| Games | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Light, Green Light | Sugar Honeycombs | Tug of War | Marbles | Glass Stepping Stones | Squid Game | |||||||||||||
The glass bridge in the VIPS room
Correct order to complete the game, the circles are the panels that they had to step on
Glass Stepping Stones (징검다리건너기 Jing-geomdali Keonneogi?, lit. Stepping Stone Bridge) was the fifth and penulimate game of the 33rd Squid Game held in 2020.
The game involved contestants attempting to cross two parallel bridges by jumping across tempered glass panels while avoiding weaker panels of regular glass. Those who landed on a regular glass panel broke through the panel and fell to their deaths from a high place, resulting in their elimination from the game.
Sixteen players entered the game; thirteen died and three progressed to the next round. Notable eliminations include Player 212 and Player 101.
About[]
VIP guests are watching the game
Players were asked to choose a jacket with a number from 1 to 16 before the game; shortly after it was revealed to the players that each number represented the order in which the contestants would play.
The game took place in a colossal chamber decorated to resemble the interior of a circus tent. Players began the game atop a platform at one end of the room which was connected to another platform at the opposite end by two parallel bridges, each one holding 18 glass panels. Each of the panels was either made from tempered glass, which could withstand the weight of at least two players; or regular glass, which would shatter on impact and cause the player to fall to their death, resulting in their elimination. The goal of the game was for players to successfully cross the bridges by jumping across the tempered glass while avoiding the regular glass, within a 16-minute time limit.
Once the given time limit had reached zero, all glass panels exploded to eliminate any players who remained on the bridges. Broken glass fragments from the explosion greatly injured the three successful players, with Player 067 receiving a debilitating injury from the shrapnel.
Methods to win[]
If players have knowledge about glass-making like Do Jung-soo, it will be easier for them to pass since tempered glasses and normal glasses can be told by looking at the reflection of the glasses or hearing the sound of the glasses. Another way to know which way to go is to throw leading players at a glass panel to test whether it is tempered or not.
Players icons whom competed in this game. Mistakes include Han mi-nyeo's number being 202, 017's number being 087, and 096 being placed before Kang Sae-Byeok, when it should've been before Deok-Su.
Player sequences[]
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 096 | 308 | 062 | 021 | 453 | 244 | 151 | 407 |
| #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14 | #15 | #16 |
| 101 | 322 | 212 | 360 | 017 | 218 | 067 | 456 |
Results[]
Players eliminated[]
The dead bodies
| Position | Numbers | Name | Gender | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | 096 (1) | Male | Correctly guessed tile 1, guessed the left side tile of pair 2, which was incorrect and caused him to fall to his death. | |
| 15. | 308 (2) | Female | After the death of 096, she thought there was an alternating pattern (one left, one right, one left, one right etc.) to the bridge. She jumped from the right panel of pair 2 to the left panel of pair 3. This was incorrect and she fell to her death. | |
| 14. | 062 (3) | Male | Using his maths skills he calculated the chances of him reaching the end of the bridge successfully. After realising his chances were astronomically low (1 in 32,768) he decided to sprint across as many tiles as he could. Surprisingly he guessed tiles 4, 5 and 6 correctly (right, right, left respectively) before jumping on the incorrect left panel of pair 7 and falling to his death. | |
| 13. | 021 (4) | Male | He was unable to memorize the correct tiles that 062 stepped on. He called back to the others behind him who gave differing answers. Player 244 told him that 062 went right first before going left, but Player 453 (who was directly behind him) told him that 062 went left first. 021 took 453's opinion and jumped to the left panel of pair 4. This was incorrect and he fell to his death. | |
| 12. | 453 (5) | Female | After 021's death she was able to correctly cross 062's path. She made it to the correct tile of pair 7 before jumping to the left panel of pair 8, which was incorrect, causing her to fall to her death (all offscreen due to the actor being quite weak and requiring assistance to get between each tile). | |
| 11. | 151 (7) | Male | He was behind Player 244 who, after jumping to panel 8, got on his knees and began to pray. 151 got frustrated that he was wasting time and began to shout at him to get moving. Player 101 (Deok-Su) told 151 to make 244 move or he would push him. 151 leapt to panel 8 and grabbed 244. They both began wrestling with each other until 244 was eventually able to overpower 151 and threw him forward to the right panel of pair 9, which broke and caused him to fall to his death. | |
| 10. | 244 (6) | Male | Now provided with the answer to pair 9, 244 leapt to the left panel. Thinking he was being sent sacrifices by God to cross the bridge, he once more got down to pray. Before he could even finish his prayer though, Player 407 came up behind him and pushed him forward to the left panel of pair 10 which broke and caused him to fall to his death. | |
| 9. | 407 (8) | Male | After pushing 244 he was pressured by Deok-Su into going forward. He guessed the right panel of pair 11 correctly. Before jumping to the next panel he got down on all fours and began inspecting the panels. He told Deok-Su that he thought the colour of the tempered and normal glass was different. After inspecting them for a while he thought that the left panel of pair 12 was a different shade and therefore the tempered glass. He jumped to it, but his guess was incorrect and he broke through and died. | |
