Abu Dhabi to Host Real-Life ‘Squid Game’ … Without the Violence

Ever watch an episode of Netflix’s Squid Game and wish you were right in the middle of the action? Me neither, but now you can be … short of all the violence.

Thirty fans of the hit Netflix show, split up into teams of 15, will soon be able to compete in a re-enactment of the games at The Korean Cultural Center in the United Arab Emirates. The games will be held in two sessions on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at the Center’s Abu Dhabi office.

Of course, no shots will be fired and no blood will be shed, making the experience far more enticing.

According to the Center’s event page, players will compete in four games instead of six, including red light green light, the Dalgona candy challenge, the Marbles game, and the Ddakji game.

While each game was featured on the show, the Ddakji game, in which players attempt to flip over folded paper tiles, was not included during the actual Squid Games, yet each competitor did play before entering the Games.

Players competing in Abu Dhabi’s event will not play tug of war, the glass stepping stone game, or the series’ namesake game — the Squid Game.

Each winner will win a customized green tracksuit, which is just as good as $38 million (45.6 billion won), right?

“The games seem a bit brutal in the series to maximize the dramatic element. However, all the games in the show are popular ones played by Korean children from past to present,” Nam Chan-woo, the UAE Korean Cultural Center’s director explained to local media outlet Khaleej Times.“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.”

Applicants will not have to get repeatedly slapped in the face in order to join, but instead must fill out a form with three questions testing their basic knowledge of the Netflix show.