Dive into the most ingenious strategies and clever moves from the hit series Squid Game! From survival tactics to psychological warfare, we're breaking down the smartest decisions that kept players alive and changed the game's dynamics. Get ready for a mind-blowing countdown of survival brilliance!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the smartest things that characters did throughout Squid Game so far.
00:12We will be discussing various plot points, so a major spoiler warning is in effect.
00:17The twisted games begin with the most intense session of red light, green light ever put on screen.
00:43Players learn pretty quickly that if a creepy robot lady sees you moving when you're not supposed to,
00:49you will be violently eliminated.
00:51Fortunately, Sang-woo and Sae-byeok realize that they can't be seen if they stand behind another person.
01:03This strategy allows both of them to move up in the game with ease.
01:06Gi-hun also uses this tip to get ahead too.
01:09Without this simple yet reliable strategy, a few of our favorite players may not have made it past the first game.
01:26Gi-hun has lots of money now, but he's not interested in living a quiet life in Bermuda.
01:31He wants to fight the Squid Game, and to do that he needs to prepare.
01:35So Gi-hun does quite an ingenious thing.
01:37He buys a shady hotel and uses the empty rooms as his base of operations.
01:48He lives inside this hotel, and he uses its many rooms to both store his black market weapons
01:53and practice shooting without the notice of the police.
01:55It's also well protected with security cameras and locked doors,
01:59ensuring that no one from the games can check on him.
02:03Now that is how you use your money effectively.
02:0718. Walking Backwards
02:28The second game is a six-legged pentathlon involving five mini-games.
02:32Players are grouped into teams of five and their feet are tied together,
02:35forcing them into an awkward waddle.
02:37This becomes quite a problem when the stone-throwing game is botched
02:40and the team has to both retrieve the stone and walk back to the throwing line.
02:52The first team to do this makes a great effort to turn around and walk back normally,
02:56losing many precious seconds in the process.
02:59But as Hyun-joo acutely deduces,
03:01they can simply walk backwards rather than turning all the way around.
03:05It's a little thing, yes, but it's a very smart thing,
03:08and it helps save her team precious seconds, not to mention their lives.
03:1817. Forming Alliances Early
03:29Although the majority of players came into the competition solo,
03:33teamwork became vital as the series continued.
03:36A few people were smart enough to seek refuge in numbers as soon as they could.
03:40The savvy gangster Deok-su formed an evil alliance of rough characters
03:44that were mostly loyal and were willing to do practically anything to stay alive.
03:56However, Gi-hun knew how to maintain the strongest team.
04:00Instead of going for pure muscle,
04:02he formed an alliance that had the perfect blend of brains,
04:05experience and resourcefulness to work together for multiple challenges.
04:09Gi-hun's sharp team-building skills cannot be underestimated.
04:1716. Gi-hun Puts a Tracker in His Tooth
04:26Gi-hun and Jun-ho team up to find Squid Game Island,
04:29but there's just one problem.
04:31They have no idea where it is, so they devise a very smart plan.
04:35Gi-hun decides to re-enter the games
04:37and has a tracking device placed inside one of his teeth.
04:40Thanks, shady black market dentist!
04:54In theory, Gi-hun would be brought to the island
04:56and Jun-ho would be able to track him with GPS.
04:58The mercenaries would storm the island, save the day and the games would be over.
05:02Of course, that is not what happens
05:04as the boat captain gets wind of the plan and betrays the group.
05:07So, the tracker doesn't go to the island.
05:09It goes into a tub of bait.
05:1215. Player 17 Both Hides and Uses His Glass-Making Knowledge
05:36During the fifth challenge,
05:37the participants have to guess which glass is made of glass.
05:40The participants had to make it across a bridge
05:42that contained tempered or easily breakable glass.
05:46Since the panels looked identical,
05:48it seemed impossible to tell where it was safe to step.
05:51But Player 17 had a huge advantage.
05:54Since he had decades of glass-making experience,
05:57he could tell the glass apart.
05:59Player 17 was so good
06:00that he could even distinguish where it was okay to leap to
06:03based on sound alone.
06:05And to top it all off,
06:07he was wise enough to hide his knowledge
06:09as long as he could to eliminate the competition.
06:17If Player 17 had just been a little bit smarter,
06:20he would have been able to get past the challenge.
06:29If he had been a little more confident in his expertise
06:30and not hesitated at the end,
06:32he might have survived.
06:3414. Finding the Recruiter
06:48Of course, before they can re-enter the games,
06:50they have to find a way to re-enter the games.
06:52And what better way than to find the recruiter?
06:54Gi-hun knows that he hangs around subway stations playing Dukji.
06:58Having had some experience with that himself,
06:59Kim and his goons search the stations,
07:01but their numbers are too small
07:03and their span is not nearly wide enough.
07:12Luckily, Gi-hun has a ton of money to throw at the problem.
07:15He hires more of Kim's men
07:17and has them check every single station at the same time.
