Summary:
- Season 3 features twisted versions of classic games and shocking new ones with brutal consequences.
- Young-hee and Cheol-su return, but a secret final game could redefine the entire Squid Game legacy.
- Creators tease high-stakes battles, moral dilemmas, and a chilling surprise that tests humanity’s darkest instincts.
With Squid Game Season 3 nearing its highly anticipated release, fans are abuzz with theories and speculations around all the new Squid Game games and their rules. While Netflix has yet to confirm all the games, the new trailer revealed during the TUDUM 2025 event gives us a chilling glimpse of what to look forward to. Here’s a breakdown of all the confirmed and rumored games with their rules featured in Season 3, as per the trailer, teasers, and comments from the creators.
Table of Contents
1. Red Light, Green Light: But This Time, with a Twist
The traditional Red Light, Green Light game returns, but this version is anything but familiar. Season 1’s creepy doll, Young-hee, will not get a solo performance this time. She has a new, male friend named Cheol-su, who showed up in the Season 2 post-credits scene. Their combined presence hints at a dual-detection mechanism that significantly raises the stakes for the players.
One ominous new element shown in the trailer is a train-like signal, which might be a countdown or an additional surveillance mechanism. Although the overall design of the game remains the same, these features indicate that survival in the first round will be more frightening and more challenging than ever.
2. Gumball Machine Game: Chance, Chaos, and Combat
One of the most exciting new games coming to Squid Game is the Gumball Machine. The players are divided into two teams, Red and Blue, by a random draw from a giant gumball machine. The color of the ball decides the fate of each player. Those who draw a red ball receive knives, while those with blue ones get keys.
The Blue Team must find the door their key unlocks before time runs out. Meanwhile, the Red Team is charged with tracking them down. But there’s a cruel twist: a rotation mechanic flips the roles in the next round. It’s a merciless combination of luck, strategy, and raw survival, designed to throw players into the midst of chaos and force them to push their morality and survival instinct to their limits.
3. Jump Rope Game: Death by Rhythm
Another returning childhood game, Jump Rope, comes with its own nightmarish upgrades. Young-hee is seen in the trailer holding one end of a gigantic skipping rope, and although Cheol-su is out of sight, it’s implied that he’s holding the other. The setup involves a narrow track elevated high above the ground, and players are expected to time their jumps precisely.
A mistimed jump leads to a deadly fall into a flower-themed abyss. This game, with its height and flawless timing demands, is as much a nerve test as a rhythm test, to create a visually stunning, but disturbing sequence.
3. Lights Out: The Game Between Games
While not technically one of the main challenges, Lights Out has been officially announced to return. First introduced in Season 2 as a round between games, this brutal free-for-all resulted in multiple deaths. Season 3 seems to be using it the same way, as a brutal surprise round intended to “thin the herd” when players least expect it.
4. Squid Game: Back to Where It All Began?
While absent from the trailers, the titular Squid Game is widely speculated to return as the final challenge. In Season 1, it was the climactic confrontation of Player 456 and Player 218 in a deadly version of a traditional Korean playground game. The game involved limited rules, full-contact combat, and heavy emotional weight.
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In the game, the attacker must reach the squid’s ‘head’ zone while the defenders block their advance. Given the game’s history and symbolic nature, fans eagerly expect it to come back, possibly revamped to involve more players or new rules that enhance its brutality and scale.
5. Director’s Tease: A Last Secret Game
Season 3 director Hwang Dong-hyuk has confirmed there is an additional, unannounced hidden game. No details have been released yet, but he suggested it will condense the show’s overall themes, testing human morality and survival instinct to their limits. It’s going to be the emotional and philosophical high point of the season, and perhaps the series.
6. Dong Dong Dong Dae-mun: The Trolley Problem Revisited?
A chilling theory also points to a game based on the children’s song Dong Dong Dong Dae-mun. The nursery-rhyme-based activity involves players running beneath an arch until the music stops, after which the arch captures one person. A theory suggests that Young-hee and Cheol-su might be mechanical gatekeepers and could use a red-green light system to signal stop-and-go moments.
This concept may also tie into the famous philosophical dilemma known as the Trolley Problem, particularly if players are forced to make life-or-death decisions involving others, especially those involved in Season 2’s failed rebellion.
7. Additional Theorized Games: From Monkey Bars to Human Chess Mayhem
While not necessarily apparent in the video, sharp-eyed fans have picked up on background clues hinting at more games to come. One of the most popular theories is a deadly Monkey Bars challenge, inspired by stick-figure illustrations found on dormitory walls in Season 2. Whether stamina, speed, or all-out confrontation would be the focus, the danger of falling, officially confirmed to return, would be a central element.
Another theorized challenge may take place on a giant chessboard. Here, human players would be chess pieces, and Seong Gi-hun and the Front Man would be opposing commanders. In normal chess, the captured pieces are removed from the board, while in Squid Game, to be “taken” would most likely mean being killed in the literal sense. A similar game was seen in the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Squid Game S3 – All Games And Rules
Director Hwang Dong-hyuk has made it clear that Squid Game Season 3 is about confronting the darkest aspects of human nature. From dizzying heights and brutal choices, the new season promises to be a heart-wrenching blend of emotion, terror, and moral warfare.
With the return of familiar characters, brutal new games, and moral dilemmas more intense than ever, Squid Game Season 3 looks set to become the franchise’s most haunting entry yet. With the games restored, so are the questions about survival, loyalty, and what humans are truly capable of when pushed to their limits. Get ready to question your own humanity… and perhaps even cheer for your favorite player, as the deadly games begin anew.
