The Island was an unnamed island in East Asia that housed the venue for the annual Squid Games competitions.
On November 6, 2024, after finding out that a coast guard's ship was nearing the island, Hwang In-ho detonated bombs strategically placed throughout the venue to demolish the competition’s arenas and parts of the island itself, ensuring that any physical evidence of the games’ existence would be permanently obliterated.
Description[]
The island has a curved shape that partially encloses a small part of the sea. It has a mountainous landscape and lush foliage covering the whole island.
Rooms[]
The island has multiple rooms in underground bunkers in order to maintain the secrecy of the games.
The Dormitory/Lobby[]
- Main article: Dormitory
The dormitory is where the players stay during the competition. It is a room made up of multiple bunk beds. In 2020, as more of the bunk beds are removed following many players elimination, one can notice that there are several murals on the walls behind the bunk beds, which literally foreshadowed every game rounds the players played. In 2024, the Latin phrase "Hodie Mihi Cras Tibi" is revealed once the bunk beds are removed.
Stairs[]
- Main article: Stairs
Confusing sets of pastel-colored stairs lead to almost every room. The entrances are either a geometrically shaped arches that match with the windows or a normal door. Some doors may only lead to a dead end. It is revealed in Season 2 that these stairs can lead to the Control Room, although its entrance required face-detecting scan to open it and will automatically close once someone entering it unless something is blocking the sliding door.
Game Halls[]
Game Hall 1 (Red Light, Green Light, Squid Game)[]
The game hall opens through three green gates attached to protruding house-like structures, leading into an open-roofed space with a sandy floor. The walls depict painted houses set in grassy fields beneath a blue sky. A doll stands near a tree at the far end. This is the only hall lit by natural sunlight, with a retractable roof camouflaged to resemble the forest when closed.
In the final round, the door that Player 456 and 218 went through matches with the wallpaper and the field now has the squid game court. It also has a large black window for the VIPs to watch.
Game Hall 2 (Sugar Honeycombs)[]
The game hall resembles a giant playground, filled with a swing, slide, roundabout, and monkey bars. Multiple sliding doors are hidden in the crayon-drawn blue walls, which are decorated with clouds and sun rays that surround the ceiling light to mimic a child’s drawing of the sun.
Game Hall 3 (Tug of War)[]
The game hall is tall and features a wide elevated platform connected by bridges to elevators on either side. These elevators transport players to a higher, narrow platform supported by tall beams. A guillotine is placed at the center to sever ropes during the game. At the bottom, there’s a dark entrance where workers retrieve fallen players, along with a floor drain for quickly washing away blood.
Game Hall 4 (Marbles)[]
The game hall resembles a small Korean neighborhood. The place structure and composition slightly resemble that of a labyrinth. The orange walls and lighting make it look like there is a sunset in the room.
Game Hall 5 (Glass Bridge)[]
The game hall is styled like a brightly lit circus tent. it features two platforms (one for entry and one for exit) that are connected by a high glass bridge used for the Glass Stepping Stones game.
White Room[]
The hall is stark white, with a series of staircases and doorways guarded by soldiers. The doors are the only colored elements in the room. This room is usually used when finding teammates in team games. It doesn't appear in season 2 or 3, and the teams for the Pentathlon are formed in its hall.
Game Hall 6 (Pentathlon)[]
The game hall mirrors the design of the Sugar Honeycombs room, with blue walls decorated in childlike drawings of clouds. The entrance resembles an elementary school, featuring chalkboard sketches of a field day schedule. Flags from various countries hang on a wire, and a circular rainbow-colored track is marked with starting positions numbered 1-5.
Game Hall 7 (Mingle)[]
The game hall is designed like a theme park carousel, with 50 doors arranged in a cylindrical pattern and painted in repeating rainbow primary colors. At the center sits a rotating carousel-like platform with 3 horse statues in the middle.
Gumball Room[]
The hall is painted black with a yellow floor, and featuring a gumball machine in the center. The entrance is shaped like a knife, while the exit that leads the next game hall takes the form of a key. Similar to the White Room from Season 1, this hall is used to divide players into teams, specifically for the Hide & Seek game.