07:20And Kim further incentivizes the team
07:22by offering a huge bonus to the man who finds the recruiter.
07:25And just when all hope seems lost,
07:28BANG!
07:3513. Gi-hun Covers His Mouth
07:43Red Light, Green Light goes a heck of a lot better this time around
07:46than it did in Season 1.
07:47Of course, that's thanks entirely to the efforts of Gi-hun,
07:50who goes to great and brave lengths to lead everyone to safety.
07:54He tells them all when to run and stop,
07:56he helps some cross the line,
07:58but even more importantly,
07:59he covers his mouth.
08:05He knows that talking counts as moving,
08:07so he continuously poses with his arm over his mouth.
08:10This allows him to communicate and strategize with the group,
08:13even when he's supposed to be frozen in place.
08:15It's a genius move,
08:17and it undoubtedly saved many lives.
08:2512. The Mingle Strategies
08:39Some of the games are purely physical,
08:41others add a depraved psychological angle.
08:43Season 1's main psychological game was Marbles,
08:46and Season 2's continues the M tradition with Mingle.
08:50The concept is simple,
08:51only a certain number of people are allowed into a door,
08:54forcing players to choose their allies carefully
08:56while painfully betraying others.
09:04Luckily, Gi-hun plays this game to absolute perfection.
09:08He and his team of allies get through every round with just one casualty,
09:11and it's mainly thanks to his leadership and very quick thinking.
09:15And even then,
09:16young Mi only dies because she collided with someone else,
09:18not because she was intentionally left behind.
09:2411. Voting to End the Game
09:29Once it became clear that wearing a green jumpsuit could lead to an early demise,
09:34many people understandably started panicking.
09:37Fortunately, Sang-woo was able to put many of his fellow players at ease
09:40by reminding them they have an easy way out.
09:43His accurate memory of the rules leads to the contestants holding a very close vote
09:48that seemingly brings the games to an end.
09:51Although many players decide to play again,
09:53the democratic solution was still a smart move.
09:56There were a few people that were okay with walking away from the gruesome competition
09:59and taking their chances in the real world.
10:02While those lucky few might not have easy lives,
10:05the majority of the players were willing to risk their lives
10:07to get to the end of the game.
10:10While those lucky few might not have easy lives,
10:13at least they can live to tell this tragic tale.
10:2210. Fighting Dirty
10:24Among all the games that kids played back then,
10:27it was the most physical and violent.
10:30So any kind of violence is allowed?
10:32Sure, there are no restrictions.
10:34Former friends Gi-hun and Sang-woo are forced into one last face-off in the finale.
10:38After picking the right shape in a coin toss,
10:40Gi-hun chooses to play offense in a high-stakes squid game.
10:44Since he has to get past his ruthless and extremely desperate friend,
10:48he makes a vital preparation.
10:50Gi-hun goes to tie his shoes while secretly grabbing dirt
10:53to throw at Sang-woo's face right away.
10:55This strategy allows the offensive player to save his strength
10:58for the much more important fight later on.
11:01During the climactic clash,
11:03a cornered Gi-hun lets himself get injured
11:05and bites and punches his way out of a tight spot.
11:08While it wasn't the cleanest way to win,
11:10his tactics eventually led to a somber victory.
11:189. One Kills 343
11:30Jung-bae and the front man, posing as player one,
11:43find themselves in a unique situation.
11:46They were told to group into teams of two,
11:48but they find another man inside their door,
11:50thereby breaking the rules and bringing the total number to three.
11:54And that's when the front man acts quickly
11:56and does something highly intelligent,
11:58albeit highly immoral.
12:00That being, you know, murder.
12:12With time quickly running out,
12:14he grabs the man and snaps his neck,
12:16bringing the total living players back to two.
12:19It's a clever twist on the rules of the game
12:21and one we admittedly never thought of.
12:23Granted, the guards wouldn't have killed the front man,
12:25but still very perceptive on his part.
12:308. Jun-ho constantly changes masks
12:44Detective Hwang Jun-ho had to continuously improvise clever ways
12:48to stay ahead of the shadowy figures behind the games.
12:50His most brilliant decisions revolved around
12:52how he kept his identity a secret.
13:00After his cover is nearly blown,
13:02Jun-ho trades in his circular mask for one with a square symbol instead.
13:06His new covering grants him additional privileges
13:09and slightly more freedom to move around.
13:12But Jun-ho also keeps and utilizes the circular mask
13:15to blend in with certain workers and uncover more dark secrets.
13:19Although the constant switching isn't a foolproof plan,
13:22it does keep the detective from meeting certain deaths several times.
13:25Jun-ho's opponents were never truly sure
13:27what mask he'd sneak around in next.
13:307. Betraying Ali
13:42If the front man handed out awards for nicest person,
13:45Ali probably would have gotten a gold medal.
13:47Unfortunately, his nice personality led to his downfall
13:51when he played marbles against his constant ally Sang-woo.
