Loved Squid Game? Here are six other TV shows to watch like it

After three seasons, Squid Game has come to an end — but not before leaving a lasting impact on audiences worldwide. The final season, which premiered on July 1, shattered Netflix viewership records with 60.1 million views in only three days, marking the platform’s biggest-ever TV launch. It also debuted at No 1 in all 93 countries where Netflix tracks its Top 10 rankings.

For fans of Squid Game looking for more shows with similar themes of survival, here are six titles worth exploring:

Alice in Borderland

This Japanese thriller takes place in an eerily abandoned Tokyo, where a group of strangers must compete in a series of deadly, often psychological games to stay alive. Much like Squid Game, it blends action and strategy with moral dilemmas, forcing characters to navigate shifting alliances and question who they can trust when survival is on the line.

The 8 Show

This South Korean drama revolves around eight people trapped in a mysterious high-rise building, where time literally equals money — the longer they stay, the more they earn. What begins as a bizarre opportunity quickly turns into a tense social experiment. With its confined setting, escalating paranoia and commentary on greed and exploitation, the show echoes Squid Game’s mix of suspense and social critique.

3%

Set in a starkly divided future society, this dystopian drama from Brazil follows young candidates as they undergo a series of intense tests for a chance to join an elite, privileged population. Only 3% will make it and the rest are cast aside. With its focus on a rigged system, survival under pressure and the illusion of fairness, the show mirrors Squid Game’s themes of inequality and the cost of competition.

Physical: 100

This reality series from South Korea pits 100 of the country's strongest and fittest against one another in gruelling physical challenges. While there’s no fatal outcome, the show shares Squid Game’s elimination format and intensity, pushing contestants to their limits and revealing the raw, competitive instincts that surface when only one can win.

Death’s Game

This series offers a darker, more philosophical take on the value of life. After dying by suicide, the protagonist is cursed to relive several lives — each ending in a brutal death — until he understands what it means to truly live. Like Squid Game, it explores despair, regret and the consequences of personal choices under extreme circumstances.

Squid Game: The Challenge

This spin-off brings the fictional world of Squid Game into reality, with 456 contestants competing for $4.56 million in a near-exact replica of the show’s infamous games, minus the deadly consequences. It captures much of the original’s psychological tension, betrayal and alliance-building, turning fiction into a high-stakes real-life competition.

Countries recognising Palestine

France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Results

2-15pm: Commercial Bank Of Dubai – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Al Habash, Patrick Cosgrave (jockey), Bhupat Seemar (trainer)

2.45pm: Al Shafar Investment – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Day Approach, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash

3.15pm: Dubai Real estate Centre – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Celtic Prince, Richard Mullen, Rashed Bouresly

3.45pm: Jebel Ali Sprint by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,000m; Winner: Khuzaam, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

4.15pm: Shadwell – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Tenbury Wells, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer

4.45pm: Jebel Ali Stakes by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Lost Eden, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson

5.15pm: Jebel Ali Racecourse – Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Rougher, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson

Quick pearls of wisdom

Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”

Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”