Film Theory: What Everyone Got WRONG About Squid Game! (오징어 게임) 

Poor MatPat never played "Explosive Glass Bridge" as a kid?! Who would have guessed it?

"If the glass expert shared earlier, everyone could have survived." Except once the game-master realized what he was doing, they turned out the lights. Waiting until there were only a few panels left was actually the most sound strategy for his own survival.

A small thing I loved in squid game, when all the glass shattered at the end of the 5th game, people actually got cut. So often in movies/shows glasses is treated as harmless and it was cool that it was shown that glass is actually pretty dangerous

But when the detective was looking through the files of previous games, every single one only had one final winner. Something tells me the whole thing is rigged to ensure just one winner remains in the end, and also to give the contestants a harder time to better entertain the V.I.P.s.

That's why they had the bonus games between rounds: to reduce the number of players to the correct amount. When players got too creative the Front Man intervened. If the players knew ahead of time there will only be one winner/survivor all of the married couples would have noped out or in desperation sent only one spouse. The illusion of multiple winners is what gave the players false hope.

"Ignore Sangwoo" No, yeah, he's got a point

When you're complaining about the "unfairness" in the glass scene the oligarchs wanted to be entertained they're essentially stock holders and we all know companies like to keep their shareholders happy even if it costs a few people their jobs (lives)

You know what's interesting about the games? Half of the games had a guaranteed 50% survival rate while the other half had a potential 100% survival rate

While it's extremely easy for us as theorist watching from the comfort of our homes without the fear of danger to theorise loopholes to try and beat the games, you have to remember that the people in the games are all tired, beat up, scared and emotional. This can be seen in the very first recruitment scene, when Gi Hun is so angry and being slapped that he can't think clearly and nearly gives up 100 000 just because he wants to get his revenge.

The glass game reminded me a bit of hopscotch, or "the floor is lava", or "step on a crack, break your mother's back!" so it worked for me as a children's game. I also did not like that they turned off the lights, but I think that was shown to be done for the VIP's benefit. The glass explosion at the end just felt like cheating though.

Sung-Woo was smart, but he was too focused on eliminating the people around him instead of using them as a buffer against the next challenges. Like you said, the more people around you to take the hits, the more likely you are to survive. He just wanted to get rid of the people around him since they were easier to manipulate (he had their trust).

One thing I've always thought was annoying was how, with the glass panel game, they have to take their shoes off but nobody even thinks to take the shoes with them and try to even just throw them at the glass. The rule was the can't be wearing their shoes, but nothing was said about not being allowed to carry them with you.

Matt's strategy doesn't take into account one teeny weeny, crucial little detail, the tendency for people in a desperate situation (exactly the people the game targets) are prone to making irrational and gut-based intuitive calls about things, which are frequently wrong. This is also where the issue of instinctual attitudes of, "either me or them" becomes an issue and fucks over basically everyone.

I love how when MatPat can't find a brand, he'll just sponsor the entire fricking product. EVERY brand that makes USB power-banks is sponsored by MatPat.

About the pictures on the walls, they only got revealed as more and more people got eliminated and didn't show the order of the games while giving a vague description of them

BUT MATPAT, If the tempered glass guy revealed his knowledge earlier in the glass game the directors would have just taken away the light he needed, which would probably make everybody panic resulting in nobody making it across.

I think the concept of Squid games is that the Game masters pretend that it's fair, when it's not. It's all about entertaining the rich guys - which is why they turn off the lights on the glass bridge.

