Squid Game fans are convinced the next game in Season 3 is a twist on “Jack and Jill” – unfortunately, they’re probably wrong.
We saw three games in Squid Game Season 2 (not including ddakji): Red Light, Green Light, the Six-Legged Pentathlon, and Mingle.
However, the finale’s post-credits scene gave us a tease of what’s coming next – and it involves the same mannequin from Red Light, Green Light and her “boyfriend” Cheol-su.
Speculation has been rife about what the challenge will be; will it be a harder version of the infamous first game, or will it be something else entirely? Well, if you think it’s Jack and Jill, prepare to be disappointed.
What is the Jack and Jill game?
Unlike the other games in Squid Game, Jack and Jill isn’t a playground game: it’s a board game based on the classic nursery rhyme.
You know the one: “Jack and Gill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water; Jack fell down and broke his crown and Gill came tumbling after.”
It’s a pretty simple game. As per BGG, the “object is to be the first player to climb their hill and reach the well.
“Players start at the bottom of their hill. They roll the colour die in their turn and move up to the next space with that colour. The player then spins the spinner. If the spinner points to a well, the player stays on that spot and play passes to the next player. If the spinner points to a bucket, the player goes back to the start and waits until their next turn.
“The winner is the first player to reach the well at the top of their hill and spin the spinner to point to the well.”
There are other forms of the game (for example, there’s a Nintendo Switch game called Jack N’ Jill DX), and they all have similar objectives: overcoming several obstacles to reach the top of a hill.
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Why Jack and Jill won’t be in Squid Game Season 3
It’s unclear where the Jack and Jill rumor originated, but the chances of it having anything to do with Squid Game Season 3’s next game are slim.
First of all, we know that the dolls’ names aren’t Jack and Jill – they’re called Cheol-su and Young-hee. Secondly, all of the games in Squid Game are rooted in Korean culture and tradition (that’s not to say they aren’t played in other countries, like Tug-of-War), but Jack and Jill is a Western game based on an English nursery rhyme.
Also, there are other games on the walls of the players’ room we haven’t seen yet; look closely and you’ll see illustrations of people on monkey bars and an inverted chess board (a hint that we could see a version of Janggi, aka Korean chess).
However, it’s easy to see how Jack and Jill could be adapted into a grueling challenge in Season 3. One Redditor envisioned players climbing a hill “littered with traps, slippery paths, and unstable platforms, symbolizing the unpredictable and dangerous nature of life’s challenges.”
“The shared task of retrieving the heavy bucket of ‘water’ adds a layer of tension, as both players must cooperate to succeed while knowing a single misstep by either could mean the elimination of both,” they added.
Alas, most people predicting Jack and Jill seem to be basing their theory almost solely on the fact that there’s a boy doll and a girl doll.
There are other possibilities. One TikToker suggested it could be a version of the Railway Test; part-game and part-punishment for Gi-hun’s rebellion, forcing players to choose between killing five people or killing one person.
Whatever it is, the show’s creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told EW it’s “the most exciting game in Season 3.”
Squid Game Season 3 is set to drop at some point in 2025. Read our predictions for the third season, find out why Hyun-ju isn’t played by a trans woman, and if you should watch Season 2 subtitled or dubbed.
