Game of Witches ~ A Lot of Toil and Trouble

“Game of Witches” (aka “The Witch’s Game”) is a Korean drama series released in 2022-2023, with 100+ episodes, and categorized as Soap-Opera-Type Family Drama, loaded with all kinds of melodrama; streaming on Viki.

SUMMARY: As a child, a young girl schemed her way into a wealthy family, all the while believing that her mother thought she was her real daughter. However, her mother knew who her real daughter was but did not disclose her identity or even that she knew her identity. Even though that child could not live in her mother’s home with her, her mother did everything a real mother would do to protect her real child. 

♦ Women in My Family are Real Witches and They Play Dirty!

“Game of Witches”, could be like the “Wizard of Oz”, in that there are good witches and bad witches. OR … there are just ordinary good women who have to confront evil witches who are hell-bent on destroying their love and happiness. Yeah. That’s a better characterization. There’s no need to call these fine strong women “witches”. They are just forced take part in the dirty games played by wicked witches.

In this dirty game of witches, Seol Yoo-Kyung and her daughter, Jung Hye-Soo, find themselves wrestling with the cruel misdeeds of an overbearing matriarch, Ma Hyun-Deo, that resulted in a tangled web of complicated family ties and power struggles that led to even more relationship complications including, but not limited to spousal betrayal.

It all started when Ma Hyun-Deo’s son was framed for a crime he did not commit and she became desperate to get him released from prison. Her solution was to sacrifice someone else in her son’s place. Using her warped and wicked reasoning, she decided that her granddaughter needed to die. (???) She instructed one of her employees to start a fire and if the child happens to die in the fire … well! … it was an accident.

Years passed and Seol Yoo-Kyung mourned the death of her daughter until one day, she received information that her daughter was alive and living in an orphanage. Ironically it was an orphanage that she had been overseeing. She learned that three (3) girls had been admitted to the orphanage on the date of her daughter’s death. The director at the orphanage was instructed to take samples from each girl and have their DNA tested. One of those girls had to be her daughter.

The problem with DNA tests is that they can be tampered with.

One of the young girls, Joo Se-Young, overheard a discussion that Seol Yoo-Kyung was looking for her real daughter. Unfortunately, the wicked witch of a grandmother also found out about it. Between the evil young girl witch and the wicked witch grandmother, they both conspired to deceive Seol Yoo-Kyung. In return for allowing Joo Se-Young to be presented as the real daughter, the grandmother told the young girl that she would have to do anything she told her to do.

In other words, as long as Joo Se-Young wanted to be a part of this wealthy family, she better be willing to do whatever it takes to keep her act of deceit and treachery a secret.  Her adopted grandmother could call on her at any time.

But here’s the thing. Even without the DNA test results, Seol Yoo-Kyung knew it was all a lie. She was happy that she found out her real daughter was alive and had been growing up well, even if she was in an orphanage. Seol Yoo-Kyung raised Joo Se-Young in her home as an adopted daughter while keeping her eye on her real daughter, Jung Hye-Soo, as she continued to grow up. Her motherly love knew no bounds.

Even if she had to be a mother from a distance she was willing. After all, her young daughter had survived a murder attempt and who knew if someone might try to kill her again? It’s best to keep her identity a secret. Also, since she learned what her grandmother had done, she decided to try to get revenge.

Joo Se-Young grew up as Seol Yoo-Kyung’s adopted daughter and her personality got worse. At an early age, Joo Se-Young behaved like a wicked witch. She was willing to engage in acts of lying, deceit, treachery, etc. When they were still young she tried to eliminate her rival, Jung Hye-Soo, but the plan backfired. A fire broke out and Jung Hye-Soo ended up saving both her mother and her friend. Jung Hye-Soo thought of Joo Se-Young as a friend, not realizing she was a rival for the affection of Seol Yoo-Kyung.

By the time Joo Se-Young was a young adult woman she was already skilled and accomplished at being EVIL. She’s manipulative, shrewd, and petty, and if violence was needed to achieve her goals and ambitions, then her will be done!

Joo Se-Young grew up and was exactly the opposite of Joo Se-Young. She was strong, decent, honest, hard-working, and everything that would make a mother proud. Whatever Seol Yoo-Kyung could do to help her daughter, secretly in the background, she did it.

Meanwhile, as Ma Hyun-Deo got older, her wickedness got worse!

Joo Se-Young and her mother, Seol Yoo-Kyung, were going to face off with all of their adversaries. As they got older, they got stronger and wiser. They had to survive! Their lives were filled with toil and trouble because the witches around them were always stirring the cauldron.

• To borrow a quote from – Michelle Harrison, “A Pinch of Magic”: “Witches are sneaky. Always plotting. Always dreaming up new ways to do terrible things.” Yep yep. They keep you busy!

Main Characters:

• Seol Yoo-Kyung (played by Jang Seo-Hee)
• Jung Hye-Soo (played by Kim Kyu-Seon)
• Kang Ji-Ho (played by Oh Chang-Suk)
• Joo Se-Young (played by Han Ji-Wan)
• Yoo In-Ha (played by Lee Hyun-Seok)
• Ma Hyun-Deok (played by Ban Hyo-Jung)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 8 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7 out of 10 stars
• KoreanDrama.org: 6 out of 10 stars
• Amazon customers rated the series 5 out of 5 stars
• Viki viewers rated this series 8.4 out of 10 stars

My personal rating is the same as the Viki viewers.

I always root for the underdog. If you enjoy Korean drama soap operas (or telenovelas) you’ll enjoy “Game of Witches”. Every time the haters and bad folks get their comeuppance, you cheer! When the good folks overcome the onslaught of evil perpetrated against them because some bad folks think they’re the “ISH!”, you cheer even louder! Many reviewers praised the series for its strong female leads.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Game of Witches (TV Series 2022-2023) | The Movie Database (TMDB)

The Witch’s Game Korean Drama – KoreanDrama.org

Game of Witches | MBC Global Media

Addictive New K-dramas To Catch In October 2022 | AUGUSTMAN (NOTE: PopGeeks has already reviewed several 2022 K-dramas on this list.)

TRAILER/TEASER:

KDramaforyou. “THE WITCH’S GAME Trailer (October 2022 KDrama).” YouTube, 2 Oct. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPWCz-xr2S0.

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PopGeeks Reviews of Other K-Dramas With 100+ Episodes”

• The Elegant Empire
• Su Ji and U Ri: Physician, Heal Thyself!
• Man in a Veil ~ ASVS is a Very Rare Condition
• Unpredictable Family: Do You Know Who Your Relatives Are?
• The Two Sisters: Sisters Separated by Divorce Meet Again
• The Brave Yong Soo-jung: A Model For Overcoming Adversity
• Snow White’s Revenge ~ The Evil Stepmom Needs to Die!
• “Red Shoes” – What a Mother’s Love Does Not Look Like

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