For the red light green light game, my idea for a strategy is walk fast, don’t run. Running will make you slip up easier because your body is not used to stopping at that speed, walking fast makes you take true and even steps, that you can stand in, also the time limit is long, so you’ll probably be able to make it with this too. Second, stay close to the wall, so you have something to hold against if worst comes to worst

A little more research into Korean culture and you might actually like the glass game (because it fits the theme so well). The glass game I believe it's based on the "ladder game" which is a commonly played game in Korea. It's generally used to pick out winners/losers randomly. Ladders are stacked horizontally with alternating rungs. Players pick a path and they go down the ladder, crossing over every time there is a rung. If it is designed well, it's pretty hard to tell where you'll end up. The results are SUPPOSED to be random so taking the time to read the path is not allowed. To prevent someone reading the paths, sometimes the middle area is covered up. I think the glass game is a creative adaptation of it and turning off of the lights is similar to covering up the mid section to stop a player who is obviously reading the paths. Despite how everyone loves talking about "surviving" squid game I think it's supposed to be about gambling. In the end, everything was a game of chance. The whole organization was created by rich people looking for a new game to gamble on. It's a commentary on Korean society's love of gambling that shows up even in children's games. The ladder game is a really innocent game and is often played to decide who should win a prize or who should do the annoying chore. Which is why the glass game is such a fitting adaptation in squid games.

The show is without question a masterpiece but no I do not wish for a sequel. It is perfect to end like this, a sequel most likely will just ruin it.

I really love the message that while money doesn't buy happiness , you need to have money to get your basic needs met and that will allow you to gain happiness elsewhere. I hate when people tell poor people that "money doesn't buy happiness" as a form of... I don't even know, reassurance? because, sure, money can't buy happiness, but not having money brings so many problems and anxieties with it. You need money to live comfortably.

Hi! I worked with glass for a living (came from a master glazier family). Anyway, weird thing about glass--the edges of glass are super weak to focused pressure, so that's a no go. BUT!!! The easiest ways to tell tempered glass from non-tempered glass are actually super simple (probably because safety glass is designed around safety). Anyway, tempered glass always gets stamped in the corner, and in the rare case that that didn't happen, it's always got smoothed edges. Now, here's the fun part. They clearly could only go so far in terms of how much they could dictate the construction of these challenges, and they would also be limited by simply not knowing what to ask about how the glass would need to be modified for a death game (no stamps, no smooth edges). Without knowledge, the rich people would probably end up trying to just make sure to buy high end materials and, in a funny twist, get glass that was definitely made to code. In other words, the easiest ways to identify tempered glass would probably remain. So, armed with this knowledge, you go in, and you immediately start jumping onto the stamped glass. And once they see that you've got a visual cue, they hit the lights. Those panes aren't very far apart, so you've still got options. The next step is just reaching out and running your hand along the next pane. The safety glass won't cut you, and the breakable stuff will. Anyways, Iiii just wanted to share that in a place I was a little more confident I wouldn't get yelled at by someone on the internet. Because apparently glass knowledge is uncommon, and knowledge should be shared.

one thing I noticed while watching squid game: in the marble game, both players could have just given each other their bag and both of them would have their opponents 10 marbles. They never said you had to have all 20.

If the glassmaker uses his knowledge from the beginning, the Front Man would have dimmed the lights sooner, so the dilemma would remain. The glass tiles game was like hopscotch.

I also wondered the same thing with the beam but the game runners probably would have done something. They did turn off the light when they found someone getting around not knowing which glass is which

Actually, if the glass guy had chosen to help everyone instead of letting them die he would have died sooner. By standing out and making the game no fun he would risk being targeted by the front man, which is exactly what happened. The front man would have shut the lights off sooner and since the glass guy would have had to be in the front to see the glass now he was the one who had to continue making the moves (which almost certainly would have led to his death). The other players would have definitely not played fair and let him back to his cozy spot close to the back. So his decision is actually what almost led him to living, he had a 50/50 percent chance at the end since there was only one set of panels remaining, unfortunately he drew the short stick.

I do think the money pot growing if people die was a motivation for people dying though. It's not so much surviving anymore. It's about how much money you can get with death. So it does make sense that some people would want others to die to get more money. Just realizing you explained that later in the video. Perfect example of watching the whole thing before commenting lol

There's just one problem: how do you think is someone gonna convince all of those other people who quite obviously have murderous tendencies or trust issues to see it your way.

