Games that Oddly Capture the essence of ‘Squid Game’

The hit Netflix Series ‘Squid Game’ is becoming increasingly popular. Not all the games that are dark, sinister, bloody and battle royale are like Squid Game. There are many light-hearted games that oddly enough, can come across that weird Squid Game spectrum. They may not be the same style, but they definitely have that dark undertone we’re looking for. We’ve mentioned some Must-play for Squid Game fans here and the relation to Fall Guys there, but these are just a few more to pique your interest.

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Hear me out. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is nothing but fun and games, driving in beautiful, fun-filled, crazy race tracks, but there’s a massive downside to Mario Kart 8 deluxe, or should I say dark side? Mario Kart 8 Deluxe includes painful and violent attacks such as getting hit by fireballs, bombs, blue shell bombs, haunted by ghosts, falling off dangerous edges, crushed by massive thwomps…it all sounds like a nightmare in reality. Fair enough, you have Latiku to save you from massive falls, but what about the rest of the pain? After one or two races, most people would want the nightmare to end and all of that…just to win a gold trophy? Sounds pretty sinister to us.

2. Animal Crossing New Horizons

“How? They’re just adorable animal villagers you can live with on a beautiful island…” Well, I’m about to ruin your childhood. If you’re unaware there is a massive trading ‘business’ over the Animal Crossing Community through Facebook, Twitter, Discord and an app called Nookazon. Players will steal, lie and charge millions of in-game bells for a particular villager or item…some even charge real money for specific items on social media or eBay. Oh, but it gets darker than that.

The Animal Crossing New Horizons Discord is a wonderful place for players to get creative, happily trade and have fun with island visits…but there are a few that put their beloved villagers up for sale or even host a GAME SHOW where the winner can obtain the villager of their liking, which is typically Raymond, the new smug cat villager.

If you look at it from a certain angle, it can get pretty dark…that can almost be seen as villager trafficking. The poor villagers abducted from their homes were unknowingly sold or placed up as a prize. Don’t believe me? Check this video out.

Animal Crossing New Horizons

3. Mario Party Superstars

Mario Party….we’ve all seen the Mario Party and Squid Game meme and it’s been mentioned in this previous blog. It’s known quite well now across the gaming community, but no one is talking about Superstars…While it’s essentially the same thing, there are old GameCube boards and Mario Party is now accessible for handheld Nintendo Switch Players, aka those who own a Nintendo Switch Lite. This means more players, more deaths and more viscous neverending cycles for Mario and his friends. Constantly respawning after falling into a fiery pit, off a large cliff, being yeeted out of existence. It’s pretty brutal if you ask me… Want the Super Mario Party for the Nintendo Switch? Click here.

There's no ball like a snow ball to send your rivals soaring!

Snowball Summit from Mario Party 3 is back in Mario Party Superstars when it rolls onto Nintendo Switch next week. pic.twitter.com/gy7r4OCnv3

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) October 22, 2021