Starring Lee Jung-jae, the nine-part series follows a group of debt-ridden people who are invited to take part in a mysterious tournament for the chance to win 45.6 billion Won<\/a>\u2013 but if they lose the game, they also lose their lives.<\/p>\n The group has to get through six Squid Game rounds<\/a> and stay alive before getting their hands on the competition\u2019s big piggy bank \u2013 but why exactly is the show called Squid Game? And what was the alternative title that Netflix were thinking of using instead?<\/p>\n Read on for everything you need to know about Squid Game\u2019s title.<\/p> Netflix\u2019s hit series Squid Game gets its name from the final round of the mysterious tournament, in which the finalists have to play the titular children\u2019s playground game.<\/p>\n The game is a version of tag, where players are split into two teams \u2013 the attackers and the defenders \u2013 and tasked with stopping their opponents from advancing across the squid diagram drawn in the ground. You can learn more about how to play Squid Game with our true story guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Squid Game is a recurring theme throughout the series, with Gi-hun and Sang-woo seen playing it as children in the very first episode, while the Squid Game symbols<\/a> \u2013 a square, triangle and circle \u2013 which feature on the game\u2019s calling card and the guards\u2019 uniforms, are taken from\u00a0 the game\u2019s diagram.<\/p>\n Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk spoke to\u00a0RadioTimes.com<\/strong> last month about the title of the show, saying in an exclusive interview that the series was inspired by his own childhood<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSquid Game is a game I used to play as a child in the schoolyard or the streets of the neighbourhood,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a story about people who used to play this game as children and return to play it as adults.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of the most physical and it was also one of my favourite games. I felt that this game could be the most symbolic children\u2019s game that could represent the kind of society we live in today.\u201d<\/p>\n It may surprise you to learn that Squid Game wasn\u2019t the Netflix show\u2019s original title, with the nine-part series originally going by the name Round Six \u2013 which is the last round of the tournament where the finalists play the Squid Game.<\/p>\n Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, Netflix executive Minyoung Kim said that the streamer was initially worried that the title Squid Game wouldn\u2019t resonate with those outside of South Korea.<\/p>\n \u201cSquid Game, or ojingeo<\/em> in Korean, is a real kids\u2019 game here, but not all Koreans actually know it. My generation knows it, but my niece\u2019s generation probably wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, initially, we knew we wanted this show to travel but we were worried the title Squid Game wouldn\u2019t resonate because not many people would get it. So we went with the title Round Six instead, wanting it to be more general and helpful for telling people what the show is about \u2014 there are six rounds to the game.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that Hwang convinced Netflix to call the show Squid Game after all, as it was the \u201cessence\u201d of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the more authentic title has actually played really well. The title, Squid Game, together with the eye-catching artwork, really capture interest within our service \u2014 especially for audiences who have never watched a Korean show before but are looking for fun things to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 19 October 2021 at 12:00 am South Korean drama Squid Game is still dominating the Netflix streaming chart despite arriving on screens over a month ago and viewers just can\u2019t get enough of Hwang Dong-hyuk\u2019s hit series, which has become Netflix\u2019s biggest original series of all time. Starring Lee Jung-jae, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5962,"template":"","categories":[5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-is-it-called-squid-game-netflix-shows-name-explained-and-alternate-title-revealed.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-is-it-called-squid-game-netflix-shows-name-explained-and-alternate-title-revealed-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-is-it-called-squid-game-netflix-shows-name-explained-and-alternate-title-revealed-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-is-it-called-squid-game-netflix-shows-name-explained-and-alternate-title-revealed.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-is-it-called-squid-game-netflix-shows-name-explained-and-alternate-title-revealed.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-is-it-called-squid-game-netflix-shows-name-explained-and-alternate-title-revealed.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/10\/why-is-it-called-squid-game-netflix-shows-name-explained-and-alternate-title-revealed.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Lauren Morris Published: Tuesday, 19 October 2021 at 12:00 am South Korean drama Squid Game is still dominating the Netflix streaming chart despite arriving on screens over a month ago and viewers just can\u2019t get enough of Hwang Dong-hyuk\u2019s hit series, which has become Netflix\u2019s biggest original series of all time. Starring Lee Jung-jae,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/5961"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why is Squid Game called Squid Game?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Squid\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/Squid-Game-HoYeon-Jung-13f8169.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Squid\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nWhat was Squid Game\u2019s original title?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Squid\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/SquidGame_Unit_108_0076-9a09c4d.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"squid-game-netflix-biggest-series-ever-newsupdate\"\\"\/")
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