The reason Sang-woo asked everyone to split into shapes in the honey cone game is to single out the old man and make sure he dies. Sang-woo realized the old man would become a liability to the group and Gi-hun won't have the guts to kick him out. So Sang-woo staged the whole testing speech and tried to get the umbrella shape to old man. Until Gi-hun decided to swap with old man.

During the Tempered Glass game, I'm still surprised nobody tried to walk on the beams holding the glass

To be perfectly honest though, the lights were turned off at the request of the VIPs who were obviously a bunch of rich pompous Karens. I like to believe that the Frontman would not have done that hadn't he been pressured to corruption by the top clients. It was prolly done to show that even those who hold their ideologies dear will give that up once pressured by someone who could cost them their job.

Thank you for the rant about the glass stepping stones game. I, too, felt that turning the lights off was against the established practices of the game runners.

A few things to point out: -when the officer (I forgot his name) is going through the list of winners, there is only one winner in each game. I’m guessing that there could be multiple winners, but the staff are constantly trying to eliminate players. (This is one more for the legality video) -in the episode “V.I.P.S” one of the VIP’s remark “the contest in Korea was the best” so this could imply that there are multiple games being held in multiple countries.

I think hunger, sleep deprivation, and trauma makes it a lot harder to see clever solutions or consider these statistics or heck, to even be aware of the clues on the wall. You need a very strong will to live, and to have a good enough upbringing to stay present. So another factor with this is 'what do you have to live for?' (as we see literally decide fates in the marble game). If you are desperate enough for money to participate, it better be for noble reasons, or you will sort of sabotage yourself at a certain point from clouded judgement & trauma, or become so selfish you will sabotage your allegiances and make hasty choices. For being morally reprehensible, the whole game is a fascinating lesson in the value of having your priorities straight. It makes sense that someone with a pretty pure heart ended up winning, he's certainly the Charlie of this murderous chocolate factory.

Based on the list of winners, it's clear that it's intended for only 1 to win in the end. They imposed extra 'games' in between to make things work out that way (for final 3 even if there was no injury, they could have just left them all there for days until 1 died of starvation/ thirst if they wanted, or something like that). Also, there is always the fear that bending the rules will result in elimination as I'm sure would be the case for the glass bridge part.

Why didn't they just sprint across the glass? Every time they went from panel to panel they like SLAMMED their body onto the glass, and even then we saw it hold their weight for at least a second. If you sprint across the panels only 50-60% of your body weight will be on a single panel for less than .5 a second--just don't stop running

In the show Hwang Jun-Ho (The cop) finds a list of winners from previous games in a records room but there is only one winner per game so there can only be one winner per game. The shape-faces don't state this as a rule at the start because they want the players to think their odds for survival are better than they are. Frontman and his staff choose which games to use based on how many players are still alive to ensure that only one player wins the game. It's Battle Royale with extra steps.

I think no matter how many of players make it through the five games, they would have devised a game in such a way only one person is left. The list of winners is evidence of that.

I feel like the 7:40 breakdown of the glass jumping challenge not being fair misses the point of the show: it isn't fair. It never has been. As organized and powerful the perpetrators of the game are, and as much as they claim to defend fairness, it's not fair. For any of the debtors. It's symbolic because it IS empty, needlessly bloody, painful spectacle. Age, gender, physical prowess, social status all inherently put some over others. It also isn't fair because these are all desperate people who essentially CAN'T say no to playing this murderous and suicidal game. It's yet another sign that the words of the organizers are empty because they obviously can't really keep their word. It's all entertainment to the VIPs and those who only see them as statistics, and an allegory for how even programs purportedly meant to give the poor a fair chance aren't entirely effective.

13:50 You'll definitely break the VIPs' patience.

The Glass Stepping Stones is beyond terrifying for me. I see them as symbolism that no matter how much personal skill, knowledge, or resources that you will always have to be lucky to become successful.

