Is Squid Game: The Challenge Suitable For Kids?

The promotional images of Netflix's "Squid Game" tease a colorful show where contestants partake in childish games, but looks can be deceiving. As every viewer who helped "Squid Game" gain international success knows, the South Korean survival drama has no shortage of sex, nudity, tension, and violence. Because of its high intensity and gruesome imagery, the show's TV Parental Guidelines rating is TV-MA, meaning that it's suitable for mature audiences. But how does "Squid Game's" reality show spin-off compare? 

As it stands, "Squid Game: The Challenge" doesn't have a rating, but let's take a look at what we know. Like the original, the game show features 456 players who have to compete in a series of dangerous playground games in order to win a huge prize ... $4.56 million, to be precise. Of course, the elimination process isn't quite as literal as it is on "Squid Game" proper. While there's still plenty of tension, the fact that this version of the game isn't deadly means that "Squid Game: The Challenge" is more suitable for younger audiences than the original. Things do get pretty exciting and competitive, mind you — so if you aren't comfortable with letting your child watch, say, "Survivor" or "The Amazing Race," you might want to consider whether "Squid Game: The Challenge" is for them. 

It's also worth noting that while the eliminated contestants merely have to leave the competition, they often do so in dramatic ways that range from unexpected falls to small, explosive dye packs hidden in their clothes. There's also some coarse language. As such, while there's no official rating to go by at the moment, "Squid Game: The Challenge" might land somewhere around TV-PG – parental guidance suggested for younger children. 

Though no one dies on "Squid Game: The Challenge," it's still worth keeping in mind that the contestants are heavily invested in the show, to the point that at least some of them took it completely seriously during filming. "It felt like it was real — it didn't feel like you were in a fictional place," participant Lorenzo Nobilio described the experience to BBC News. This is increasingly visible as the show progresses, to the point that sometimes it can be hard to tell whether you're watching the fictional "Squid Game" or "The Challenge." The two shows' extremely similar production values also add to this effect.

Such a sense of high-stakes competition is by no means exclusive to this particular reality series, but it appears that competitive spirit isn't the only thing furrowing the contestants' brows. Some contestants have called "Squid Game: The Challenge" rigged and stated that the players had to work in incredibly grueling conditions. Filming the iconic "Red Light Green Light" game, in particular, was a lengthy process where they had to spend hours in cold weather without adequate clothing. As a result of this and other difficulties, several participants had health issues. There are definitely on-screen moments where the show's stakes and the grueling nature of the game shine through, which can make "Squid Game: The Challenge" an uncomfortable watch for youngest viewers.