| 8. | 322 (10) | Jung Min-Tae | Male | Now that Deok-Su was at the front of the bridge he began to panic. Instead of making a guess himself he simply turned around and ordered that somebody else go in front of him, otherwise he wouldn't move until the timer ran out. Min-Tae argued with him over this. After a while of arguing he was pushed by Han Mi-nyeo (Player 212) into Deok-Su, who threw him straight over the side of the bridge to his death. |
| 7 & 6. | 101 (9) & 212 (11) | Jang Deok-Su & Han Mi-Nyeo | Male & Female | Mi-Nyeo went up to confront Deok-Su directly. She told him she'd rather die via the game than due to his "waiting around". He told her to step up and guess the next few panels herself, and she seemed to agree to do it. Upon stepping onto the panel Deok-Su was on she seemed to prepare herself to leap forward, but she suddenly turned around and locked her arms around Deok-Su. Mi-Nyeo then threw herself backwards, onto the right panel of pair 13, which dragged Deok-Su down with her. This panel broke and they both fell to their deaths. |
| 5. | 360 (12) | Male | 360 was able to correctly guess the left panel of pair 13 before leaping to the right panel of pair 14. This was incorrect and he fell to his death (his guess of pair 13 is not shown, and his death is just barely seen from the VIP lounge, as the episode is primarily focusing on Hwang Jun-ho and the search for him at that time). | |
| 4. | 017 (13) | Do Jung-Soo | Male | Jung-Soo had a major advantage in the game as he worked in a glass factory for 30 years prior to the games. He was able to guess the left panel of pair 15 correctly, then the right panels of pairs 16 and 17. Finally he was left with the final panel of the whole bridge. By this point though the VIPs had gotten annoyed that he was "cheating" so they had the Frontman turn off the lights which stopped him from seeing the difference between the panels. He got Seong Gi-hun (Player 456) to give him the marble he had kept from the previous game and tried to use it to identify the glass through sound. He required another marble to test the right panel too, but Gi-Hun only had one. He continued to try and identify the panel to no avail. Eventually Cho Sang-woo (Player 218) came up behind him and pushed him onto the right panel which broke and killed him. |
Players passed[]
- Player 456 - Seong Gi-hun
- Player 218 - Cho Sang-woo
- Player 067 - Kang Sae-byeok
Probability analysis[]
It is possible to prove that each player will reveal 2 steps on average (including the one they die on). Therefore, we expect around 9 players to be eliminated and 7 players to pass[1].
In addition, the probability of each individual player surviving the game can be calculated as follows[2]:
| Position | Probability of survival |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.000381% (1 in 262,144) |
| 2 | 0.00725% (1 in 13,797) |
| 3 | 0.0656% (1 in 1,524) |
| 4 | 0.377% (1 in 265) |
| 5 | 1.54% (1 in 65) |
| 6 | 4.81% (1 in 21) |
| 7 | 11.9% |
| 8 | 24.0% |
| 9 | 40.7% |
| 10 | 59.3% |
| 11 | 76.0% |
| 12 | 88.1% |
| 13 | 95.2% |
| 14 | 98.5% |
| 15 | 99.6% |
| 16 | 99.93% |
However, both of these calculations assume all players play the game perfectly and remain in the same order. In reality, there may be various "inefficiencies" such as players making mistakes, pushing/killing each other, or running out of time.
Since only 3 players survived, we can conclude the other players were unlucky and/or played quite "inefficiently". This is especially evident in how Player 017 (13th) had to use his glass knowledge to guess 3 panels and was still 1 panel behind. Using the code in the above source[2], it can be shown the 13th player only has a 0.65% chance of needing to guess at least 4 panels if everyone plays perfectly.
Trivia[]
- The players were very unlucky during this game, it has been calculated in most instances seven or more people would win the game. If we assume that each player guesses at random, they should break nine of the eighteen glass panels.
- There were supposed to be 20 players alive after Marbles, although only 17 are seen alive at the start of "Friend or Foe". It is likely that three pairs did not finish their game in time, and hence three more players were eliminated.
- In reality, you would not see stains on tempered glass; instead, a light effect called anisotropy would be visible under certain lighting conditions.
- This game is based on 징검다리 (Jing-geomdali), a kid's game in Korea. It is referred to as such in the original Korean version. Video of children playing the game here
- While unconfirmed, it is theorized that the players in the front could have survived longer within the bounds of the game by guessing a few tiles and then forcing those behind them to go ahead. Though the rules state that their numbers are the order in which they have to play, they are somewhat vague in this regard and do not specify that one must keep guessing until their elimination after getting on the bridge and guessing at least one tile correctly, possibly creating a loophole.
- It is also speculated that the players could've survived by walking along the metal beams supporting the tiles, though this is unlikely, as the method would have gone against the spirit of the game and would likely have been disallowed.
- A version of this game is featured in both Squid Game: The Challenge and Squid Game: Unleashed respectively.
- Many mention that this game would have been easier to beat if players walked along the edges or threw their shoes at the glass to see if they were normals or tempereds, however, since this game is watched by VIPs, these strategies are likely to be quickly rejected as making it easier for players.
- It is the game where Gi-Hun had the least relevance