Have you ever really enjoyed a show and then found yourself looking for meaning in its title? This was exactly how many viewers responded to Netflix’s Squid Game.
At the beginning of September 2021, this South Korean survival drama appeared as a series online and quickly became a symbol of Korean culture.
It didn’t just break records; they were shattered by it, with 1.65 billion hours of footage viewed in its very first month.
It became the most popular series Netflix has ever shown. While many were surprised by the unexpected changes, faced the tense challenges, and saw who was ousted, a main question kept coming up for viewers: Why did this series get named Squid Game?
Could there be a secret meaning or a hidden symbol in those two short words?
The solution, in fact, can be found in Korean culture, most clearly in children’s games.
Director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who came up with the series, said he chose the name after a game he and his friends would play on the streets of Korea. He dearly loved playing this game as a child.
The name “Ojingeo” (오징어), which it holds in Korean, is a direct reference to squid. The game’s roughness and distinctive stadium make the name suited to the series. It’s not a name chosen by chance.
It is a conscious nod to a time with less fear when directly shown alongside the worst things adults encounter.
1. The Real-Life Children’s Game “Ojingeo” Explained
Children across South Korea regard squid, or ojingeo, as a staple of playground activities. This exhilarating group game combines tactics, flexibility, and a lot of pushing and pulling.
Players are required to draw a certain figure on the ground that looks like a squid. This way of drawing segments the playing area into three sections called a head, body, and tail.
Hwang Dong-hyuk mentioned he played the game as a kid, sharing it became one of his favorites at that time. He believed that the combination of fighting on both defense and offense and the tough competition in football was a good match for what he wanted to say.
It stood for how competitive and unforgiving the world can be today. The last challenge within the series is a more adult and lethal Squid Game event.
Using this location, the series links the familiar romance in the title with its serious and powerful ending.
Traditionally, how Squid Game is played
The children’s game explains further why the show keeps returning to these themes.
The Playing Field: The floor is marked with a design that looks like a squid.
Here, the main features are mostly a few circular or squared areas for where the head and tail join, connected by a larger triangular or square body part.
Team Dynamics: Teams in hockey are known as attackers and defenders. This quickly causes people to stand against each other.
The Objective: In this game, the attacking team needs to navigate across all sections until they come to the head area. It is up to the defense team to prevent the attackers from moving the ball into the target.
Movement Rules: There are direct limitations on the movements of the game. In some parts of the “squid,” attackers must jump only on one foot instead of both.
At the same time, defenders literally try to drag or push attackers off the court.
NHL hockey is famous for how players collide with each other often, often in fights without stopping.
Victory Conditions: If one player on the attacking team can go around the entire squid and touch its head area, it is considered a victory for the team.
2. The Show’s Title Reflects a Lot of Meaning Behind the Story
In naming the series Squid Game, the series avoids only referring to the game at the end. It is filled with important meanings that express the main ideas and messages in the show.
Lost Innocence and Adult Brutality: The scariest thing about the show is how it takes kids’ favorite games and turns them into ruthless contests. This creates a strong and unexpected difference.
The casual fun in the name Squid Game makes it all the more shocking for viewers to see the dark world of the adults’ competition.
Survival and Relentless Competition: Squid Game, in the TV series, as in the real world, is centered on people competing fiercely and trying to survive.
People must physically confront and eliminate their rivals to come out on top in this game. It demonstrates the tough and competitive issues found throughout the series.
Potent Social Commentary: Hwang Dong-hyuk designed the series to sharply criticize life in our world today.
He wanted to show that many people were being affected by massive debt, the problems with capitalism, and wide inequality among classes.
A children’s game with players trying to win by destroying their opposing team is transformed into a symbol for something troubling and intense.
It points out how people in a capitalist world try their hardest to survive despite everyone working against each other for the same scarce resources.
3. Squid Game keeps making a mark across the globe
When you explore its title and what it represents culturally, you add even more reason to admire how brilliant Squid Game is.
The enormous success of the show strongly demonstrated one key thing: Stories are powerful when they move us across all language and cultural divides.
Its stories touched off strong and important talks around the world on social inequality, what is moral, and survival tactics. It also played a big role in increasing people’s interest in Korean culture.
Unique things from the show, for example the “dalgona candy” game, quickly went viral all over the world.
Even now, Season 2 of Squid Game was launched in December 2024, while fans are waiting for Season 3 to drop, planned for June 2025.
This means if you ever hear Squid Game mentioned, you’ll think of more than a fun show.
You will see that this special name comes from a close childhood connection and leads to the series’ powerful yet haunting message.