were fantastic, especially the Green Light that my friend couldn’t stop raving about. Fitting the show, you also get an animal mask and a front-row seat to watch contestants file past you at the end of their own Trials. Additionally there are video monitors to watch some of the ongoing games–the only problem is that my group was the 2nd-to-last of the night, so by the time we got to the VIP lounge, there was only one game left so we didn’t get to see much at all on the monitors. A photo booth rounds out the offerings, along with nice decor and music. The lighting and sound levels were really good. We actually spent the rest of our time here and the Night Market was closed by the time we the evening ended.

Should You Go?

If you’re looking for something unique with a group of friends…then yes, I think this a fun night out! Enjoy the scenery, don’t take things too seriously, maybe get some noodles or milk tea in the night market. If you’re flying solo, or you’re very competitive and want to do your best at the games…then probably skip it. The games are too random and rely too much on all the technology working correctly to stake your hopes on.

Squid Game: The Trials currently runs through January 31, near the Grove in Los Angeles. The games take about 70 minutes and you’re free to hang out in the market or VIP lounge (with VIP ticket) as long as you want. Regular tickets are $39, and VIP tickets are $99. More information, including ticket purchasing options, are available on their website at this link: Squid Game: The Trials.