If Squid Game Was A Jigsaw Puzzle: Ranked from least to most challenging

No, we are not launching a jigsaw puzzle of that giant creepy doll. Netflix’s hit K-Drama is brimming with mind-blowing scenes and bone-chilling moments but more than that, its resonating life lessons can be applied to (you guessed it) solving jigsaw puzzles. It’s a game after all. We’ve pulled together a ranking of each of the “children’s playground games”, ranked from least to most challenging and what puzzle lessons we learnt on the way:

Red Light, Green Light 

Netflix

AKA the meme queen. Who hasn’t seen a meme of the terrifying giant girl doll? This one is the most iconic game in Squid Game as the players are yet to find out the deadly and sadistic nature of the six games. This applies to this 1000-piece Round Colour Palette Jigsaw Puzzle, from first impressions this puzzle seems to be easy and the instant strategy would be to organise the pieces into colours, however, once you begin… BANG! The unique shaped pieces due to the circular shape of the puzzle makes it more difficult than you would initially think. Hopefully the first realisation that the jigsaw puzzle is a deadly challenge does not result in a huge massacre of half the players. 

Very Easy: Round Colour Wheel Jigsaw Puzzle

Jigsaw puzzle lesson: Move with a plan towards your goal. Just moving fast, is not important, as every puzzler will have a different pace to reach their goal. 

 [foreboding music continues]

Squid Game

Netflix

You know what’s scary? Knife fights. Knife fights are scary. What’s even scarier is a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece. Just kidding. The namesake for the show itself, Squid Game is played on a field drawn in the sand, separating players into opposing teams of attackers and defenders. The goal of the attackers is to cross the center of the field on one foot before attempting to reach the “home” square drawn at the opposite side of the field, while the defender’s objective is to stop them... in this case, at all costs.

The final game in the show is a brutal face-off between Gi-hun and Sang-woo in which they play the Korean children's game, Squid Game.

It's a fierce and bloody battle between the two former friends with both taking the upper hand at certain points.

Easy: 1000-piece Colour Mandala Jigsaw Puzzle

Jigsaw puzzle lesson: The dopamine hitting clicking sound of the final puzzle piece may be the prize and end goal, but don’t forget to enjoy the process of puzzle building. Even 1/5 through a jigsaw puzzle should be enjoyed.

[foreboding music continues] 

Tug Of War

Netflix

Viewers felt the dread of this game of tug of war as much as Gi-hun's team did when they saw who they were facing — a team of strong and bulky men. And while it's a good thing our jigsaw puzzles aren't bulky, it doesn't make them any less tough. Some of our more difficult jigsaw puzzles require a bit of sheer genius to do - just like this game of tug of war.

Old man Il-nam coaches his team on what the best way to tackle tug of war is, and it works for a while before the opposing side make a breakthrough and Gi-hun gets pulled right off the edge of the platform.

All seems lost until Sang-woo comes up with another strategy, and victory is finally declared theirs. It's a stressful game for sure, but that's why we recommend puzzling to help calm those overactive stress hormones.

Jigsaw puzzle lesson: Strong and experienced puzzlers don’t make great solvers. Decisive planners with a vision and strategy often do.

Hard: Hokusai The Great Wave Jigsaw Puzzle

[foreboding music continues]

Honeycomb

Netflix

Less action, more tension. The opposite of what a jigsaw puzzle will offer you!

The aim of the game was to carefully prize a shape from honeycomb cookie without breaking it. Watching players timidly jab away at a cookie with just a needle was torture, especially for poor Gi-hun, who was stuck with the most difficult shape to execute — an umbrella.

Players who snapped segments of their cookie shapes were out (dead). Mi-nyeo and Gi-hun strategise intelligently in order to get their way out of the game, with the former using a lighter to heat a needle and the latter melting their cookie away by repeatedly licking out. This sparks a furious frenzy of other players frantically licking away at their honeycomb to prize their shape out.

The game was made even more tense by the fact that it ended with one of the players taking hostage of a guard. Talk about being a sore loser! Thankfully, there are no winners or losers in jigsaw puzzling...

Jigsaw puzzle lesson: In order to solve your jigsaw puzzle, dare to challenge conventional methods and prepare to think outside the box. 

[foreboding music continues] 

The Glass Stepping Stones

Netflix

In this game, players had to make their way over a bridge made of glass stepping stones. Half of the glass breaks while half remains intact when a player steps on it. 

Things started off tense, with players deciding which running order to go in. Gi-hun was left stranded trying to work out whether to pick to go first or last. It was a true conundrum that put viewers through the decision-making process as much as Gi-hun.

With each player and each glass stepping stone, suspense levels increased as players tried to decide which panel to step on. This is reminiscent of a jigsaw puzzle, as suspense levels increase as you try to find more and more pieces that fit together.

The wrong choice would see the glass smash and the player fall to the ground beneath them. The demise of both Deok-su and Mi-nyeo in this game added to the drama of the event, whilst the time limit meant that the last players had to hope that everyone in front would make up their mind quickly.

Marbles

Netflix

The emotional stress didn't stop there. One would think that there's nothing harmful or perverse with an innocent game of marbles. However, this game came with a cruel twist - the players were actually playing against one another, meaning friends and even lovers were now competing in a game of life or death.

But it was the game between Gi-hun and Il-nam that tugged at our heartstrings the most. Gi-hun tried to get Il-nam to play with him, but the elderly man was losing his mind and memories. Or so we think. Gi-hun eventually resorted to fooling the old man before Il-nam let on that he knew the whole time and let Gi-hun win.

The beautiful thing about jigsaw puzzles is that you can't be pitted against one another as you are working towards a common goal - finishing the jigsaw puzzle. That is, of course, if you choose not to buy two of the same puzzle and try to race against your friends!

Most Difficult: Round Feather Crest Jigsaw Puzzle

Jigsaw puzzle lesson: Kindness goes a long way. Compassion and empathy would always drive better results. Be kind to yourself and allow yourself to take a break from time to time.