Eight bloody dramas to watch while we wait for Squid Game season 2

We recommend eight shows like Squid Game while you wait for season 2
(Image credit: Netflix)

It took a remarkable 10 years for Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk to bring his blood-thirsty pride and joy from the page to the screen. 

Considering that the South Korean survival drama was then recognised at both the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards, surpassed Bridgerton as the most-watched show in Netflix history and essentially became the biggest pop culture phenomenon of 2021, it seems inconceivable that we’ll have to wait as long for a follow-up.

It will, however, be at least another year until we get to find out exactly why Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) abandoned the young daughter he’d spent the entire season pining over to once again immerse himself in the deranged world of life-or-death children’s games, black market organ-harvesting and gold-masked sadists that appeared to have wandered in from a completely different, and terribly-acted, series. 

With the show’s success catching Hwang by surprise, a second series hasn’t even yet been written, let alone filmed. In fact, the brains behind the show initially didn’t even want such a thing to happen. However, the lure of Netflix money and the promise of additional projects has proven too hard to resist, and the platform’s big cheese Ted Sarandos confirmed in January 2022 that the Squid Game universe was only just getting started. In the meantime, why not check out eight other shows which offer similarly dystopian thrills. 

Alice In Borderland

Netflix

(Image credit: Netflix)

Perhaps Squid Game’s closest spiritual cousin, Alice in Borderland was the show that many new converts to East Asian survival thrillers gravitated towards first. 

Focusing more on the sadistic games than any emotional backstories, this adaptation of Haro Aso’s same-named manga is even more gleefully gory. But it’s also ironically less cutthroat, with the three video gamers who stumble into the grisly competition on the abandoned streets of Tokyo forced to work with a whole host of other photogenic oddballs to emerge with their lives intact. 

If it’s pure adrenaline you’re after, then Alice in Borderland should go straight to the front of your Netflix queue. 

Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)

The Purge

The Purge TV Series

(Image credit: Amazon Prime)

The daddy of the survival horror genre, The Purge franchise has spawned five films and a two-season TV anthology. Surprisingly for such a limited premise – all crime is made legal for a 12-hour period – the latter has proven to be the most entertaining. 

Its first series is particularly successful in deepening the mythology of the carnage-causing holiday, exploring everything from suicidal cults to the true price of the American Dream with an almost unbearable sense of dread and tension. 

Sure, the socio-political commentary might be slightly too on-the-nose: there are even shades of Squid Game’s masked VIPs with the horrific Founding Fathers bash. But who watches The Purge for subtlety? 

Where to watch: Prime Video (Worldwide)

Panic

Panic

(Image credit: Amazon Studios)

Adapted from her own 2014 novel, Lauren Oliver’s one-season wonder focuses on a group of graduates so desperate to leave their Texas hometown they willingly sign up to Panic, an annual contest with a prize of $50,000 but one that also comes with a risk of death. 

West Side Story scene stealer Mike Faist is just one of the talented young cast members vying for an escape route in a taut thriller which boasts just as much batshit insane melodrama as it does “don’t try this at home” antics. Think Squid Game meets Riverdale.  

Where to watch: Prime Video (Worldwide)

3%

3% on Netflix

(Image credit: Netflix)

Premiering at a time when the appetite for teenage dystopian thrillers had started to wane, Netflix’s second non-English original undeservedly went under the radar. 

Indeed, while it undoubtedly lacks the gloss of the Divergent and Hunger Games franchises, 3% is still a gripping addition to the YA canon which tackles issues such as inequality and immigration with far more nuance than most of its Hollywood counterparts. 

The 3%, of course, refers to the number of impoverished competitors who advance to a much more privileged world via a death defying-contest dubbed The Process. And the show’s strong characterization means you’ll be left fully invested in the fate of all those involved. 

Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)

All Us Of Are Dead

A screenshot of high schoolers battling zombies in Netflix's All of Us Are Dead

(Image credit: Yang Hae-sung/Netflix)

We’re still not quite over what happened to Player No.240 in the Marbles episode of Squid Game. But at least there’s another chance to see Lee Yoo-mi fight for her life in this even bloodier Netflix original. The actress plays the most privileged of the high school students caught up in a flesh-eating pandemic in the platform’s second-biggest South Korean hit to date. 

Yes, All Of Us Are Dead might be yet another zombie story but thanks to its distinctive setting and self-aware script, it’s one that should revive interest in the genre even among those burned out by the never-ending The Walking Dead. 

Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)

Hellbound

Hellbound

(Image credit: Netflix)

Hellbound was the first Korean show to emerge in Squid Game’s wake: it even knocked the phenomenon off Netflix’s most-watched list after two months. 

