If you've ever wanted to test your metal and see if you could survive in Netflix's Squid Game, there's a sure way to do it! Here is Squid Game The Board Game, where you can test your luck with up to 6 friends to see if you can win 45.6 billion Won and outlast your friends.
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Based on the Korean survival thriller that took the world by storm in 2021, where “hundreds of cash-strapped contestants accept an invitation to compete in children's games for a tempting prize, but the stakes are deadly” , the board game emulates the many stages of the game that the contestants went through in their attempt to survive and win the prize.
The game has six different “stages,” but don’t let that intimidate you. The game is relatively quick to play and also relatively quick to learn and understand. Whether you're a board game expert or a newcomer to the tabletop gaming scene, you'll quickly get the hang of this game.
You don't need to have seen the series to enjoy the game, but if you have, it will help put you in the mindset needed to enjoy the game. Without further ado, let's get into Squid Game The Board Game.
What does the box contain?
Inside the box, you'll find two double-sided boards with four different “rounds” or games to play, mimicking the games the contestants played in Season 1 of Netflix's Squid Game.
You also receive 72 team tokens, all numbered and divided into six teams (white, pink, red, yellow, green and blue), allowing you to play with up to six players.
In addition to the team tokens, you also have 36 team-colored player cards, divided into the same colors, giving each player 6 cards to use during different games.
You also get different cards for a few games that don't work with player cards alone, including 7 “Doll” cards, 11 “Dalgona” cards, and 24 cards used for the final and most iconic part of the Squid Game: the board game.
For other games, there are 8 “Glass Bridge” tiles, 4 “Mannequin” tiles that are double-sided to show the “Wall” tiles on the other side, and finally, a speed token, a “Dummy” tile. timer” (displaying from 15 to 00) which helps count down the turns, 4 die-cut “Marbles” tokens which construct marbles to play with, and of course, a booklet to help understand the rules.
The box includes a “piggy bank”, where the tokens of the eliminated teams are pooled to determine the winner. All these pieces will be explained during each turn of the game.
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How to play Squid Game The Board Game?
Like the Netflix series, the goal of Squid Game The Board Game is to lead your team through six deadly games with at least one member surviving to win the game.
Each player chooses a color between green, white, red, pink, blue and yellow, and this is the color of the player cards they will use, the team tokens they start with at the start and that he wins throughout the game, and the “Squid” cards that he will obtain during the last round of the game, but we will come back to that later.
Red light Green light
As in the series, our first game is Red Light Green Light. You start the game by setting up your players. You'll need one of the boards, especially the one with the terrifying and now iconic robotic doll whose head turns around for play.
Each player starts with seven tokens (leave the other five on the side and “behind the scenes”) and player cards of their respective color. You will also need all seven “doll” cards and the timer tiles for this game. For this game, you set the timer for 10:00.
To begin the game, each player places a token behind the starting line and prepares to “rush” to move as many tokens across the board as possible. Shuffle the “Doll” cards and place them on the table next to the board.
Each turn, players place one of their six cards on the table, face down. Once everyone has revealed their cards, you draw the top Doll card to see when it will turn around and eliminate players.
If the Doll card says Green Light, everyone can run the number of rows indicated on their card, so if you play a 4, you can run four spaces. If the Doll card says Red Light, it shows a number below it, and whoever played that number is eliminated, so if the Doll card says a 4, your player token is eliminated.
At the end of this round, return the card you played to your hand and prepare for the next round. Let's say you managed to get a token past the starting line. In this case, at the start of the next round, you place another token behind the starting line. If you succeed, you advance all your chips by a number equal to that of your card. If you play the same number as indicated on the Doll card, the pawn closest to the Doll is eliminated.
You do not move during this turn if you play the 0 Push card. Instead, you push another player token into your lane or a lane in front of them, resulting in that token being eliminated.
When the doll runs out of cards, the timer counts down to 5:00, and the cards are shuffled and played again. Once the countdown is over, all the tokens still on the board that have not managed to move to the other side are eliminated. When one of your pawns is eliminated, turn it over and place it in the piggy bank so that it becomes part of the money won by the winner.
Each player takes all the tokens they obtained by crossing the finish line for the next round. If you were particularly unlucky and didn't get any tokens, don't worry, Squid Game has you covered.
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Dalgona