Fun fact: in the last game-- namely called squid game-- there can only be one winner. you can start in teams of defensive and offensive sides, but only one person can touch the end to be the sole victor. I think the game makers always choose games where there can be one winner as the final game because there was only 1 winner per each annual squid game in the records room that the Junho found. edit: so i’ve been informed by a few replies that the whole team wins when someone makes it to the end. but my family and i play with only one winner so ig rules can vary depending on how u wanna play:)

For the glass one if he shared his knowledge of glass, people would just have him go in front and the lights would go off way sooner

I used to work in a glass factory, tempering department, the edges of the glass get wet sanded with sanding wheels and then heated to a temperature which turns glass into tempered glass, the edges are so much easier to see the difference than depicted in the show.

I think the reason why the Glass Tiles game was so much more extravagant was because the V.I.P.s were there. Front Man makes a point to showcase a model and build up excitement. It’s like seeing a concert live vs on TV, it’s gotta feel more exciting and showy

The Most annoying "Imaginary Rule" Is that nobody stepped on the *edges* of the glass tiles, or walked between the rods. Literally nobody had to die there.

When I first saw the glass game, I immediately thought, "Everyone, give me your shoes!" To slam against each pain of glass.

The German dub is really good. "Majority" is actually translated to majority, and in the marbles game, the rules state, that you have to take the marbles without force.

I wholeheartedly agree with your beef about the glass game. I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking how unfair it was to have the distance to jump nearly double if you switched sides. And how EXTREMELY unrealistic it was that everyone seemed to have no fear of heights. In the real world, at least one of those people would have refused to play (preferring the bullet to the fall) or would have froze halfway through after looking down.

Actually what the glass maker did was pretty smart, if he revealed his abilities earlier almost everybody could’ve died as they would turn off the lights anyway. So I very much disagree it was just unlucky other players wasted time.

I honestly don’t think it could have been more than 1 winner, because we saw several times where they encouraged the guards and even the doctor in the game to induce more chaos and cause lives. Even those who chose not to participate after the initial game were stalked and followed to the point where they’d probably try to influence your life like the Truman show and force you back by putting a relative in the hospital and having bills to be too high etc.

I agree when Sang-Woo said they should do separate shapes during the Dalgona Game was dumb. They should all choose the same shape, so that way, they can tell each other what do and what not do with that shape. Therefore, increasing your chances of surviving Game 2.

In the glass panel game they didn't say you cannot throw the shoes to break the glass, you had a pair of shoes for each player, everybody could have survived.

The glassmaker sharing his knowledge gets the lights turned off, taking away his advantage. Keeping it to himself was the best choice, there, he should've volunteered to go first and not shared how he was solving it until after the fact

the glass bridge one wouldn't have been possible to help since the glass maker even if he told everyone who he was, was number 13, meaning the 12 people infront of him would have to go first anyway wasting time etc... and since the glass panels can only support 2 people he would have only been able to help once all 12 others stood on the bridge

Thank you for being so educational and for teaching me so many new things, keep the theory coming!

Technically, in the 4th game the rule wasn’t “get all 20 marbles”, it was “get all 10 of your partner’s marbles”. That means if people actually thought it out they could trade bags with your partner, thus obtaining all 10 of their partners marbles/they get all 10 of yours.

It really bothered me that seemingly everyone forgot that there is no rule that only one person can win, glad to see it addressed

The glass tile game bothered me too. Particularly the glass explosion at the end -- like, WHY?!?!

I feel like for the stepping glasses game people could just sit down on the first tempered glass and kick the glass in front of them, so you get better odds if it doesn't break

You're missing something: If the glassmaker had revealed himself earlier in the game, it would have worse, not better. Remember that the Face Man, once he realized what the glassmaker was doing, cut the lights, killing his ability to make the decision, and only 3 contestants survived that round, him not being one of them. Had done it earlier, they'd have been much less far across before the glassmaker lost that ability, and potentially end the game with 1 or 0 survivors.

