What’s in a game? A dialectic of competition and cooperation in Squid Game

Abstract

Squid Game, a Netflix original series about children's games turned into deathmatches, has become a phenomenal global success and has captivated the latest cultural and media scenes. This article examines the representation of games in Squid Game to argue that their unprecedented appeal to the masses derives from a paradoxical human desire for ruthless competition and moral cooperation. That is, while Squid Game presents a superb allegory of the degree to which contemporary game playing is driven by consumer capitalism, it simultaneously unfolds a moving drama in the midst of competition where unanticipated team spirit is kindled and underdogs win against all odds. Focusing on a dialectic between result-oriented competition and utopian cooperation, the article concludes that the huge popularity of Squid Game demonstrates the contemporary spectator's need for a hybrid entertainment when watching games.

Dystopian Games: Diagnosing Modernity as the Scene of Tests, Trials and Transformations

“…Herein, I analyse how these dystopian games represent their protagonists as undergoing tests, trials and transformations. Familiarity with both texts is assumed here, with a ‘spoiler alert’ that many plot twists are revealed herein (for a more extensive elaboration, see Kim and Park, 2022; Ruthven, 2017). Within this analysis, both texts are taken as dystopias, although the world of Squid Game only has a shadowy underworld of illicit murderous contests rather than state-level of domination and oppression like The Hunger Games in keeping with classical dystopias.…”

“…Yet, this too is just a narrative. An optimistic reading might stress the possibility of alternative strategies, ‘gamification from below’ (Woodcock and Johnson, 2018), where ethics trumps strategy, revolutionary hopes are rewarded, and co-operation succeeds over competition (Kim and Park, 2022). Yet within both readings, the ‘game-frame’ persists, by taking these narratives or any social situation as a test which reveals the truth and transforms people.…”

“…Quite clearly, Squid Game foregrounds co-operation as much as competition, with the former providing utopian glimpses within the grim dystopian set-up (Kim and Park, 2022). The dark picture of humanity fostered by the games wherein each contestant will compete ruthlessly at the expense of all others is countered by hopeful gestures.…”

“…Drawing on dystopian narratives as conversation partners for social theory, this article seeks to diagnose the complex relationship between games, tests, experiments, transformations and ‘truth’ within modernity. Explicitly, dystopias put their protagonists through trials, and these ordeals serve as emblematic tests of society – for instance, whether humane co-operation or competition wins out (Kim and Park, 2022). Yet, this ‘truth’ can only be established through the test – without an experiment, nothing can be known about individuals or society – yet such tests are not mere evaluations but transformative ordeals.…”