The 10 Most Intense 'Death Game' Shows To Watch Right Now (Updated For 2024)

The global phenomenon of Squid Game redefined the survival drama genre, blending childhood nostalgia with brutal high-stakes competition and sharp social commentary. The series’ success, which broke Netflix viewing records, proved that audiences have an insatiable appetite for stories where desperate people are forced into a deadly game by an unseen, powerful elite. If you finished the first season and Squid Game: The Challenge, and are now craving more psychological tension and dystopian thrills, you are in luck. As of late 2024, a new wave of Korean and international series has hit streaming platforms, offering fresh, intense takes on the "death game" premise.

This curated list goes beyond the obvious, focusing on the newest and most critically acclaimed survival drama series that expertly explore themes of capitalism, class warfare, and human morality under extreme pressure. From a claustrophobic K-drama where time literally equals money to a Japanese masterpiece that’s finally getting a new season, these are the essential psychological thrillers to binge next.

The Newest K-Drama Obsessions: 2024’s High-Stakes Thrillers

The South Korean entertainment industry continues to dominate the genre, delivering shows that are not only visually stunning but also rich with social commentary. These two recent releases are the closest comparisons to Squid Game in terms of premise and thematic depth, making them essential viewing for fans.

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1. The 8 Show (2024)

Released in May 2024 on Netflix, The 8 Show immediately drew comparisons to its predecessor, but with a unique, claustrophobic twist. The series is based on two Naver webtoons, Money Game and Pai Game, and focuses less on physical games and more on the psychological and social dynamics of its participants.

• The Premise: Eight debt-burdened individuals are invited to participate in a game where they are locked inside an eight-story building.
• The Game: The goal is to survive for 100 days to win a massive cash prize. The catch? Everything they purchase—from food and water to basic necessities—is exponentially more expensive than in the outside world, and the cost is deducted from the final prize pool.
• The Twist: The time they spend inside is what earns them money. The money is divided unequally based on which floor they occupy, creating an instant, brutal class hierarchy among the players. This forces them to cooperate and betray one another in a confined space, perfectly mirroring capitalist exploitation.

2. Pyramid Game (2024)

While not a traditional "death game," Pyramid Game captures the same chilling atmosphere of a controlled, high-stakes environment where one's social standing determines their survival. This K-drama, which debuted in early 2024, is a sharp critique of school bullying and class divides in South Korea.

• The Premise: Every month, the students of Class 2-5 at Baekyeon Girls’ High School participate in a secret popularity vote called the Pyramid Game.
• The Game: Students are ranked from A (most popular) to F (the outcast). The student who receives an F grade becomes the target of sanctioned physical and psychological bullying for the entire month.
• The Protagonist: Sung Soo-ji, a new transfer student, arrives and immediately finds herself at the bottom of the pyramid, forcing her to launch a strategic, high-stakes rebellion to dismantle the entire system. This series is a must-watch for its intense focus on social inequality and psychological warfare.

Global Dystopian Competitions: The Original Death Game Shows

Before Squid Game, the concept of a deadly contest was already a staple in Asian and global cinema. These two series are the gold standard for the genre, featuring expansive worlds and intricate, life-or-death challenges.

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3. Alice in Borderland (2020–Present)

Based on the Japanese manga by Haro Aso, Alice in Borderland is arguably the closest spiritual successor to Squid Game, featuring complex, challenging games and a large cast of desperate characters. The series is known for its intense action and puzzle-solving elements.

• The Premise: A jobless gamer, Arisu, and his two friends are suddenly transported to an abandoned, parallel version of Tokyo, known as the Borderland.
• The Game: To survive, they must compete in a series of deadly games, categorized by suits of playing cards: Spades for physical strength, Clubs for teamwork, Diamonds for intellect, and Hearts for psychological manipulation (the most deadly). Winning earns them "visas," extending their time in the Borderland.
• Season 3 Update: While the series' second season seemed to offer a conclusion, recent news and fan theories suggest a continuation. The potential for a Season 3, where the survivors like Arisu and Usagi are pulled back into the Borderland after briefly returning to the real world, keeps this franchise fresh and highly relevant for fans of dystopian thrillers.