I think the glass bridge was supposed to be hop-scotch. Also, noticed how the rules weren't "have 20 marbles" but have the other players 10 marble. Just swap bags. There, both survive. Unless I'm remembering the rules wrong

Legit way of thinking. Makes sense I'd like to see that in the sequel... Someone to stand up and point out the benefits of not sabotaging each other. The bridge thing I thought similar although my idea was one foot in the middle and the other on the edge so I can leap to the right glass. Any way great video

Now, goodbye theorists 😢

I think the Marble games has a loophole: The game explicitly says "A player who manages to take all ten marbles from their partner wins". It never states that you have to have all 20 marbles. Nor that there is only one winner. You could just exchange the marbles at the beginning of the game, and both partners could win.

Imagine if everybody won all of the games. Nobody moved on the red lights, everybody licks their cookie shape, somebody cuts the rope in tug of war, the glass expert silently, perfectly figures out which tiles are tempered (and goes first), and somebody comes up with the brilliant idea to just _take each others' marbles_ and not force someone to be marble-less.

This video just made me binge the full series this week. Thanks guys.

I thought that the glass game was like hopscotch where you can only step on one tile with one foot unless it's a double scotch. It was kind of like the amplified version of that game. The turning out the lights however was purely for paid spectacle and because the gamblers were getting bored.

If the guy shared his knowledge about the glass tiles, the leader would've probably turned off the lights earlier.

The fact that there didn’t have to be just one player left makes everyone else’s deaths tragic. Am I wrong?

When they did the glass panel game, I wondered what the referees would have though of someone with good balance just tightrope-walking down the metal bar to the end. What if they just did that and asked to go first? Would have been a cool maneuver if it worked.

I ended up subscribed at the end so, nice

Theory is right, cooperation would make the games much easier. That is intentional in the series. It is a criticism of society. We would live in a much better world if everyone helped each other. But too many people are willing to stepping on another for his own, immediate, gain. It is like the banquet in the movie The Well.

The glass panel game, they were told to take off their shoes but I never understood why they didn't use them. Two shoes is enough to discern which glass will break if you throw one hard enough at both. Could have even passed them down the line to player 1.

Great breakdown subbed!

for the glass game, I think mat made a good point of trying to stand on the sides even if you get killed because the rules were not specific and it's the same 50/50 chance of choosing a glass panel. I've been thinking about it a lot and if you can't stand on the sides then another option would be to use the shoes. I don't know if it would work but everyone has to take off their shoes and that's double the number of players present so the shoes could be used to throw on top of the glass to see if its stable Idk if it would work but if I was in that situation I would definitely try it.

MatPat brought forth a good idea for the tempered glass game. Standing in the middle with the supporting beams would've been smarter than to risk a 50/50 chance of dying from standing on the actual glass.

Just imagine going into Squid Game and seeing the cool S as your honeycomb shape

I've always thought that if I were first in line for the glass bridge game, I would have crawled my way across with my hands and feet on the edges of the rails. No way I'm taking a chance jumping in the glass.

I figured the glass tile game was supposed to be a variant of 'the floor is lava'- which is a common kids game wherein the floor is declared to be 'lava', as in you can't touch it, and you have to get around the room by jumping on various pieces of furniture or cushions.

The players don’t know that they’re playing for the VIP’s entertainment. If everyone collaborated, it would get stale and they would have changed the nature of the games to keep the interest of the VIP, like when they dimmed the lights during stepping stones.

They could have taken the shoes with them on the bridge. Tie then together and use them as a sledge hammer to bash the glass before they jump on it.

While watching the glass bridge episode, I was wondering why they weren't jumping close to the glass supports rather than the center of the glass.

The glass bridge challenge bothered me so much! I remember wondering why nobody tried to step on the edges. I suppose with the stress people just assumed it was a rule you had to jump in the middle of the glass panels but nobody even tried!

