One Netflix spin-off. A multi-million dollar prize. A cast of 456 players. One winner. Two stories of taking part – and missing out. Daniel Bellamy reports.
The stakes could barely be higher. Phill Cain was a whisker away from a life of luxury as a multi-millionaire. After battling his way through Netflix’s reality show Squid Game: The Challenge, and surviving the cull that took 456 players down to two, all that stood between him and a whopping $4.56 million prize was one last task. A pesky game of rock, paper, scissors.
He lost. But at least he stayed alive, unlike his counterpart in the global sensation Korean drama that inspired the spin-off. And Cain has made his peace with the result of the game, which saw Mai Whelan take the jackpot.
So, what was it like to be part of the show with the biggest cast in reality TV history? What were the conditions really like?
In the original Squid Game, a large group of desperate people drowning in debt put their lives on the line for the opportunity to win a prize so grand it would transform their existence. It’s a subversive metaphor for capitalism and the need for doing anything for money.
Squid Game: The Challenge mirrored the experience – aside from the casual killing of contestants, naturally – from the living quarters where the players stayed to the challenges and the desperation. But the reality show had an extra touch. One that the runner up Phill – Player 451, a 28-year-old from New Jersey – didn’t see coming.
“So, when we signed up for the game, we assumed that it would be playing little games and seeing who goes out in which,” he says. “But when we showed up, we realised that it was going to be social tests and mini games in between where you could eliminate people you didn’t like.
“This changed our entire perspective because now it was no longer about are you good at cutting up a cookie, it was now going to be who is your alliance and has your back.”
But the experience made Player 367 – 30-year-old Camilla Akbas, from Rhode Island – forget she was playing a game.
The controlled food, sleep schedule, and day to day activities left her relinquishing all self-control to an outside source.
“As a female foodie, the food was the trickiest for me,” she says. “We were served bland tasteless food in tiny portions.”
While other contestants played dirty for second servings, 367 remained hungry for the opportunity to win life-changing money.
“I wanted to ensure I was 100% authentically myself,” she says. “I’m first generation born in America coming from two immigrant parents. Growing up, I never really knew how much my parents struggled due to them always making sure that I had the best of the best.
“My dad grew up in a village, where he truly had nothing besides the clothes on his back. He came to the United States and built himself the American dream. Putting himself through college, and becoming a chemical engineer, while also owning two companies.”
Akbas was a huge fan of the show when it originally aired in 2021, and was urged by a friend to apply because of her love for horror/ thriller films. Camilla realised “this show was the perfect fit.”
“This opportunity allowed me the chance to give back to my dad even a fraction of what he’s been able to give me all these years.”
Phill’s motivation came from a different place. “I initially wanted to try something new and push boundaries while having fun,” he says, “which I did.
“The challenges themselves were all-day events. What was made to look like 5-10 minutes on the screen was hours of waiting in rooms full of players. However, it wasn’t a shock to me. That’s TV, setting up the right camera shots and miccing everyone up.”
This wasn’t his first time on camera. “My claim to fame was being a CSU technician in an episode of Hawaii 5-O,” he says, “and I’ve always been interest in acting in front of the screen.” But this experience was unlike anything he’d done before.
“It was very immersive,” he says. “I fully felt like people were dying left and right because it is crazy, people were eliminated and all of a sudden, they are gone and you didn’t see them again.
“I had an exit strategy for every single game, I was like ‘Oh my God I’m eliminated next I need to make it dramatic’, but it never happened.”
‘Red Light, Green Light’ was the first game in the show, better known as the children’s game, Statues.
In this case, Young-Hee a giant robotic doll that sings the chant Mugunghwa-kkochi Pieossseubnida which in Korean translates to ‘the flower has bloomed’.
When the doll blurts ‘green light’, players must scurry across the field to try make it to the finish line at the end of the court before the five-minute timer runs out. When she says ‘red light’, she turns around and all players must freeze on the spot to avoid elimination.
“When I had seen the first game of Red Light, Green Light, that is when it truly set in that this was no joke,” says Camilla.
“Netflix truly went above and beyond to make sure that what was seen in the original show was exactly replicated.”
Although Phil felt prepared for the game, going into the first challenge was a wake-up call. “After the challenge, we walked to the dorm for the first time and it was very jarring that this was reality now,” he says. “It was the size of a frigging football field it was so massive.”
“What made the experience so unique was living with a cast of contestants so large – it was like the ultimate college experience with a twist, and it was so cool,” says Camilla.
Some eliminated players complained of ‘harsh’ and ‘unbearable’ conditions. But despite living with strangers and seeing no daylight while on basic rations, Player 367 says she was able to prove herself. “I made myself proud,” she says. “I proved how resilient I could be.
“I’m hoping I proved to some little Middle Eastern girl out there that she too can achieve anything she puts her mind to! The opportunities are endless.”
Each challenge brought a sense of “dread, excitement and terror,” says Phill. And all the while, the number of contestants was being slashed.
Despite Phill losing out on $4.56 million, he remains zen and appreciative. “I was bugging out in the finale, but at the end of the day the worst is I get to go home and eat good food and sleep in my own bed, so that feeling was very comforting.
“Even though I felt bummed out to lose to Mai, I was genuinely happy for her and in a way relieved, because it was finally over, and I could go home.”