4. 3% (2016–2020)

This Brazilian dystopian thriller was a Netflix original long before Squid Game and offers a similar critique of wealth inequality and social stratification. It is a powerful example of how the "game" can be a tool for systemic oppression.

• The Premise: The world is divided into the impoverished Inland and the utopian Offshore. Every year, 20-year-olds from the Inland get one chance to compete in "The Process."
• The Game: The Process is a series of grueling physical, psychological, and moral tests designed to weed out the weak. Only 3% of the candidates are successful and earn the right to live a life of comfort on the Offshore.
• The Themes: Like Squid Game, 3% focuses on the desperation of the poor and the ethical compromises required to escape poverty, making it a compelling socio-political drama.

Psychological Thrillers and High-Concept Horror

The core appeal of Squid Game is the intense psychological pressure on its characters. These shows trade the colorful playgrounds for different kinds of enclosed, terrifying environments, focusing on mind games, moral dilemmas, and the breakdown of society.

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5. Black Mirror (2011–Present)

While an anthology series, many episodes of Black Mirror feature high-stakes, game-like scenarios that directly echo the themes of Squid Game, particularly the dangers of technology and social scoring systems. The episode "Fifteen Million Merits" is a particularly apt comparison, featuring a forced competition within a controlled environment.

6. All of Us Are Dead (2022)

This Korean zombie horror series swaps the rules of a game for the chaos of a viral outbreak, but the concept of a confined space (a high school) where students must make brutal, life-or-death decisions to survive remains the same. It is a thrilling survival thriller that highlights the fragility of social order.

7. Sweet Home (2020–Present)

Another excellent K-drama, Sweet Home, is set in an apartment complex where residents are trapped as humans begin turning into monstrous reflections of their inner desires. The residents must unite and establish their own rules of survival, making it a confined battle royale against an external threat, much like the players fighting for their lives in Squid Game.

8. Physical: 100 (2023–Present)

For those who loved the pure, brutal physicality of the games in Squid Game, the Korean reality competition series Physical: 100 is the perfect antidote. One hundred of South Korea's fittest individuals—from Olympic athletes to bodybuilders and MMA fighters—compete in a series of grueling challenges to find the "perfect body." While there are no deadly stakes, the intensity, production value, and the sheer desperation to win are palpable, offering a real-life taste of the survival competition genre.

More Essential Dystopian and Game-Based Entities

To truly immerse yourself in the world of high-stakes, game-based media, you should also explore these influential and highly-rated titles:

• Snowpiercer (2020–2024): A post-apocalyptic dystopian series set entirely on a perpetually moving train, where the last remnants of humanity are segregated by class, leading to a constant, deadly struggle for resources and control.
• Hellbound (2021): A supernatural K-drama that explores the moral panic and societal breakdown that occurs when supernatural beings begin appearing to condemn individuals to Hell, creating a new, terrifying social order.
• Liar Game (2007, 2014): Based on a Japanese manga, this series focuses purely on the psychological manipulation and intellectual puzzles of a high-stakes competition where contestants try to trick each other out of vast sums of money.
• Kakegurui (2017–Present): Set in an elite academy where social standing is determined by a complex hierarchy of gambling, this Japanese series is a wild, over-the-top exploration of the psychological toll of high-stakes games.
• Panic (2021): A U.S.-based series about a group of graduating high school students in a small Texas town who participate in a series of dangerous, winner-take-all games for a large cash prize that they believe is their only way out.

Whether you are drawn to the moral ambiguity of The 8 Show, the dystopian future of 3%, or the sheer terror of Alice in Borderland, the "death game" genre is thriving. These shows, with their deep dives into human nature and the corrosive effects of extreme wealth inequality, prove that the legacy of Squid Game is only just beginning.