Squid Game: Unleashed Review (Android & iOS)

I have to admit, after subjecting myself to dozens (and I mean dozens) of Squid Game-inspired games over on Roblox, it’s a major relief to finally have an actual fully-licensed interactive iteration from the folks over at Netflix. Mind you, I can’t exactly speak volumes for Netflix Games’ pre-existing portfolio of video games; Stranger Things: 1984 was a little hit-and-miss, and I can’t for the life of me remember exactly what the media giant’s subdivision has launched since then. With all of that said, Squid Game seems to be a near-perfect vessel to replicate on a gaming platform; it essentially has a wealth of mini-games of its own, and not to mention an entire fan base that would gladly bend over backward just to play Red Light, Green Light on a global scale. It’s just a surprise, really, that it has taken this long for it to come to light.

Squid Game: Unleashed is a little late to the party, I’ll say that much. It’s late, simply due to the fact that, at least from the Android and iOS side of things, the Netflix sensation has already spread like wildfire; Roblox was just one of many, many platforms to steal the show’s formula for its own attempt at cashing in on its popularity. Alas, with Season 2 of the series scheduled to begin on December 26, I can sort of see why the streaming service held back on unveiling its cards until the last minute. But it’s here, and it’s just about everything I imagined it to be: a game-for-game spitting image of its Korean counterpart. The only thing missing from the pot, unsurprisingly, is a deceitful pensioner with a little too much cash to flex. Swings and roundabouts, though, I guess.

Schoolyard Games for the Wicked

Squid Game: Unleashed more or less presents itself as a Battle Royale game with a thematic web of familiar “life-threatening” activities to embark upon. Like the hit Netflix series, the mobile-based counterpart sees you entering a rich tapestry of competitions as a fresh-faced player—a character who, among thirty-one rivals, has the opportunity to advance through a series of mini-games (or Contests, as they’ve become known since the series’ inception). The game, which takes a fair few pages out of the show’s playbook, invites you to participate in Contests that range from Red Light, Green Light, Glass Bridge, and several other never-before-seen scenarios that have yet to make their on-screen debut in the rolling series.

Given its affiliation with the Battle Royale domain, Squid Game: Unleashed doesn’t have a story, as such, but rather, a simple loop that requires you to plunge into a selection of randomly generated mini-games, and essentially remove other players from the roster to secure a place in future Contents. It’s all very Fall Guys, in that regard; it’s merely the case of working alongside thirty-one other players, and utilizing a spread of deceptive tactics to either forge alliances with other contestants, or simply remove them from the board altogether. At the end of the day, only one person can win Squid Game, so teamwork doesn’t really fit into the equation here. That didn’t exactly stop me from building (and eventually burning) a few bridges, mind you; it felt more authentic that way, even if it did damage my moral compass and result in some regrettable decisions.

Money Motivated

The Contests are categorized into one of several areas: races—similar to Red Light, Green Light, respectively; luck—Glass Bridge immediately springs to mind here; and combat, which mostly consists of clobbering other rivals with makeshift weapons and what have you. Well, sort of. Regardless of the game that you’re competing in, the control system is mostly one and the same, albeit collectively muddled and not entirely responsive. If you’re racing, then you’re essentially crossing your fingers and hoping that another person takes a bullet to the knee, and if you’re attempting to cross the Glass Bridge, then you’re either relying on another player’s dumb luck, or riding coattails in the hopes that the route forward will remain structurally sound until you’ve crossed the finish line, preferably before a set amount of rival runners capitalize on the breadcrumbs, so to speak.

Squid Game: Unleashed touts “heart-pounding action” and “brutal” competition—two things that are often the bread-and-butter ingredient of most, if not all modern Battle Royale games. As for whether or not it captures such bullet-sweltering action, however, is another question, and one that I’ve yet to find a concrete answer for. I’m on the fence with it, really, as there are indeed a lot of enjoyable segments to work through, but, as with a lot of games of its kind, it often boils down to the company you keep, and the rivals who flesh out the lobby. Case in point, the first two games that I played were with a rather irritating squad of people who much preferred to wreak havoc on the field than, you know, complete the objectives and progress further into the competition. That was sort of expected, though, I guess.

More Squid For Your Buck

Thanks to its fresh-out-of-the-box Contests and the plethora of never-before-seen surprises, Squid Game: Unleashed does manage to put itself above its competitors in some ways. In addition to the usual challenges—the trials that we’ve seen numerous times since the series first aired on Netflix—Unleashed also paves the way for quite the banquet of frantic exploits, which frequently include obstacle course-like maps that feature projectiles, sliding traps, and a few other innovative tricks, for instance. Granted, none of these Contests are particularly solid, at least from a mechanical standpoint, but given the fact that the game is still in its early testing phase, I can’t help but give it the benefit of the doubt and give credit where it’s due.

To answer the question of whether or not the game is fun in its current state, yes, it is, even though it frequently suffers from the occasional bug or technical doohickey. Even still, for the amount of content you receive right from the get-go, and for the price of admission (that’s nil, by the way), you’ve every good reason to be excited about the game’s potential and the future of its post-season 2 expansions.

Verdict

On the one hand, I’m tempted to agree with the vast majority of our ilk and say that, official branding aside, Squid Game: Unleashed isn’t massively different from its Roblox and mobile rip-offs. On the other hand, though, I’m inclined to believe that this is, in spite of all its technical warts and flaws, the best thing to come out of Netflix Games’ portfolio since its inception. Is it a perfect game? No, not even slightly. But is it a fun game, and not to mention a true love letter to the critically acclaimed Netflix series? A million times, yes — and it’s only just beginning, too.

To make it absolutely clear, Squid Game: Unleashed is, in a nutshell, a slightly more gruesome version of Fall Guys. The point is, if you’ve a soft spot for wild obstacle courses and fierce competition, then there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy smashing the glass in Netflix Games’ fresh take on Squid Game and its treasure trove of iconic Contests. Not quite sure if it’s worth the investment just yet? Don’t sweat it; the game will be gearing up to receive the green light at some point in 2025. Roll on the next episode!