As Squid Game: The Challenge comes to Netflix, we donned our VR gear to take on the lifelike tasks – and the sweating was real.
Today (Wednesday 22nd November), Squid Game: The Challenge launched on Netflix following the success of the 2021 Korean drama series Squid Game, which soon became one of the streaming site’s most watched shows.
With lots of excitement brewing, we decided to visit Sandbox’s VR to try out its immersive Squid Game experience, and we were pleasantly surprised with how lifelike it all is.
Located in London’s Holborn area, Sandbox offers various VR experiences from Deadwood Valley to Seekers of the Shard: Dragonfire and the Squid Game Virtuals. For the purpose of the show, we opted for the Squid Game experience and it didn’t disappoint.
After meeting in the reception area, complete with a super cool robot bar (more on this later) our team of four headed to our training room where we’d be playing eight games inspired by Squid Game. Before entering the zone, we got dressed up in our VR gear – hand sensors, feet sensors, and an overall, which we were told would vibrate every time we were shot at and “died” in the game.
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While it wasn’t quite the green tracksuit I was hoping for to really get into character, upon entering the room and after being adorned with our VR glasses, everything came to life! Cue the huge dormitory with multiple decker bunk beds, plus more players all dressed in green and white tracksuits with their player number embroidered. It felt like we were definitely in the game.
First up was Red Light, Green Light, which like the show saw us walking around and having to pause every time the giant doll turned around. However, in this case we had to collect coins placed around the VR space to add to our giant piggy bank, which only made things far more difficult, with the doll often turning round while your hand was mid-air. If shot at, you’d temporarily freeze in the game before coming back to life for another chance – an advantage real-life contestants on the show definitely do not have!
Next was Dalgona, also known as the cookie cutter game. Adapted for the VR world, this saw us having to fit into various shapes while avoiding red areas, and if you’re thinking of going along, I’d wear comfy clothes just for this one, which had us crouching down and getting into various positions. The sweating was real!
Simon Says was pretty straightforward, with not much change to the traditional children’s game (minus being killed for doing the wrong command and having to collect coins to determine the winner of the game), as were a lot of the other games, but it’s the glass bridge game that really got us!
If you’re not 100 per cent when it comes to heights, this one could make you feel a little queasy because it’s very realistic and probably the most lifelike out of all the games. I personally didn’t look down when stepping on the bridge, but if you do, prepare to see the glass cracking beneath you and the ground opening up!
The games came to an end with a winner within our team being named, and we took our gear off and headed back to the reception, where we were treated to a complimentary cocktail made by a robot! After selecting my drink of choice on the iPad (Zombie Apocalypse), the robot got to work mixing spirits and mixers from above before placing it on the counter in front of me.
I sipped my cocktail while watching our highlights from the game, which gave us a chance to cool down and have a laugh at how terrible we were.
A great date night spot or day out with your pals, we’d definitely head back to Sandbox for another game!
You can watch some of our experience in the video at the top of the page.
Squid Game Virtuals is available to play at Sandbox VR locations worldwide including its UK outposts in London, Birmingham, and Dublin. www.sandboxvr.com.
Squid Game: The Challenge is streaming now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out our lists of the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or see what else is on with our TV Guide.
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