Another Squid Game replacement is coming to Netflix, and it's not far away. Recently, the streaming giant announced Quiztopia, an upcoming Japanese dy
Another Squid Game replacement is coming to Netflix, and it’s not far away. Recently, the streaming giant announced Quiztopia, an upcoming Japanese dystopian series set to premiere this December. But if you want something more K-drama-centric, this upcoming title may be for you.
Squid Game became a phenomenon when it came out in 2021, telling the story of a divorced father who willingly participates in the Squid Game. In this life-and-death competition, contestants play a series of kids’ games for a chance to win ₩45.6 billion. The show comments on late-stage capitalism, socioeconomic class divides, and the exploitation of vulnerable people. As of writing, all three seasons of Squid Game rank among Netflix’s Most Popular Non-English Shows of All Time worldwide, generating over 603 million views across all three installments.
Recently, Netflix released a trailer for its upcoming K-drama series, Dead-End Job, created by Han Jun-hee and directed by A Killer Paradox writer Kim Da-min. The trailer features a youthful man who accepts a job that pays “50 times the minimum wage.” Convinced it’s a good gig, he takes the job, only to realize that it comes with deadly risks. The more part-time gigs he completes, the more his wage increases. Dead-End Job stars Lee Jae-wook (True Beauty) as Hyeok-jun and Lee Hee-jun (A Killer Paradox) as the “head of Spider Staffing Agency,” the man who offers Hyeok-jun this high-risk, high-reward gig.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes
Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend?
Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun
Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.
Dustin(Stranger Things)
Emily(Emily in Paris)
Wednesday(Wednesday)
Gi-hun(Squid Game)
FIND YOUR BEST FRIEND →
01
How do you usually end up making a up-to-date friend?
The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.
AWe got deafening about the same obsession and never stopped.
BThey invited me somewhere before we had properly met.
CWe bonded over disliking exactly the same thing.
DThey noticed I was struggling and stayed with me.
NEXT QUESTION →
02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend?
Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.
AA ridiculous plan neither of us should attempt.
BSomewhere up-to-date, photographed heavily, ending very behind schedule.
CSomewhere silent, few people, zero petite talk.
DSomething straightforward, and a conversation that actually matters.
NEXT QUESTION →
03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens?
This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.
AThey are already putting their shoes on.
BThey answer instantly and turn it into a plan.
CThey answer and say something unflattering and true.
DThey listen for an hour and never check the time.
NEXT QUESTION →
04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong?
The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.
ASupport first. We can review the mistake later.
BA relentlessly positive reframe of the entire disaster.
CThe blunt version. Do not soften it for me.
DPatience, and no judgment about how I got here.
NEXT QUESTION →
05
What do your friends actually value about you?
The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.
AI am all in, always, about everything.
BI can turn almost any situation into a good time.
CI say the thing nobody else in the room will.
DI look after whoever is having the worst day.
NEXT QUESTION →
06
You have a falling out. How does it go?
How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.
ALoudly, briefly, then back to normal by Tuesday.
BThey apologise first, enthusiastically, with a gift.
CCold silence, then one dehydrated joke that fixes everything.
DWe talk until we both understand what actually happened.
NEXT QUESTION →
07
What do you actually need a best friend for?
Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.
ATo make my life bigger than it would be alone.
BTo push me out of the house and into my own life.
CTo catch me when I start lying to myself.
DTo be the person who never gave up on me.
NEXT QUESTION →
08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close?
Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.
AWe would still drop everything for each other, instantly.
BWe still make plans, and we still actually go.
CWe still cut through each other’s nonsense in one sentence.
DThey stood by me once when it cost them something.
REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND →
The Group Chat Has Spoken
Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up
for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your
life would be like.
Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he.
What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the
plan.
- Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: faithful past the point of sense,
enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind. - You have the same instinct. Your friendships are deafening, specific and slightly ridiculous,
and they last for decades because of it. - He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously,
which is far rarer than it sounds. - You would have a group chat. It would never once be silent.
Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she.
Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with
yourselves.
- Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion,
which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy
levels. - You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when
something was happening somewhere else. - She is far more faithful than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly,
publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts. - She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very
good photo.
Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to
tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this
list.
- Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the sporadic ones count for
an enormous amount. - You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally
incapable of offering you anything else. - Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a
performance out of caring. - Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.
Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is
the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.
- Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who
keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself. - You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long
after anybody would blame you for leaving. - He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes
back and tries again, which is more than most manage. - He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.
↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ
Shows To Watch If You Like ‘Squid Game’
Since neither Dead-End Job nor Quiztopia has arrived on Netflix yet, there are other titles that offer something similar to Squid Game. The first that comes to mind is Alice in Borderland, a Japanese thriller based on Haro Aso’s manga of the same name. The show is loosely inspired by Alice in Wonderland and follows Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), who enters the Borderland and must compete in a series of games to survive. Alice in Borderland has three seasons available on Netflix.
Another is the anime series Tomodachi Game, which came out in 2022. The show follows a group of friends who are dragged into the Tomodachi Game after funds for their school trip are stolen and members of their friend group are accused of theft. To repay the debt, their friendship is put to the test. Only one season was released, with 12 episodes available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Dead-End Job will premiere on Netflix on October 30, 2026. In the meantime, A Killer Paradox is available to stream on the platform. Follow Collider for more updates.
Release Date
2024 – 2024-00-00
Directors
Lee Chang-hee
Writers
Kim Da-min