Here we play the game for kids where players have to break one of four shapes, a circle, a triangle, a star and an umbrella, to get out of a honeycomb cookie without breaking the shape itself, using only a needle. Luckily, the board game version isn't as tricky and relies on strategy and cards.
To set up this game, flip your game board to reveal the Dalgona board, set your timer for 3:00 p.m., and prepare your Dalgona cards. The player with the most surviving tokens goes first, and places all of their tokens among the four shapes in the shaded sections as they wish. From there, each player rotates clockwise from the first player, placing their tokens on the board.
The Dalgona game plays in the same order. Each round begins with player 1, and the player to his right shuffles the Dalgona cards for him, and the player gets to choose his cards. Each turn, a player with a survivor token on the board must draw at least one card, but can choose to draw as many as they want, and if they are lucky, they will stop before the card “Crack! If he has a token on a shape matching the card drawn, he moves to the next unshaded tile of that shape.
If the first card you draw is “Crack!”, you can eliminate any opponent’s tokens instead of one of your tokens. However, if you do not decide to stop drawing before drawing the “Crack!” card, one of your tokens (of your choice) is eliminated. Once your pawn returns to the shaded part of the shape, it is safe.
If a player draws a card for a shape they have no token on, they “draw the lighter” and must push another player's token into that shape, so there is an element of cooperation in this step .
Once the cards are returned to player 1, the countdown begins. When the countdown reaches zero, all remaining tokens on the board are eliminated.
tug of war

For the war game, take the other board and display the side where the ropes are. There you will find 24 slots to place tokens and create teams. Each player can add a “behind the scenes” token to their team.
Starting with the player with the most surviving tokens, each player (in clockwise order) takes turns placing a token on the board until they run out of tokens or that there are no more spaces on the board. Tokens that are not placed on the board are immediately eliminated.
Once the board is filled or each player has placed all of their tokens on the board, players take turns placing one card face down for each token they have on the board. If a player has more chips than cards, he must choose the location of his cards wisely.
Once all the cards have been placed, they are revealed for one tug-of-war “battle” at a time. Calculate the total of the cards on each side. If there are no 0 cards that have been played, the higher total wins, pulling the other team's chips into space, and all of the winning side's chips survive the scene.
The rules change a bit if there are 0 cards in play. If there are an odd number of 0 cards (one, three, five, etc.), the team with the lowest total wins because she “stumbles” the other team, but an even number of cards cancels out.
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Marbles

Coming back to a much simpler game, the fourth stage of Squid Game The Board Game is a seemingly simple game of marbles. For this step, you will need the four tiles representing a brick wall with a patch of sand at the bottom, your surviving team tokens, and the two die cups that you put together to get two marbles.
Once again, add a new team token from behind the scenes to your team and take turns going around the table, placing one token at a time to pair them up. You can pair your token or leave it alone, but if there is another unique token, those two tokens will be paired at the end. If there is only one pawn remaining and there is no one to match it, that team pawn advances to the next round without playing the step. Likewise, suppose you have a pair of tokens and two of your own. In this case, you choose to save one and the other is automatically eliminated.
To play, the player with the most surviving tokens begins by going around the table clockwise and choosing a pair of opponents with one of their tokens. From there, they can decide whether to play “Odd-Even” or “Closest to the Wall.”
To play “Odd-Even”, the player who chose the pair hides one or two marbles in his hand, and the opponent must guess whether he is holding an even or odd number. If you hold a marble and your opponent guesses “Odd” correctly, his pawn survives and yours is eliminated. If you are holding a ball and your opponent incorrectly guesses “Pair”, your chip survives and theirs is eliminated.
Suppose a player decides to be smart and doesn't hide any marbles. In this case, his pawn is automatically eliminated because he does not respect the rules.
To play “Closest to the Wall,” lay the wall tiles flat on the table, and you and your opponent must roll the marbles as close to the red line as possible on the tiles, starting with your opponent. If your ball leaves the table, your pawn is immediately eliminated.
Each pawn that wins its “battle” survives and moves on to the next stage.
Glass Bridge

