Subj : Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 has already lost steam just l To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Tue Nov 04 2025 12:45:08 Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 has already lost steam just like the Netflix Original series Date: Tue, 04 Nov 2025 12:32:06 +0000 Description: Is Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 just as good the second time around? In a word, no... and it's truly failing on all fronts. FULL STORY ====================================================================== When the first season of Squid Game: The Challenge came out, I thought it was the best reality competition show Id seen in years outside of The Traitors . But in just two short years, the Netflix gameshow has fallen from the best to the worst. The recipe for why is actually very simple in 2023, we were enthralled by the idea that Netflixs biggest K-drama could be replicated with everyday people and exceptionally detailed gameplay following in the footsteps of what we saw in each episode of Squid Game season 1. The new games that were introduced fused dynamic action with familiar tactics (e.g. the use of Battleships in the third game) and we genuinely grew to love the alliances and band of characters we saw on screen. Almost none of that is represented in Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 . The original show's games are still well replicated, but theyre mundane compared to the big classics we saw in season 1. New twists and turns mostly fall flat, and our cast is too weak to be memorable or build an invisible rapport with the audience. And if that all isnt bad enough, where on earth is Red Light, Green Light? All of the reality TV sparkle has gone in Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 has taken a risk by getting rid of the shows most famous games (think Red Light, Green Light and Dalgona) and replacing them with brand-new gameplay. Half of our cast of 456 players are immediately eliminated by the new game Count, which is merely comprised of two teams counting 456 seconds before pressing a button. It makes for the most anti-climactic premiere episode of TV Ive seen this year, and Im absolutely baffled for why Netflix would choose to use a counting game over the brutal run-and-stop elimination were all looking forward to. Annoyingly, its not coming any later in the series either. Games such as Mingle in episode 4 win back some level of tension, but it might be too little, too late. In the first four episodes alone, we only see two and a half games played out, with dorm challenges or recordings of the contestants filling our screens in the meantime. Normally, if there is a strong cast and genuinely shrewd surprises, this wouldnt be a problem. However, were presented with labored and anti-climactic developments between cast members we cant remember from one minute to the next. Lets address the changes first. There are a variety of new dorm challenges introduced to try and stoke up drama between players the most successful of these being a secret boiler room where players are sent to enact eliminations or receive coins to use in a snack-filled vending machine. We also see players presented with a chance to swap meals for scratchers or pass around Russian dolls, both of with lead to potential disadvantages in the next game. Despite the fact that none of these make the level of impact that Netflix is hoping for, it all feels too pre-meditated and thats the same problem we see with the casting. In short, its all gone a bit too X Factor , putting the pedal to the emotional medal so hard that nothing feels genuine. Everything were seeing feels overly contrived, and Netflix is trying far too hard to keep our attention. Where season 1 introduced players we could connect with (think mother-son duo Leanne and Trey), Netflix is clearly trying to fit the same character profiles, but with less success. As soon as I can remember that somebody exists, theyre killed off, and thats always been the downside of a gameshow with such a big cast. The finalists dont become clear until the last moment, but this time theres nobody in the interim to tide us over. What does this mean for Squid Game: The Challenge season 3? (Image credit: Netflix) In short, this all isnt amazing news for the already-renewed Squid Game: The Challenge season 3. It feels as though season 2 is following the original series slump that came at the same point (at least, in my opinion), which wasnt completely clawed back by the time season 3 dropped six months later. But its not all hopeless. Game stalwarts like Marbles returns, offering up the most emotional turning point weve seen across all iterations of the game, and the production design is still beyond astounding. We know season 3 will likely replicate the jump rope horror from the first season of Squid Game , and thats got the opportunity to be the jewel in Netflixs reality TV crown. In the meantime, Id rather rewatch the original series than get ready for the rest of Squid Game: The Challenge season 2 in the coming weeks. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too. ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/streaming/netflix/squid-game-the-challenge-season-2- review --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .