‘Squid Game’: Calling Card Had a Major Clue to Round 6 All Along
There is no denying that director Hwang Dong-hyuk cleverly incorporated clues to Squid Game’s storyline in plain sight. While fans have analyzed every nook and cranny about the meaning behind the circle, triangle, and square symbols, there is one more revelation. Squid Game’s calling card had a clue to the guards, and the round 6 of the Games, the players would play. The symbols tie back to Hwang’s favorite childhood game and the game the K-drama is named after.
What is the calling card in ‘Squid Game’?
The simple brown paper calling card determines the fate of 456 players in the K-drama. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) is given the calling card after beating the Salesman at a game. On one side of the card are three shapes, a circle, triangle, and square. On the other side is a number.
By calling the number on the card, the players accept to enter the Games. They are then given a pickup location. The card also appears when Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon) investigates missing person reports. A clue on the calling card is one of the many clues that foretold the events of Squid Game.
The calling card shapes are the same ones used in the squid game challenge
Gi-hun and Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) are the last players standing in Squid Game Episode 6. They learn the last childhood game they must face is squid game. At the beginning of the K-drama, Gi-hun gave a monologue explaining the game he played when he was younger.
There is a moment of realization when the symbols on the calling card mimic the playing field for squid game. According to Good Housekeeping, the players draw a square, followed by a triangle and a circle at the very top of the triangle to play the game. The shapes mimic a squid.
The shapes on the calling card were a clue to round 6 from the very beginning. The card indicated the very last game the players would be forced to play to survive. For the Korean Herald, Hwang explained, “The squid game is a great metaphor for a highly competitive Korean society.” In the game, the circle represents the head of the squid reserved for the winners. The calling card is given to people down on their luck, in debt, and who have no way out of the lives they created.
What do the symbols mean for the workers’ masks?
Once realizing the shapes on the calling card signify round 6 of the game, it gives more insight into the guards’ uniforms. According to Looper, “It seems that just like society overall has a hierarchy, the game’s organizers have a class system, too.” Hwang and the K-drama’s costume designer wanted the workers to look like ants in a colony.
Like ants in a colony, each worker has their designated job. According to SomagNews, Hwang explained, “Circles are workers, triangles represent armed soldiers, while squares are for managers.” But, there is another theory to the shapes on the workers’ masks.
The calling card and the mask both hint at squid game in round six. SomagNews explains, “The symbols on the invitations such as circles, triangles, and squares are actually the letters of the Korean alphabet, written in Hangul, the Korean writing system.” Each shape represents a letter in the Korean alphabet and spells out the initials for Ojingeo Geimwhich, meaning squid game.
