8 High-Stakes Korean Shows Like Squid Game To Binge-Watch Right Now (Updated 2025)

The global phenomenon of Squid Game did more than just break streaming records; it cemented the Korean survival thriller as a must-watch genre, blending high-stakes death games with biting social commentary. If you’ve been searching for that next adrenaline-fueled series that forces desperate characters into impossible moral dilemmas, you're in luck. The K-drama landscape, as of late 2025, is overflowing with fresh, dark, and psychologically intense shows that perfectly capture the dystopian spirit of the original.

From a brutal social ranking game in a high school to a battle for survival in an 8-story building where time literally equals money, these series go beyond simple gore to explore the darkest corners of human nature. We have scoured the latest releases to bring you the most current and compelling list of Korean shows that deliver the same shocking twists, moral ambiguity, and cinematic quality that made Squid Game a worldwide obsession. Prepare your binge list—the games are about to begin.

The New Wave: Latest K-Dramas with Direct Death Game & Social Commentary

The success of Squid Game has directly inspired a new generation of K-dramas that foreground the themes of economic disparity, class struggle, and the corrupting nature of power, often setting them within a deadly, confined space. These are the most recent and direct spiritual successors.

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1. The 8 Show (2024)

This series is arguably the most direct successor to Squid Game in its premise and execution. It takes eight financially desperate individuals and traps them in a mysterious eight-story building. The rules are simple: they earn money as time passes, but the rate of earning is different for each floor, creating an immediate, visible class hierarchy.

• The Game: A high-stakes, confined space reality show where the participants’ time is literally converted into money.
• The Twist: The higher the floor, the more money a participant earns per minute, leading to intense power struggles and moral compromises between the "floors."
• Why You'll Like It: It brilliantly dissects the psychology of wealth and poverty, showing how quickly a new, brutal social order can be established when money is the only goal.
• Key Entities: Ryu Jun-yeol (Bae Jin-su), Chun Woo-hee (Song Se-ra), Social Hierarchy, Economic Disparity.

2. Pyramid Game (2024)

Taking the concept of social commentary into the high school setting, Pyramid Game is a chilling psychological thriller that proves not all death games require physical violence. It focuses on Baekyeon Girls' High School, where students participate in a monthly popularity vote. The results categorize students into a strict, violent hierarchy, with the lowest-ranked student receiving a "Grade F" and becoming the official target of school bullying.

• The Game: A monthly popularity vote that determines who is bullied and who is the bully.
• The Twist: New transfer student Seong Su-ji (Kim Ji-yeon) is immediately ranked F and decides to dismantle the entire system from the bottom up.
• Why You'll Like It: It’s a powerful, dark look at school violence, peer pressure, and the systemic nature of cruelty, making it a terrifyingly grounded survival story.
• Key Entities: Seong Su-ji (Bona), Baekhyeon Girls' High School, School Bullying, Psychological Thriller, Social Ranking.

3. Death's Game (2023–2024)

While less about a physical death game, Death's Game is a high-concept fantasy thriller that forces its protagonist, Choi Yee-jae, into a terrifying survival scenario after he attempts to end his life. He is confronted by Death (Park So-dam) and sentenced to die 12 more times, reincarnated into 12 different bodies right before their inevitable, brutal demise. He must survive one of these deaths to live.

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• The Game: A cosmic, life-or-death challenge where the protagonist must survive one of 12 gruesome deaths in different bodies.
• The Twist: The stakes are intensely personal and psychological, forcing the main character to experience the lives of people from all walks of life, from a rich heir to a high school student.
• Why You'll Like It: The anthology format keeps the pace breakneck, and the all-star cast (including Seo In-guk, Lee Do-hyun, and Choi Si-won) makes each short life a compelling, high-stakes drama.
• Key Entities: Choi Yee-jae (Seo In-guk), Park So-dam (Death), Reincarnation, Anthology Series, Existential Horror.

Monster Horror and Historical Survival Thrillers

The survival genre in K-dramas isn't limited to human-vs-human death games. Many of the most popular series pit characters against terrifying supernatural threats or monsters, often in a confined setting that mirrors the desperation seen in Squid Game.

4. Gyeongseong Creature (2023–2024)

This historical monster horror series transports the survival theme back to 1945 Gyeongseong (now Seoul), during the dark days of Japanese colonial rule. A wealthy pawnshop owner, Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon), and a detective, Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee), must infiltrate a mysterious hospital where a terrifying biological monster is being created. The true horror lies not just in the creature, but in the political and human atrocities that led to its creation.

