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A real-life version of Squid Game is being organised in Abu Dhabi

A harmless version of the games will take place on Tuesday

Peony Hirwani
Tuesday 12 October 2021 02:10 EDT
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'Red light, green light:' children play game seen on Netflix hit 'Squid Game'

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A non-murderous, real-life version of the wildly popular Netflix series Squid Game is being held in Abu Dhabi.

The Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in the UAE is organising a reenactment of the games seen in the series for two teams of 15 participants.

Squid Games is a Korean-language thriller that explores a dystopian reality, in which a mysterious organisation recruits people in debt to compete in a series of apparently childish games for the chance to win a life-changing amount of money.

The games are based on classic children’s games, some of which are specific to Korea, while others, such as “Red Light, Green Light” or a tug of war are known worldwide.

Unlike typical children’s games, however, those in Squid Game have deadly consequences should you lose.

Nonetheless, the Abu Dhabi version of the games, scheduled to take place on Tuesday (12 October), will be completely harmless.

The teams will play games such as Red Light Green Light, the Dalgona candy challenge, paper-flipping games, marbles and Ddakji.

Deadly ‘Red Light Green Light’ game in Squid Game
Deadly ‘Red Light Green Light’ game in Squid Game (Netflix)

The game staff will also dress up in pink costumes to duplicate the guards in the series. The event’s registration page states that only Non-Korean UAE residents are eligible to participate in the show.

Squid Game is being re-enacted throughout the world.

This week, John Bramston Primary School in Ilford issued a letter to parents outlining its concerns that children who have watched the programme are pretending to shoot one another in the playground as a way of re-enacting the show.

“We have noticed an increased number of children starting to play their own versions of this game in the playground – which in turn is causing conflict within friendship groups,” the letter said.

Another school in Kent, Sandown, has also started offering extra lessons on violence and online harm in response to the programme’s popularity.

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