When you start or enter the stage, you can add a Backstage Token to your team. This is a great way to ensure that every player enters each stage with at least one token.
As with all stages in the series, the goal of this one is to cross the glass bridge, finding which side is broken and which side is solid, before time runs out.
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For this stage of the game, you will need the “Mannequin Strips” (to flip your marble wall), Glass Bridge Tiles, Timer set to 3:00 p.m., Available Team Tokens, and Team Cards. corresponding player.
To begin, count the number of surviving tokens and place mannequin strips based on the number of tokens remaining. If there are 6 or fewer team tokens remaining, use only one strip; if there are 7 to 12 left, use two strips; if there are 13 to 18 left, use three strips; and if there are 19 to 24 left, use four strips. Place them in a row.
Now, starting with the player with the most surviving tokens, go around the table clockwise, placing tokens on top of a mannequin to claim that position in the line. Remember, you haven't yet learned which side is the start or end of the line, so choose carefully!
Once all the tokens are placed, each player plays a card and the total determines which end is the start of the deck. If the total is odd, you will build the glass bridge in a row to the left of the chips, and if it is even, you will build it from the right of the chips, then collect your cards from the table.
When you build the glass bridge, make sure the broken side is facing down and the bridge tiles are shuffled so that no one knows which side of the strip is broken and which side is solid. Once the bridge is built, remove the mannequin strips and fill in the gaps in the line. Once the line is formed, the timer is set to 3:00 p.m. and you are ready to begin.
At the start of each round, everyone plays a card face down on the table. Once everyone has played their cards, they are revealed simultaneously. Whoever played the highest card starts playing, and from there the round continues clockwise.
If two players have played the same number of cards, the token closest to the end of the deck begins. If the two chips are still tied, check the number on the players' chips, and whoever is higher goes first. Once everyone at the table has taken their turn, the cards are left on the table or discarded, and the player can only use what is left in their hand. Once their hand is empty, players collect their cards and the countdown begins.
As the tokens move across the bridge, they reveal the broken side and the solid side so that the tokens following them can follow the correct path.
Sometimes two tokens are on the same tile, which causes a chain reaction. The rules regarding the chain reaction are a bit complicated, so let's look at it through an example. If you play a four, but the tile in front of you is already occupied by two tokens, you must stop and decide which token you are going to push.
The pushing rules work differently depending on the cards played. Suppose a token is pushed because of a chain reaction. In this case, the player who owns the token decides which side of the bridge they will jump on, which allows them to either reveal a tile or take cover. If a token is pushed because another player played a 0 Push card, the one who played it gets to push an opponent's token, thus deciding where it lands.
This pawn is immediately eliminated if you reveal a tile and the place where you jumped is broken. If the side is not broken, you continue the moves you played on your card. Once the last card of your
Be careful not to reveal the bridge too quickly. Suppose the timer still shows 3:00 p.m. or 10:00 a.m. when the last glass bridge tile is revealed. In this case, you have angered the VIPs watching the octopus game. They immediately turn the clock back to 05:00 and the final round begins.
Any tokens still on the glass bridge or behind the starting line when the countdown reaches 00:00 are immediately eliminated, but anyone who managed to cross safely advances to the next round.
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Squid game

Bravo, you have arrived at the last stage of the game, the one which bears the name of the Netflix series and the final moment of the game. For this part, you collect your last additional token, and you will need the side of the board which represents the squid game, squid cards and the dash token.
To win the game, your token must be the first to reach the squid head or leave only one team standing. The player with the fewest surviving tokens at the start receives the speed token. Fortunately, there is no timer for this game.
To start the game, players place one of their tokens on the Square and the rest of their surviving tokens in the safe zone (the bubble at the bottom of the board). As long as the pawns are in the safe zone, they cannot be pushed or stabbed, but they will eventually have to move to the square where they are no longer safe.
At the start of each round, all players play one of their four cards face down on the table, and once everyone has placed theirs, the cards are revealed. Each of the four cards is numbered 1 to 4 and must be played in that order, that is, whoever played a 1 goes first, and so on. If two or more players have played the same card, the player with the speed token starts, and the others (with the same card) will continue in clockwise order.
- If you played a 1 this turn, your tokens have blocked any stabs this turn but can still be pushed.
- If you played a 2 this turn, your pawns will stab another pawn that is in the same area as your pawn (so if you are in the triangle area, you will stab a pawn in the triangle, if you are in the square, your pawn will stab another pawn in the square). If the only other pawn in your zone has been blocked, it is your pawn that is eliminated.
- If you played a 3 this turn, your pawn pushes a pawn that played blocking into your zone and eliminates it because it “fell from the squid court”.
- If you played a 4 this turn, you can move your pawns (if they have not already been stabbed). If your token is in the safe zone, it moves to the square. If your pawn is in the square, it moves towards the triangle and starts at the place marked 1. If your pawn is already in the triangle, it moves forward following the numbers. If you have a pawn in each zone, you choose between the two and only move one pawn.
If you have multiple tokens on the board, they all have the same action, so a player's token playing block will be blocked, whether it is in the square or triangle area.
At the end of the round, all surviving pawns in the triangle move to the next numbered position, including those that had just entered the triangle during that round. All players can collect their cards from the table, and the speed token is passed to the next player clockwise, and the next round begins.
There are two conditions to win. If your team is the only one alive at any point in the game, you win the game. Otherwise, suppose your pawn is the first to reach the circle (i.e. it has moved from the 8th position on the game board towards the circle). In this case, you win and all other tokens on the board are eliminated.
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What did we think of Squid Game The Board Game?
Squid Game The Board Game was fun to play, and the idea of each lost token being eliminated is a bit exciting.
When we first opened the game and saw all the components and tried to read the instructions, we were intimidated. We needed to understand the rules and check them regularly. However, once we got into the swing of it, it was easy to get into the game and start enjoying it. This board game is an excellent adaptation of the Netflix series, with moments of tension and others of relief; at times we really felt like we were in the game.
As some of us were less fortunate than others, it was nice to know that we could continue the rounds, even if we only had one team token, and that we would make it through all the rounds , whether we are doing well or poorly.
Ultimately, it was an enjoyable experience, and we will play it again. If you want to test your metal against your friends and see who survives Squid Game The Board Game, head over to Solarpop to get your own copy.
Review
Squid Game The board game
BENEFITS
- Very fun to play
- It can be played by up to 6 players
- Once you understand the rules, it's a breeze.
CONS
- Instructions and setup can be intimidating
- The rules can be confusing