Is this a green light — or red light?
Interactive gaming company Immersive Gamebox, under a pact with Netflix, has developed an in-person “Squid Game” multiplayer game that will let groups of 2-6 people compete in a series of challenges inspired by the hit Netflix series, including Red Light, Green Light; Marbles; and the “Squid Game” itself. Every time you lose a challenge, you lose a virtual life — and each time you win, you earn virtual money in a piggy bank.
Immersive Gamebox’s “Squid Game” experience is set to launch Sept. 21, at nine U.S. locations — Manhattan’s Lower East Side; Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.; Oakbrook, Ill.; Denver; Dallas; San Antonio; The Woodlands, Texas; Salt Lake City; and Arlington, Va. — and four in the U.K. (Essex Lakeside, London Southbank, London Wandsworth, Manchester Arndale).
It’s the company’s first age-restricted game, for players 16 and older. Tickets for a 60-minute round of “Squid Game” range from $21.99 to $39.99 per player depending on location. More info is available at this link.
Players in Immersive Gamebox’s “Squid Game” interact with the company’s proprietary motion-sensing technology and touchscreens lining the walls of the digital smart rooms (which it calls “Gameboxes”). “To reimagine Netflix’s most popular show in an entirely new format offers customers more ways to stay connected to ‘Squid Game,’” Immersive Gamebox CEO Will Dean said in a statement.
Separately, Netflix has ordered a reality competition series based on the South Korean scripted original; dubbed “Squid Game: The Challenge,” it’s supposed to feature 456 players competing for a $4.56 million prize pool. The streamer also has greenlit a second season of “Squid Game.”
Immersive Gamebox (formerly called Electric Gamebox) was founded in 2019. It offers original games as well as experiences created under licensing partnerships, including with Rovio Entertainment for the first-ever life-size “Angry Birds” game.
The “Squid Game” experience at Immersive Gamebox locations comprises six different challenges, adapted from the show:
- Red Light, Green Light: Use 3D motion tracking to make your way around the obstacles to get to safety
- Dalgona: Carve out the shapes within the time limit using the 3D motion tracking on your visor
- Tug of War: Coordinate with your teammates to win
- Marbles: Use touchscreens to launch marbles at the center screen to pass to the next level
- Glass Bridge: Work with your team to solve puzzles to make it to the other side
- Squid Game: Play the actual titular game, making your way around the course and dodging enemies
