What is Squid Game: The Challenge's prize fund and where does it stand after episode 5?

Netflix's Squid Game: The Challenge, which the K-drama Squid Game inspired, released five episodes on Wednesday, November 22, 2023. A total of 456 contestants participated in the show, but the numbers dramatically dropped after each game.

However, with every elimination, the prize fund increased by $10,000. By the end of the five episodes, more than half of the cast had been eliminated, and only 63 players remained. The prize fund stood at $3.93 million.

Squid Game: The Challenge season 1 will drop a new set of episodes next week on Netflix.

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Squid Game: The Challenge season 1's prize fund is proportional to the number of players eliminated

Squid Game: The Challenge season 1, Netflix's latest reality show, dropped the first five episodes earlier this week. The competition started with 456 contestants, which is the largest number of people to ever be recruited to be a part of a reality show so far.

The show attempted to be similar to the Korean show, which debuted on Netflix in 2021 and hence had the same number of contestants as the drama show. Much like Squid Game, the prize fund increased every time a player was eliminated, and so far, 393 contestants have been sent packing.

Every time a player's journey comes to an end, the prize fund goes up by $10,000. This includes games, challenges, and tests that have taken place during the competition. The tests were an innovative twist to the show, as they were not part of the Netflix original show.

One of the first tests involved two players having to mutually decide whether to give another contestant an advantage in an upcoming game or to eliminate someone. They were also informed that their decision would remain anonymous. The players decided to increase the prize fund.

Soon after, a telephone was put into the Squid Game: The Challenge dorm, and the players were left curious about its purpose. When it rang, a player picked it up and was rewarded with a hamburger. However, the next time it rang, the same person picked up and was tasked with convincing another to take the call instead of him. Since he was unable to complete the task, he was also eliminated.

Up next was a vote-out, during which the three players with the highest number of votes were asked to leave. After this, two players were asked to come into the chore room for a task where two squares were placed, red and blue. They knew they had to play Ddakji, the first game in the Korean drama show, which helped pick the recruits for the competition.

However, they were met with a pleasant surprise when neither of them was eliminated, and the winner was awarded a chocolate bar. The biggest and most stressful task came towards the end of episode 4, when the announcer asked for five volunteers.

A table with six boxes appeared in front of them, and they were asked to stand in front of a box of their choice. The boxes either contained an advantage or the risk of being eliminated. In the end, only 63 players remained.

In episode 5, five more people were asked to perform a chore and were told that they would be rewarded with a treat. They had to squeeze oranges into jars, and since they were successful, the entire cast was awarded with a picnic. However, the episode ended with a cliffhanger when the pairs discovered that the picnic basket contained marbles, which meant they would be competing against their picnic partners in the next episode.

Squid Game: The Challenge season 1 will drop a new set of episodes next week on Netflix.