While Yeon Sang-ho’s adaptation of his own webtoon shares some DNA with its predecessor – a thirst for blood, complex moral dilemmas, an infiltrating cop – it’s a much more fantastical watch. The enemies are literal monsters who beat society’s condemned to a pulp before dragging their souls into Satan’s lair, for one thing. 

But from the cults that take advantage of all the paranoia to the parents who learn their new-born baby is destined for a one-way ticket to the netherworld, its human elements are equally intriguing.  

Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)

Extracurricular

Extracurricular on Netflix

(Image credit: Netflix)

Just like Squid Game’s runners and riders, the key players in Extracurricular resort to desperate measures to get their hands on life-changing money. Instead of playing warped versions of children’s playground games, though, its struggling teens willingly sign up to an underworld of prostitution, blackmail and ultimately murder. 

Yes, this is one taboo-busting K-drama that pulls few punches. But in among all the blood and gore, there’s also a darkly comic streak which brings to mind the work of Academy Award winner Bong Joon-ho. This is definitely worth overcoming the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles for. 

Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)

Darwin's Game

Darwin's Game

(Image credit: Netflix)

One of the most entertaining Anime to mirror Squid Game’s survival of the fittest premise, 11-episode Darwin’s Game centres on Kaname Sudo, a high school student who gets transported into a life-or-death mobile app. And the only way for the unassuming teen to return to reality is to turn into a lean, mean killing machine. 

There’s plenty of fun to be had in watching the distinctive superpower each player is given – one can acquire animal body parts, another can manipulate plants – and well-paced action sequences, while the final showdown with maniacal big boss Wang wraps things up in truly gratifying style. 

Where to watch: Netflix (Worldwide)

Read more
Seong Gi-hun staring intently at a Squid Game soldier in Squid Game season 2
Squid Game season 2 is Netflix's reigning champion – here are 3 more K-Dramas with perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes scores
Zeus looks unimpressed as he leans on a table in Netflix's Kaos TV show
9 canceled Netflix shows in 2024 that you should still watch
Gi-hun stares at a Squid Game overseer in a club in Squid Game season 2
Squid Game season 2: release date, trailer, confirmed cast, plot synopsis, and everything else we know about the popular Netflix show's return
The TV posters for Doctor Who: Joy to the World, Squid Game season 2 and What if...? season 3 in a collage.
7 new movies and TV shows to stream on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and more this weekend (December 27)
Belle Gibson wearing red lipstick and smiling at the camera with a microphone in front of her in Apple Cider Vinegar.
Best Netflix shows: 54 great TV series to watch in February 2025
A promo shot of Severance season 2 showing character Milcheck holding a blue piece of paper
4 shows similar to Severance with over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes that you should stream
Latest in Entertainment
Trinity Rodman #2 of the Washington Spirit crosses the ball during a game between Bay FC and Washington Spirit at Audi Field on November 10, 2024 in Washington, DC.
National Women's Soccer League 2025: How to watch NWSL games live from anywhere
Irish boxer TJ Doheny receives an undercard bout, ahead of the WBO super welterweight world title fight in March, 2023
Ball vs Doheny live stream: how to watch the boxing action from anywhere
Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United during the Carabao Cup Semi Final Second Leg match in February 2025
Liverpool vs Newcastle live stream: how to watch Carabao Cup final 2025 online
The Russo brothers posing for a photograph and Herman carrying a Volkswagen camper van in The Electric State
'We're optimists': AI enthusiasts Joe and Anthony Russo defend its use in movies and TV shows, but admit there are 'very real dangers' around its application
Max Verstappen of Red Bull in testing for the 2025 season in Bahrain
Australian Grand Prix 2025: How to watch F1 First Practice race online from anywhere
A collage of Tom Holland's unmasked Spider-Man and Sadie Sink's Max in Stranger Things season 4
Marvel reportedly casts Stranger Things star Sadie Sink in Spider-Man 4, but I don't want her to tackle the roles she's rumored to play
Latest in Features
Close up of PS5 DualSense controller leaning on a PS5
5 reasons your PS5 needs a VPN
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
With discounts of up to 95%, these are the biggest deals I've managed to find in the Steam Spring Sale
The cast of The Parenting
The Parenting is Max's #1 most-watched movie but it has frightening reviews – here are 3 better horror films with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes
Dr. Peter Zhou, President of Huawei Data Storage Product Line
Why AI commonization is so important for business intelligent transformation and what Huawei’s data storage has to offer
Samsung, Roku, and Hisense TV screens
I review TVs for a living, and here are the 3 best budget TVs you can buy today
Sterling K. Brown as Agent Xavier Collins in Paradise
Hulu's #1 show Paradise has got everyone talking – here are 3 more political thrillers with over 85% on Rotten Tomatoes to watch next