Game Hall 8 (Hide & Seek)[]
The game hall is a complex maze with stone brick walls and vibrant murals depicting plants, buildings, and other colorful elements. The corridors are filled with numerous doors and hidden rooms, all beneath a ceiling painted like a bright, starry sky. The rooms have various designs in childish styles.
Game Hall 9 (Jump Rope)[]
The game hall is tall and immersive, with walls transitioning through scenes of night, sunset, and daytime. Young-hee and Cheol-su hold a jump rope at the center, and the arena includes a bridge with railroad theme with a gap in the middle and a flower-themed abyss at the bottom.
Game Hall 10 (Sky Squid Game)[]
The game hall is enclosed by black walls. It features three towering structures shaped like a square, triangle, and circle, creating a symbolic environment. The square and circle tower have elevators that transport players to the top and bottom of the towers.
Management Area[]
Managers' Quarters[]
Rooms that the managers stay in. The interior of any of the managers' quarters hasn't been seen yet, but it is most likely large rooms with a little more necessity than those in the workers' and soldiers' quarters. The door has a number in front that corresponds to a manager's key.
Control Room[]
Managers monitoring the players
The dark room is filled with computers that are operated by managers that monitors and controls everything that happens on the island. The walls have flat screens that also monitor everything. The floor is also a screen that shows the remaining players, once they are eliminated their pictures are turned off.
In addition, There are two types is Special buttons, a button is Trigger Emergency alarm for Emergency Incident.
Other one button is set off explosion button, When the button is pressed, a 30 minute countdown will begin. when Time countdown is over, Will directly Explosion.
VIPs' Rooms[]
This can be only accessed by a face detecting elevator, though there are tunnels that leads to different rooms within the place. The elevator opens to a hall with multiple rooms and a phone on the desk to call the VIPs.
There's a huge room with black and gold accents, filled with plants, a huge screen to view the games, and multiple fancy furniture for the VIPs to relax on. It has an unseen room where the VIPs change their clothing. There is also another room where Jun-ho takes the puma masked VIP. It has a black sofa in the middle and the walls are filled with colorful shapes.
The Host's Room[]
It is very similar to the VIPs' quarters; black and gold accents, a huge television screen to view the games and multiple rooms. The place contains a bedroom, a living room, the archives and multiple unseen ones. Since the host was unavailable, the front man watches the place.
The living room that contains a sofa, the aforementioned television screen, and a jazz concert diorama that moves and plays "Fly Me to the Moon" whenever it is turned on. It turns out the diorama stand is secretly housed a trapdoor that leads to the underground. The bedroom has a door that leads to the archives.
Workers' Quarters[]
A manager inspecting room No. 28
A compact bedroom with a bathroom between a toilet and a table near a sink. The door has a number in front that corresponds to a worker's key and a small opening for food. Also, there's like tissues there or something so the workers can jack off and stuff
Soldiers' Quarters[]
A room a little larger than the workers' quarters, it has the same necessities as in the workers' quarters. The door has a number in front that corresponds to a soldier's key.
Kitchen[]
A large industrial kitchen. The night before Sugar Honeycombs, workers are seen melting sugar in large pots to prepare for the game. Later on, Number 28 reveals a hidden passage behind a large refrigerator/drawer which eventually leads to the Underground Cave.
Underground Cave[]
A small cave that leads to the ocean and it is filled with multiple dive packs.
Weaponry Room[]
A room which housed many firearms that used by the soldiers in lockers. Each locker has a number that corresponds to the soldiers.
Trivia[]
- The stairs are inspired by M.C. Escher's work called "Relativity"[1].
- The island is filmed in Seungbong-ri, an island in the Ongjin-gun county of Incheon, on the Yellow Sea. The island's location within the series is unknown, though.
- Players and staff travel to the island on a ferry from a location called Moojin Port, located in Busan.
- As teasers for Season 2 and Season 3, Netflix released Backrooms-themed videos showing parts of the filming set for the stair area and various rooms[2][3].
- The Emergency alarm button was triggered 3 times, first time in the 33rd squid game during the organ trafficking ring Incident, second time in the 37th squid game during the Revolt, the Masked Officer sent every soldier to counterattack the rebels and the third time was when a coastguard's ship was nearing the island, the Front Man triggered the explosion of the island to destroy all evidence of the games.