13:54When Ali was on the verge of winning a deadly game of marbles,
13:57his friend-slash-opponent convinced him to stop playing.
14:00Sang-woo insisted there was an extremely complex and guaranteed way
14:04that they can both get out of this deadly challenge alive.
14:11While most players probably would have declined,
14:13Ali is gullible enough to believe in his friend's plan.
14:16Sang-woo is able to steal all the marbles
14:19and leave the nice man with nothing but rocks.
14:22It's a plan that was every bit as cruel as it was clever.
14:27Sang-woo, I'm here to see you.
14:32Sang-woo!
14:36Sang-woo!
14:376. Smuggling Weapons
14:47Throughout season 2,
14:48we see numerous players smuggling makeshift weapons.
14:51Geum-ja has a small blade hidden inside her hair clip.
14:54And while we haven't seen what comes of this,
14:56chances are that Chekhov's knife will come into play in season 3.
15:04Furthermore, Myung-gi uses a metal fork to kill Thanos,
15:08having stolen it from dinner and smuggled it in his jumpsuit.
15:11Granted, these weapons are allowed by the guards.
15:13Chances are they know about Geum-ja's knife but allowed her to keep it.
15:17And we know from season 1 that using utensils to kill other players
15:21is both allowed and encouraged.
15:23Still, it doesn't make their smuggling any less intelligent and forward-thinking.
15:425. Pretending to be Asleep
15:51Sae-byeok decides not to return to the games empty-handed.
15:54Since she knew the organizers rendered the competitors unconscious with gas
15:59on the car ride there, she wisely covered her face.
16:02This move allows Sae-byeok to pretend to be knocked out
16:05and smuggle a knife into this competition.
16:08She later goes on to use this sharp tool to sneak into a vent
16:11and get vital intel about the second game in advance.
16:14Although Sae-byeok doesn't figure out everything,
16:17she gives the information to Sang-woo and follows his lead.
16:21And if all that wasn't enough,
16:27she also uses the knife to defend herself during a chaotic fight.
16:31Sae-byeok's smart move to avoid sleep
16:33made her a cut above the rest of her opponents.
16:394. Keeping One Guard Alive
16:42It would be very easy in the climactic gunfight to kill every single guard,
16:51with passion clouding logic.
16:53Unfortunately, this would leave them completely lost in the labyrinthine complex.
16:57Luckily, Gi-hun and his team of rebels are smart enough to avoid this.
17:06They leave one guard alive, which not only gives them a hostage,
17:10it also allows them to navigate the Escher staircase and find the control room.
17:14And not only that, but they learn through this guard
17:17that a mask is needed to pass through the door's security system.
17:20The rebellion doesn't work,
17:22but if it did, it would largely be thanks to this one intelligent move.
17:353. Heating Up the Honeycomb Needle
17:40One of the most suspenseful tasks came when people had to get a shape
17:49out of a honeycomb without cracking it.
17:52We have to give a lot of credit to Gi-hun for making the unconventional,
17:55yet brainy choice to lick the sweet treat to make the challenge easier.
17:59However, Min-yo came up with an even more brilliant strategy.
18:02After smuggling a lighter into the competition,
18:05she secretly used it to heat up her needle.
18:10Once she was done using the hot item to complete the tense task in a safe manner,
18:22she's savvy enough to hand her lighter to Deok-su.
18:25So, not only did Min-yo's lighter get her through a game,
18:29it also helped her form a temporary alliance with the most intimidating player.
18:332. Planning the Uprising
18:47Gi-hun has been here before, so he knows how it all works.
18:50He knows that murder is allowed.
18:52He knows that once this knowledge is revealed,
18:54one faction will try killing the other.
18:57He correctly deduces that the O's will attack the X's at night.
19:00And he knows that the guards will eventually stop the fight and scan the dead.
19:09Thankfully, he takes all this knowledge and puts it to use while planning his uprising.
19:13Hiding under the beds, emerging after the fight,
19:16and posing as the dead was an especially smart move,
19:19as it was this that allowed them to pounce on the guards and steal their weapons.
19:22As we see, the rebellion itself was quite well planned.
19:26Too bad it had a mole.
19:311. Taking 3 Steps to Victory
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19:501. Taking 3 Steps to Victory
19:53Since Gi-hun and Sang-woo's tug-of-war alliance wasn't full of the
19:56physically strongest players in the game,
19:59they needed an intelligent strategy to overcome their tough opponents.
20:02Team member Oh Il-nam is full of helpful hints that his allies use to excellent effect.
20:14Unfortunately, his old tricks aren't enough to secure the victory.
20:18When the team is close to falling to their doom,
20:20Sang-woo makes the bonkers suggestion that they should all move closer to the edge.
20:29This risky move throws their opponents off balance and allows the team to make an epic comeback.
20:36Sang-woo's genius tug-of-war strategy gave us the best
20:39and most brilliant game ending in the series.
20:49What other moves did you think were particularly smart?
20:52Let us know in the comments below.
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