Surprise Netflix megahit Squid Game has a lot of people thinking about what it would be like to participate in a game show where literal death is the punishment for failure. Of course, that's most video games in a nutshell: You lose, you "die." And to take that even further, many games have even featured such game shows where people find entertainment in watching others fight for their lives.
What makes a good deadly game show? Large crowds, big prizes, and lots of violence. For almost as long as video games themselves have existed, so too have games based around a life-or-death game show or other kind of televised spectacle. The upcoming PlayStation exclusive Deathverse will just be the newest example of a long-established gaming genre.
8 Deathverse: A Fun Backyard Death Jamboree (2022)
In the far future, a reality tv show has taken the world by storm known as "Death Jamboree." In it, players are drawn to compete to the death in a battle royale to earn lucrative cash prizes.
This game is a sequel to the free-to-play rougelike title Let It Die from 2016. With a large cast of playable characters, this game seems to be a promising new multiplayer experience. However, players should not expect to get thrown into the "Death Jamboree" until 2022.
7 Madworld: The Wii's Goriest Title (2009)
The Wii is easily one of the more family-friendly systems. Nintendo rarely allows extremely violent games to enter the same space as Mario. But Madworld bucks that trend as a black and white beat-em-up hack and slash about a city turned into a deadly death game called "DeathWatch."
The player is tasked with killing as many other players as they can in increasingly violent ways. The game has a large variety of deaths to choose from including chainsaws, spiked walls, and subway trains. The more gory and complex the kill, the better the points.
6 Ben And Ed: Is It Still A Death Game If The Undead Play?
Ben and Ed is a charming 3D platformer from 2015. In order to save his human friend Ben, Ed has to compete in a deadly game show called "Rundead." In it, Ed has to use good cardio and his undead abilities to dismember himself to get through this obstacle course.
But Ed's already dead. It certainly takes some of the pressure off of the whole situation. If ragdoll physics and dark humor are player's thing, this is a platformer that is not to be missed.
5 Undead Arena VR: Multiplayer Zombie Gameshow
Undead Arena VR is a survival-action multiplayer VR experience. In the future (which these death games always seem to be), the zombie apocalypse has come and gone. Now, televised zombie fighting reality shows happen.
For fame and fortune, players fight against hordes of the undead with the very real possibility they might become one themselves in the end. This is an experience, however, players can only enjoy it in real-life in free-roam virtual reality arenas.
4 Smash TV: The Death Game That '80s & '90s Arcade Kids Played (1990)
Not to be confused with a Super Smash Bros. TV Show, Smash TV is a classic arcade death game for one to two players. In this The Running Man-inspired game, players blast their way through multiple levels of baddies to earn fame and cash.
The game was a massive success in arcades upon release in 1990 and still remains a classic standard among the likes of Pac-Man. It's a pixelated life-and-death adventure, especially suitable for those who want some retro charm without the extreme violence of some modern games.
3 Crab Game: Obligatory Squid Game Copycat
Crabs are more fun than squids anyway. In this recently released game on Steam, players compete in a series of deadly children games including the infamous Red Light, Green Light. This is as close as possible players can get to living out their Squid Game fantasy, but with more cartoon violence.
The store page on Steam says it is "Definitely not based on any online streaming pop culture Korean TV shows, as that would get me in legal trouble, so we're certainly not doing that." A quick glance at the screenshot above makes that seem a little hard to believe, but it is what it is.
2 Trivia Murder Party (From Jackbox Party Pack 3): Murder With A Line Of Questioning (2016)
Jackbox Party Pack games are meant to bring players' friends and family together in a friendly party game. But in case players ever feel the need to get rid of a few of them and assuming the said player is willing to bet their life on trivia, there's always Trivia Murder Party from Jackbox Party Pack 3.
In this game, a serial killer has captured up to eight players in a death game. To survive, they only have to answer trivia questions correctly. Fail, however, and they'll be punished in a minigame that'll likely lead to their untimely death (or dismemberment of limbs). So unless gamers are feeling confident in their trivia knowledge, maybe it's best to stick with Trivial Pursuit.
1 Manhunt: The Game Show Game That Almost Caused A Mutiny (2003)
Manhunt is Rockstar Gomes' most notorious game, which says a lot considering the number of controversies Rockstar Games gets after each new title. Manhunt, however, pushed boundaries no game before it could even think of. The game was so disgusting and terrible to develop that it almost caused a mutiny in the company and several team members said working on the game made them feel "icky."
With that in mind, what's Manhunt about? Oh, making snuff films for rich people. More brutality equals more points. The best part is the voice of legendary actor Brian Cox in your ear— literally, if you wear a headset— egging you on as you murder people in horrific ways.