The 19 Deadliest Games in Fiction

Some of these contests run on live television, others in sealed rooms or virtual worlds nobody can log out of. Pulp classics and streaming hits sit side by side, each with its own body count.

1. 1
   Squid Game

   The secret contest in Hwang Dong-hyuk's 2021 Netflix series Squid Game, where 456 debt-ridden players risk elimination by death in children's games for a 45.6 billion won prize.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Battle Royale

   The government program in Koushun Takami's 1999 novel Battle Royale, filmed by Kinji Fukasaku in 2000, that strands a junior high school class on an island in explosive collars until one student remains.
   866pts
3. 3
   Escape Room

   The lethal puzzle rooms built by the Minos corporation in Adam Robitel's 2019 film Escape Room, where six strangers compete for a cash prize.
   822pts
4. 4
   Thunderdome

   The cage arena of Bartertown in the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie, where disputes are settled by the rule two men enter, one man leaves.
   658pts
5. 5
   The Most Dangerous Game

   The manhunt in Richard Connell's 1924 short story The Most Dangerous Game, where General Zaroff hunts shipwrecked people on his island for sport; filmed in 1932.
   610pts
6. 6
   Triwizard Tournament

   The perilous magical contest in J.K. Rowling's 2000 novel Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, filmed in 2005, which ends with the death of champion Cedric Diggory.
   602pts
7. 7
   Ready or Not

   The wedding-night hide-and-seek hunt in the 2019 film Ready or Not, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, in which a wealthy family tries to kill its newest member before dawn.
   538pts
8. 8
   The Running Man

   The deadly game show in Stephen King's 1982 novel The Running Man, published as Richard Bachman, in which contestant Ben Richards is hunted across the country for cash; filmed in 1987 and again in 2025.
   538pts
9. 9
   Death Race 2000

   The Transcontinental Road Race in Paul Bartel's 1975 film Death Race 2000, produced by Roger Corman, where drivers score points for running down pedestrians.
   538pts
10. 10
    Jigsaw's Games

    The trap games set by the killer John Kramer, known as Jigsaw, in the Saw franchise that began with James Wan's 2004 film written by Leigh Whannell.
    466pts
11. 11
    The Borderland Games

    The games of Haro Aso's manga Alice in Borderland (2010-2016) and its 2020 Netflix series, where players in an empty Tokyo must win card-ranked games to extend their visas or be killed.
    466pts
12. 12
    The Gantz Game

    The alien hunt in Hiroya Oku's manga Gantz (2000-2013), where people revived after death by a black sphere must kill aliens for points to win their freedom.
    466pts
13. 13
    The Big Hunt

    The legal killing game in Elio Petri's 1965 film The 10th Victim, based on Robert Sheckley's 1953 story The Seventh Victim, where hunters and victims stalk each other for fame and prizes.
    384pts
14. 14
    The Long Walk

    The contest in Stephen King's 1979 novel The Long Walk, published as Richard Bachman, where 100 teenage boys must keep walking above four miles per hour and are shot once their three warnings run out; filmed by Francis Lawrence in 2025.
    290pts
15. 15
    Danganronpa Killing Game

    The killing game run by the bear Monokuma in Danganronpa, a 2010 video game by Spike (now Spike Chunsoft) written by Kazutaka Kodaka, where students must murder a classmate without being exposed in a class trial to graduate.
    290pts
16. 16
    Sword Art Online

    The virtual-reality death game in Reki Kawahara's Sword Art Online light novels (from 2009), where 10,000 players are trapped and dying in the game kills them in real life.
    290pts
17. 17
    Mortal Kombat Tournament

    The fighting tournament in Midway's 1992 game Mortal Kombat, created by Ed Boon and John Tobias and hosted by the sorcerer Shang Tsung, with Earth's fate at stake.
    290pts
18. 18
    The Hunger Games

    The annual televised fight to the death in Suzanne Collins's 2008 novel The Hunger Games, where 24 tributes from Panem's 12 districts enter an arena and only one may leave alive.
    179pts
19. 19
    Rollerball

    The violent corporate-run sport in Norman Jewison's 1975 film Rollerball, starring James Caan and based on William Harrison's 1973 short story Roller Ball Murder.
    179pts

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