• The Game: Survival against a biological monster in a confined, secret hospital during wartime.
• The Twist: The series uses the monster as a metaphor for the real-life horrors of the era, adding a layer of historical and political commentary to the action.
• Why You'll Like It: It combines period drama aesthetics with modern monster horror, delivering a high-budget, action-packed survival story with deep emotional stakes.
• Key Entities: Jang Tae-sang (Park Seo-joon), Yoon Chae-ok (Han So-hee), Historical Drama, Colonial Rule, Biological Monster, Thriller.

5. Sweet Home (2020–Ongoing)

A global hit that continues to release new seasons, Sweet Home focuses on a group of residents trapped in an apartment complex as the world outside is overrun by monsters that reflect human desires. Like Squid Game, the show locks a diverse group of people in a confined space, forcing them to cooperate and confront their own moral failings to survive the monster apocalypse.

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• The Game: Confined-space survival against human-turned-monsters.
• The Twist: The monsters are manifestations of the victims' deepest psychological desires, making the threat both external and internal.
• Why You'll Like It: It’s a visually stunning, action-heavy monster series that still finds time for profound character development and discussions on what it means to be human.
• Key Entities: Cha Hyun-soo (Song Kang), Green Home Apartment, Monster Apocalypse, Psychological Horror, Confined Space Survival.

6. Kingdom (2019)

For those who enjoyed the political intrigue and class struggle elements of Squid Game, Kingdom offers a historical, high-stakes survival story. Set in Korea’s Joseon period, this political thriller follows a Crown Prince who must investigate a mysterious plague that turns the infected into flesh-eating zombies. The series brilliantly uses the zombie outbreak as a backdrop to explore themes of famine, corruption, and the indifference of the ruling class towards the suffering of the common people.

• The Game: Survival against a fast-moving zombie horde in historical Joseon Korea.
• The Twist: The plague is tied to a political conspiracy, making the court’s internal power struggle as dangerous as the zombies themselves.
• Why You'll Like It: It's a masterful blend of period drama, political thriller, and intense zombie horror, establishing a unique subgenre.
• Key Entities: Crown Prince Lee Chang, Joseon Dynasty, Political Corruption, Zombie Horror, Historical Survival.

School, Psychological, and Battle Royale Thrillers

The intensity of the survival genre often finds its most brutal expression when the participants are young, adding a layer of tragic innocence to the violence. These series lean into psychological manipulation and battle royale formats.

7. Night Has Come (2023)

A recent and highly praised addition to the genre, Night Has Come traps a group of high school students in a deadly real-life "Mafia" game during a retreat. They are forced to vote and eliminate one of their own each night, with the "Mafia" players secretly killing others. This is a pure battle royale, psychological thriller where paranoia and distrust quickly erode friendships and sanity.

• The Game: A forced, real-life game of Mafia/Werewolf with fatal consequences.
• The Twist: The students are completely isolated with no way out, and the game is controlled by an unseen entity, forcing them to turn on one another.
• Why You'll Like It: It captures the claustrophobic tension and paranoia of a group turning on itself, much like the nighttime scenes in the Squid Game dormitories.
• Key Entities: Mafia Game, High School Students, Psychological Manipulation, Battle Royale, Paranoia.

8. All of Us Are Dead (2022)

Set primarily in a high school, this series follows students trapped inside their campus as a zombie virus rapidly spreads. The show is a brutal, relentless survival story that uses the high school setting to explore youthful courage, betrayal, and the failure of adult authority. It shares Squid Game's focus on the desperate decisions made by those who are marginalized and confined.

• The Game: Survival against a zombie outbreak contained within a high school.
• The Twist: The confined space of the school forces the students to use their wits and limited resources, with the constant threat of infection and internal conflict.
• Why You'll Like It: It’s a high-octane zombie action series that manages to maintain character depth and emotional weight amidst the chaos.
• Key Entities: Hyosan High School, Zombie Virus, Confined Survival, Teenagers, Authority Failure.

The Enduring Appeal of Dystopian K-Dramas

Korean survival and death game dramas have resonated globally because they tap into universal anxieties about economic inequality and the fragility of modern life. Unlike many Western thrillers, K-dramas like those listed here—The 8 Show, Pyramid Game, and Death's Game—often use their extreme premises as a vehicle for sharp social commentary. They don't just offer spectacle; they force the audience to ask difficult questions about who we are when our backs are against the wall. This combination of intense psychological horror, stunning cinematic quality, and relevant topical authority ensures that the genre will continue to thrive, providing plenty of high-stakes viewing until the next season of Squid Game finally arrives.

If you're looking for your next binge, starting with the newest releases like the 2024 hits The 8 Show and Pyramid Game will give you the freshest take on the dark, dystopian thrillers you crave.