Review: Squid Game: The Experience (London)

Immersive Rumours
Jun 5
6 min read

Updated: Jun 6

This entertaining but flawed interactive adaptation of Netflix's smash-hit series arrives in London, giving visitors the chance to step into the world of Squid Game.

Two people stand on red and blue shapes in a dimly lit room. A figure in a pink suit is centered, casting a tense mood.

Photo: Squid Game: The Experience (London)

Squid Game: The Experience, which has recently opened at Immerse LDN below the ExCel Centre, is the latest interactive experience based on a pre-existing IP to land in London. Following successful launches in New York, Sydney, Seoul and Madrid, this 60-minute-long experience sees visitors competing in a series of games - directly lifted and adapted from the Netflix series - for points and the approval of the masked Front Man.

Nowadays, London has no shortage of experiences that offer competitive socialising. With the long-running Crystal Maze experience in Piccadilly Circus, the recent Taskmaster Live Experience in Canada Water, and the upcoming Traitors Live Experience in Covent Garden, every corner of the city has activities that pit friends against each other in a highly themed environment.

Given the steep competition and high expectations that come with adapting one of Netflix's most successful series into an interactive show, Squid Game: The Experience unfortunately falls short of distinguishing itself from the city's many other competitive offerings.

In the experience, groups of between 20 and 40 compete against each other in tests of memory, agility, and reactions. The experience begins in the waiting area, where each player is given a numbered bib and NFC-tagged wristband. Players are photographed upon entry to have their face displayed alongside their scores, and groups are ushered into a recreation of the Dormitory, which is lined with bunk beds and has a pink masked guard guarding the door. There's an in-world introductory talk from a suited games master, making clear that violence of any kind isn't allowed, before the larger group is split into two groups of around 20 players (the Blue and Red teams) and thrown into the games.

People walking on a colorful LED floor in a dimly lit room with string lights; expressions of excitement and fun.

Photo: Squid Game: The Experience (London)

First up is Memory Steps, which is taken from the glass bridge game in Season 1 of the show. With a strip of 12 see-through floor panels ahead of each player, they're given two seconds to memorise the pattern as each panel lights up either red or green. Every player's pattern differs, so there's no safety in copying other players' steps and no room for error.

It's here that the problems with Squid Game: The Experience start to become apparent. The show's scoring system, which consists of each player individually tapping their wristband on one of three plinths, is painfully slow to sort, despite every group having a dedicated host with a tablet who ideally would be able to score each contestant after their attempt. Logging scores takes nearly as long as the game, and for those who went first, it's a long wait before they can do anything besides wait for the other competitors to finish.

Moving into the next space, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the game competitors are about to play is Dalgona, given the show's interior matches the children's playground theme from that game in the show, but it's in fact Marbles – another challenge from Season 1.

In small groups, each player takes turns trying to land a marble in the shape in the centre of a table to claim the other marbles in play. There's some friendly rivalry between the contestants in each group in this game, which is partly down to everyone naturally sticking with their party, and the difficulty level of this challenge means that, again, there's little room for error.

Following this second game, the scores on the leaderboard are totalled up after another long wait to tap wristbands, and the leaders of the competition start to become clear. Those who won their game are awarded upwards of 10 points, while most other players receive points in the lower single digits, making the gulf between successful players and those falling behind pretty vast after just two games.

A group of people approach a pink-suited figure by a door lit with blue and pink neon lights in a dimly lit, futuristic room.

Photo: Squid Game: The Experience (London)

Thankfully for the players at the top end of the leaderboard, their lead is secure as the next game is scored as a group and sees the Blue and Red teams going head-to-head in Rope Game. Divided by a glass window, each contestant on both teams has 5 seconds to pull a suspended rope as hard and fast as they can in an attempt to move a marker along a track overhead.

Despite encouragement to boo those behind the glass and cheer on fellow competitors as everyone works towards a common goal, it's hard to ignore that each player's contribution to this game never exceeds 5 seconds and is largely made up of (you guessed it..) queuing to have their attempt, followed by more queuing to receive their points.

Large doll in an orange dress stands in a room with red lighting and spotlights. Red present box in the foreground. Eerie atmosphere.

Photo: Squid Game: The Experience (London)

The best-known and most iconic game from the Netflix series, Red Light Green Light, follows, with both the Red and Blue teams reunited to compete again as individuals. The rules to this one are pretty simple - only move when the room's lighting turns green, and remain stationary when it's red. On hand to oversee the players in this game is a masked pink guard (why they're not in every room of the experience, we're not sure..), who will point out players who wobble, move or fall during the red light sections of the game. With the player count back up to 40, there are quite a few competitors caught out and forced to restart.

In a departure from the TV show's depiction of this game, though weirdly, in keeping with the series' mobile game adaptation, there are a number of obstacles scattered throughout the playing field that players can hide and reposition behind, out of view from the guards and the towering Young-Hee doll.

While there are a couple of minutes on the clock to make it from one side to the other successfully, players are likely to be completely unaware of how much time is remaining, as the screens showing the ticking clock are at the back of the room and immediately out of players' sightlines once the game begins.

Those hoping to time their movements to Young-Hee's song quickly have to adopt another strategy, as it's completely absent from the game portion of this room, and with their head also not swivelling with each lighting change, several elements from the show's version of this game are missing.

Despite this, it's far and away the most engaging and tense challenge in Squid Game: The Experience, with a number of false starts catching players out and people trapped up in each other's personal space for extended periods, waiting for the next green light.

People walk excitedly on a lit multicolor floor in a dark room with string lights. A woman in blue leads, showing a joyful expression.

Photo: Squid Game: The Experience (London)

The experience concludes with the final game, Round and Round, which is the only game adapted from Season 2 of the show. With no doors for players to run through while the clock runs down, players need to instead run to one of the Dalgona symbols on the floor when the corresponding symbol appears on screen. It's a pretty brutal game for those looking to make it all the way, with the vast majority of players knocked out in the first round. Those who make it through are quickly whittled down until there's only one player left, who then goes head-to-head with the game's overall points winner in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

In a last-minute reveal, the Front Man, who has only appeared on-screen in each room, enters and presents the winning player with a choice: keep the prize for themselves or divide it amongst all the players. The prize, if it's divided amongst everyone? A discount in the gift shop.

Video: Squid Game: The Experience London

While Squid Game: The Experience fulfils the promise of immersing visitors in the show's world, and there's a fun novelty to playing the games so many of us are familiar with, it lacks the intensity and polish of the source material. The slow processing of each player's scores ruins any momentum gained from playing the games, and operational issues, including extended delays going into each room, means far too much of the experience is spent waiting around for things to happen.

With just two finalists from a pool of 40 players, early setbacks can also feel irreversible. You could argue this makes sense within the show's world - given most of the players would be long dead by the time the final game comes around if competing in the games for real - but the stakes and jeopardy associated with trying to do well are diminished when most players realise they have no chance of making it to the finale.

People crouch and approach a giant doll in a red-lit room. Large colored blocks surround them. Tense atmosphere.

Photo: Squid Game: The Experience (London)

For die-hard fans of the series, the chance to step into recreations of the show's games and get photos while taking part will make Squid Game: The Experience an enjoyable visit, even if the gameplay and operations make the experience a bit of a damp squib compared to many other competitive socialising experiences on offer across the city.

★★★

Squid Game: The Experience runs at Immerse LDN until 4th January 2026. Tickets are priced from £35.00 per person. For more info and to book tickets, visit squidgameexperienceuk.com

For more reviews of immersive experiences like Squid Game: The Experience, check out our recent Reviews.