UAE Korean Cultural Center to Hold Real-life Squid Games
by Jaskiran Kaur | Mon, 11 Oct 2021 15:07:03 GMT
Credits: Showbiz Cheatsheet

Binge-watching 'Squid Game'  this week? We can all relate to the obsession with the series, but maybe none so much more than The Korean Cultural Center in the United Arab Emirates that is actually holding a "Squid Game" inspired event. 

The event will be open to 30 people and is to be held at the United Arab Emirates' capital Abu Dhabi's office of the cultural center. The event will be running on a similar process as in the Squid Game series. The players will go through the games that are witnessed in the Netflix series "Squid Games." The games will include the now infamous Dalgona candy challenge, which is very popular on many social media platforms, along with the "Red Light Green Light" games.  

Hence, the many fans of the popular series can themselves have a taste of the game in Abu Dhabi. Needless to say, the real-life Squid Game experiences will not have any of the series' darker aspects like murder and violent bloodshed. 

The games organized by the Korean Cultural Center based in the capital of United Arab Emirates will be conducting the event in two team slots of 15 participants each. The reenactment is to take place at the head office of the center on October 12th, this Tuesday. The games are to be conducted in two sessions each. 

The popular Netflix series, which has garnered the attention of common folks and celebrities, alike premiered on Netflix on September 17th. Soon, the series gained immeasurable success as it made it to the top of Netflix streaming charts in the US. The Korean drama spans the horrors of a disparate group of people who can't make ends meet and are going through severe poverty. Soon, they find themselves trapped in a deadly game that takes after Korean children's games but is nothing innocent. 

The 465 players of the games have to go through harsh challenges only with the hope of winning and making it out before they are murdered. If they make it to the end of the series of challenges, they will receive $38 million. 

Credits: Indian Express

Now, modeled after the "Suid Game," the Korean Center's event will hold four of the original six games seen in the series. As announced by the official page of the center, these games are going to be "Red Light Green Light," "Dalgona Candy," "Marbles," and "Ddakji," a paper-flipping game. Both Red Light Green Light and Dalgona Candy have reached considerable popularity on TikTok and have inspired challenges to their own names. The other two games are now also available to play at the center.  

Opposing the series' massive lottery of $38 million for the winner, the winners of the squid Games event in Abu Dhabi will take back home a personalized green tracksuit as seen in the series. However, there are no cash prizes for the winners. The games will continue for two hours in tournament-type sessions. The eliminated players could watch the rest of the proceedings from the sidelines of the games. 

Credits: Collider

How to get into the play?

Count yourself lucky that the real-life event does not include you being slapped by a game recruiter for you to enter the invitation list of the games. The Korea Cultural center's version of the games will require you to have some basic knowledge of the working of the Squid games. You will need to fill out a form that will have no less than three questions, all based on the Netflix series. 

The uniforms

Khaleej Times had a talk with the UAE Korean Cultural Center's director, Nam Chan-woo. He revealed that the participants of the gaming event would have to don the Squid Logo-bearing T-shirts. The event will be manned by staff members and gamekeepers that will wear the uniform of the guards' from the show. The iconic uniforms feature a circle, a square, and a triangle on the masks of the bright pink uniforms. 

Talking about the K-Pop bands' rise to stardom, Nam Chan-woo showed hope for Korean cinematography. He said, "Just as K-Pop gained worldwide popularity through YouTube in the 2010s, I think platforms such as Netflix would be a channel for the global spread of Korean video content such as dramas and movies." 

Also, in an interview with Insider, Nam relayed that the games are a way for the Korean people residing in the United Arab Emirates to display a part of their childhood games to the residents of the Emirates. 

"The games played in the Netflix series are popular amongst children in Korea and remind Korean adults of nostalgic childhood memories. But similar traditional games are played by children here in the UAE, too. I hope the global popularity of 'Squid Game' will be an opportunity to spread other aspects of Korean culture too, such as Hangeul (the Korean alphabet), taekwondo, as well as K-dramas and movies," he conceded. 

Credits: Polygon

The Squid Gameshow has taken over the world in a few weeks, and now everyone wants to be in the know of the popular series. Many people have taken a liking to the Korean games and snacks that the residents and immigrants of the country enjoy with a lot of relishes. The TikTok challenges and trends spanning the games mean that original creators of the Dalgona coffee are getting a lot of business. 

Credits: Polygon

A confectioner who makes the candies shown in the series said that the demand is so high that he hasn't gone home from his shop in a week. Similarly, people are going berserk on the green retro tracksuits and slip-on Vans featured in the show. 

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