Why do Squid Game: The Challenge fans believe the finale was "rigged"?

Squid Game: The Challenge aired its season finale on Wednesday, December 6, 2023. The segment saw the remaining three players compete in a test followed by the two finalists competing in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, which decided the fate of the players.

While Mai Whelan walked away a multi-millionaire from the show, Phill and Sam walked away with respect and love. During the dinner test, the players had to take turns pressing one of three buttons, which would then light up. Three buttons, three players, and three colors.

If their button turned red, the player would be eliminated, if it turned green, they would proceed to the final and could choose who they would have competed against. The third color was grey, and the player whose button turned green had no consequences. Fans took to social media to chime in on the test and believed that it could have easily been rigged in the favor of the player they wanted to see in the finale.

One person, Antoine wrote on X (Formerly known as Twitter):

"Ok that button game was definitely rigged."

Episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge were available to stream on Netflix.

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"Really sketchy": Squid Game: The Challenge fans called the button test a "weird move"

During the finale segment, the three contestants competed against each other one last time before Mai Whelan won and walked away a multi-millionaire.

While fans online celebrated player 287's win, they didn't think what happened during the iconic dinner segment was entirely fair. Phill, Sam, and Mai attended the dinner in black suits much like the final three in the Korean show.

The guards unveiled three buttons—square, circle, and triangle—in the middle as they took a seat. The announcer told them that each button was associated with a color and the colors were associated with their fate in the game.

While Phill didn't want to take part in the test, Mai believed that Phill and Sam would choose each other if it came down to it. The Squid Game: The Challenge female contestant went first but her button turned grey. This meant that Mai did not get eliminated but did not advance to the final test either.

Next up was Sam Lantz. When he pressed the button, it turned red, which meant he was eliminated. Phill and Mai proceeded to the final challenge, which was a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. However, it wasn't an ordinary game, as the winner of each round had to unlock a safe with a key.

The two took multiple turns until eventually Mai successfully unlocked the safe and became the winner of Squid Game: The Challenge. While fans celebrated Mai Whelan's victory, they weren't happy with the button test.

All of this is merely speculation, of course, and Mai emerged as the winner and received $4.56 million. Episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge are available to stream on Netflix.