Summary:
- Alice in Borderland Season 3 shifts to a deadly tournament with back-to-back survival games.
- Arisu and Usagi face puzzles, strategy, and betrayals across eight brutal rounds.
- Here’s a complete breakdown of every game played in Alice in Borderland Season 3.
Alice in Borderland Season 3 raises the stakes higher than ever. Arisu and Usagi are pulled back to the Borderlands, only to find that the rules have changed: no more picking games at will. They’re instead dragged from one deadly arena to the next and thrown into surviving with the other players. There were about nine games played in total in this Season, so let’s break down every game, its rules, and who managed to survive in Alice in Borderland.
Table of Contents
1. Old Maid
The opening round of Alice in Borderland season 3 is deceptively simple. Players gather around a table, each with a deck of cards. On their turn, they must either draw from the pile or another player, discarding pairs. The twist is lethal: pulling the Joker triggers an electric shock from the chair, killing the unlucky player instantly.
This was not a warm-up; this was a test set up by Banda in the real world in order to find out his ultimate pawn. Ryuji, who is obsessed with the afterlife and wants to go to Borderland desperately, prevails by surviving the Old Maid. His triumph earns him a pass to the Borderlands, and from there, his dark alliance with Banda begins.
2. Sacred Fortunes
Sacred Fortunes seems like a simple game at first. Each contestant receives a slip with trivia, puzzles, or mathematics problems. Give a wrong answer, and flaming arrows will rain down with deadly precision; the greater your margin of error, the more arrows strike.
One contestant’s error precipitates a barrage, killing several players. As each contestant makes an error, the number of arrows multiplies, and the shrine becomes a bloodbath.
When Arisu is forced to guess the world population, he’s mistaken by 100 million. Millions of arrows blot out the sky, but a swift deduction on his part saves a handful of players.
3. Zombie Hunt
Zombie Hunt becomes a masterclass in betrayal. Set in a research facility, teams face off with decks containing three powerful cards. A Zombie card infects opponents, a Shotgun card kills zombies, and a Vaccine card cures them. The game ends after twenty rounds, with whichever side has more survivors declared the winner.
Rei proposes trust and cooperation, but survival instincts quickly corrupt her plan. Betrayals mount as the balance shifts. Arisu, ever the strategist, flips the script by turning his entire team into zombies. By the end, the undead overwhelm the humans, proving his ability to weaponize even infection as a survival tactic.
4. Flying Laser
In Flying Laser, players must escape an underground tunnel while dodging lasers firing from every direction. The twist is that the lasers can change direction midway. A single hit can slice a player in two.
Ryuji, confined to a wheelchair, clears the game by sacrificing others as shields, while Usagi risks herself to save others. In the end, only four players managed to survive, including Usagi and Ryuji.
5. Runaway Train
The next nightmare unfolds inside a driverless subway. Each carriage may release oxygen or poison gas. With just five oxygen canisters and eight carriages to pass through, players must gamble on when to use them.
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Usagi comes to the realization that the setup is to drain supplies too fast. By the time just one canister remains with two carriages to pass through, desperation takes over. Taro suggests jumping onto a parallel train as their only chance of survival.
Usagi and Ryuji take the chance, surviving when their original train derails. This incident solidifies Usagi’s ingenuity.
On Arisu’s side, his team managed to get through all eight carriages without any trouble. However, with no one in the driver’s seat, they fail to stop the metro, resulting in a crash that leaves Arisu critically injured.
6. Tokyo Bingo Tower
The semi-finals turn Tokyo Tower into a vertical death trap. Players must activate buzzers tied to bingo numbers while ascending. Completing vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines means victory, but with each button pressed comes a storm of falling debris, killing climbers indiscriminately.
Usagi’s athleticism and experience do give her an edge over the others, though. As others fall to their deaths, Usagi fights her way upward, reaching the “Free Space” buzzer at the highest level. Her determination assures victory for her team and also sets the stage for her inevitable face-off with Arisu in the finals.
7. Kick The Can
The childhood game takes a brutal twist in Borderlands. Players must kick cans and return them to the center of the arena before they blow up. Each round gets harder, whittling the group smaller. With around 15-20 participants, there were only ten cans.