I think the reason the glass exploding happened was to make sure any remaining players still on the glass were killed off but since the survivors took too long, they got hit with the glass.

I know that MatPat is never gonna see this, not I'm still waiting on that "true nature of Kirby part 2" episode. It's been 2 years Matthew! I get your busy, but please. I would really appreciate a part 2

Also, the glass one is super easy. If you have moderately good balance you can just walk across between the glass panels

7:05 but what if the glass maker went at the start and they turned off the lights and other people obviously wouldn’t let him back at the end of the line so he would die either way

It should also be said that "Cooperate with your fellow players" needs to go both ways. I'd wager the glassmaker decided not to help his fellow players mainly because of the behavior of people like the gangster, constantly treating his fellow players as adversaries to be eliminated, so volunteering his expertise before the jerks in the group were eliminated would've been a dangerous decision. Still, I agree that the tempered glass game was a bad challenge, having an elimination game like that so late in the challenge made it very plausible they wouldn't even see the sixth game because everyone had already been eliminated, especially given that there were more panels they needed to cross than there were players to make the crossing...

The thing I wondered about with the marble game was the fact that it just said you had to get your opponent’s 10 marbles and not that you needed 20 marbles. I kept wondering if it would count as a win if you just swapped your marbles with your opponent’s. Technically, you would both have your opponent’s 10 marbles.

Something about the glass panels game is that even if you are one of the last players and the majority decides to stay in, the first players will be hesitant and take their time. Since it’s a limited amount of time, that results in the large possibility of even if there are always people in front of you, or even if you never land on the untempered glass, you could just simply run out of time, and not make it to the other side, ending in the glass exploding in your face.

it's so good to see that significant theorist like you guys address the fact that multiple players can survive when i came up with that and discussed with people around me, they'd dissed my theory, which wasn't pleasant :(

For the gamemaker turning off the lights in the glass challenge and it "not being fair" going against their spoken rules, I think that was kinda the point. Like, they spout off about how everythings fair and there's no advantages, but as the ones holding power, they are more concerned with entertaining the VIPS than playing by the rules. It plays into the shows larger metaphor of the upper class telling the lower classes "pull yourself up by your bootstraps, everyone has the same opportunities" when in reality they are pulling strings to keep people oppressed.

Speaking of loopholes, anyone else believe that the marbles game could’ve been won by both partners? It says that you have to have all 10 of your partner’s marbles to win, but it doesn’t state that you have to have all 20. Couldn’t both partners agree to play a game where they essentially trade marbles? Hence, the gganbu “sharing everything” comment that Il-Nam made?

14:57 - he is JUST like Light from death note - he is smart, he acts smart, his plans sounds smart, but in reality all of his ideas leads him to death even though it seems like he is winning

About the marbles game, I remember the announcer said "those who manage to get all 10 marbles from their partner, wins". They never say you have to have 20. You could just trade the entire sacks with your partner and both should win.

I'm surprised it isn't being mentioned that each new Squid Game has a different set of games each time considering the VIP's didn't know what the Glass Bridge one was going to be. This means that there could be any combination of games in play that challenge the advice in this video. A single game could have rules that eliminate players 50/50 for all six games.

I feel like he just ignored the hidden rule of *"The Elite that pay to watch these games, as well as the Frontman that runs them, can choose to manipulate the games at any point"* unless we're just chocking that up as circumstantial.

The whole multiple people can win thing while technically correct in the show’s logic does not actually bear out. When the police officer looks at the list of victors there is only 1 victor every year suggesting no matter how much people try to team up it won’t work.

The flaw in your logic about the bridge crossing is that if 114 players made it to the bridge game, there's no way they'd all cross in the time limit that was there. It was like 10 minutes or something.... even if the other 100 players quickly ganged up and threw the first 14 players at different panels to see if they'd break, its likely that many at the end wouldn't make it in time. Also, the walls didn't give clues....the game images were placed there after the games were played.