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Arisu, who got injured during the train collision, struggles to keep up. His teammates rally around to shield him, and Kazuya sacrifices himself so that Arisu might survive. This act serves to highlight the theme of brotherhood and loyalty, even in games designed to tear people apart.
8. Possible Futures
Possible Futures blends strategy with psychological torment. Players begin with 15 points, which they lose each time they enter or stay in a room. Each room has a different point reduction, which the player discovers upon entering.
A player must roll the dice to determine how many can advance, while displays above doors reveal forecasted futures, tempting or horrifying possibilities.
Note: The number of dice rolled depends on the number of doors in that room. Each dice number decides how many players can pass through it. If the player chooses to stay in that room, it triggers a lockdown, torturing them with deafening sound and visions of their worst possible future.
At first, Arisu urges logic over illusion, but paranoia spreads. Many die, trapped by projections or point depletion. In the final chamber, Arisu chooses to sacrifice himself for the group.
Banda cruelly reveals the twist: by staying behind, Arisu ensured his own survival in Borderland but condemned everyone else. The game’s cruelty proves the Joker’s philosophy: fate is never fair.
9. The Joker Card Choice
The climax strips everything to simplicity. The Watchman of the Borderlands offers Arisu two cards. If he draws a Joker, then his future will belong to no one but him. Arisu draws, only to discover both cards are Jokers.
So, the Watchman gives him two options: either to get drawn into the vortex or to live. Opting for life, with all its tragedy and agony, he saves Usagi during the world-ending flood.
Together, they awaken in the real world. However, the ending implies Borderland is far from over, foreshadowing global consequences yet to come.
Every Game Shown in Alice in Borderland Season 3 (Table)
| Game | How It Works | Who Played | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Maid | Players draw and discard pairs. Pulling the Joker shocks the player to death. Banda set it up as a real-world test to find his pawn. | Ryuji and few others | Ryuji (earns entry into Borderland) |
| Sacred Fortunes | Contestants answer trivia, logic, and math slips. Wrong answers unleash flaming arrows, multiplied by the size of the mistake. | Arisu, Tetsu, Sachiko, Kazuya, Nobu, Shion, Masato, Natsu, others | Arisu saves a few with quick thinking |
| Zombie Hunt | Teams use three cards: Zombie (infect), Shotgun (kill), Vaccine (cure). After 20 rounds, the side with most players wins. | Arisu, Rei, Nobu, Shion, Natsu, Tetsu, Kazuya, Ikeno | Arisu’s team (zombies), 32 survive |
| Flying Laser | Players run through a tunnel while dodging shifting laser beams. A single hit can kill instantly. | Ryuji, Usagi, others | Usagi, Ryuji, and two more |
| Runaway Train | Contestants cross 8 subway cars, each with oxygen or poison gas. Only five oxygen canisters per person. | Usagi, Ryuji, Arisu, others | Usagi & Ryuji leap to survive; Arisu’s train crashes, leaving him injured |
| Tokyo Bingo Tower | Players climb Tokyo Tower, pressing numbered buzzers to complete bingo lines while dodging falling debris. | Ryuji and a few others | Usagi and her team |
| Kick the Can | Ten cans must be kicked and returned to the center before exploding. | Arisu, Kazuya, Shion, Tetsu, others | Arisu and a few allies (Kazuya sacrifices himself) |
| Possible Futures | Players roll dice to move through 25 rooms, losing points from wristbands with each step. Rooms show terrifying “future” visions. | Arisu, Usagi, Ryuji, Banda, survivors | Banda manipulates; Arisu sacrifices himself but is trapped |
| Joker Card Choice | Arisu must choose between two Joker cards, symbolizing life or death. Both are Jokers, forcing him to decide. | Arisu, the Watchman | Arisu chooses life, saving Usagi |
Final Thoughts on Alice in Borderland Season 3 Games
Alice in Borderland season 3 delivers the most brutal lineup of games yet, each pushing characters beyond their limits. From card tricks to life-or-death strategy, the season transforms survival into philosophy.
Arisu and Usagi’s choices prove that even in a world ruled by chance, willpower, and loyalty can tip the scales. But the Joker’s shadow looms, hinting at deadlier trials ahead.
