Pyramid Game ~ Bully or Victim? Cast Your Vote!

“Pyramid Game” is a Korean psychological thriller survival TV series, based on the webtoon of the same name. Released in 2024 with 10 episodes. Students at an all-girls high school are forced to participate in a deadly game. They say you don’t have to play but … who do they think they’re fooling?

 

♦ The New Kid Got Zero Votes

In “Pyramid Game”, Sung Soo-Ji is the new transfer kid. She is used to attending different schools because her father is a career soldier. Ever since she started going to school, she has constantly had to change every time her father was reassigned to a different post. That means she was usually the new kid. She figured Baekyeon Girls’ High School would not be any different. So she walked into the classroom, introduced herself, and immediately sensed a very eerie, weird vibe. She thought to herself. “What’s with this place?”

She brushed it off until she came across some girls who were bullying … No! It was worse than bullying. They were tormenting a girl. The girl just submitted and took the beating without saying a word or rising to defend herself. Sung Soo-Ji did not intervene, but when it was over, she did approach the girl and try to show her sympathy and kindness.

The scene switches, and she is in a “special classroom”. She has just downloaded an app called “Pyramid Game”. The rules of the game are explained. There are layers to the pyramid. Students vote, and the student at the top of the pyramid, “A”, is the one who reigns supreme. In other words, everyone else has to do whatever “A” tells them to do. A student who gets zero votes is … you guessed it! … “F”, i.e., the one who gets bullied and tormented.

13^th Pyramid Game

This game had already been played a dozen times before Sung Soo-Ji started attending.  The votes are counted, and the 13^th Pyramid Game begins. Guess who got zero votes? Sung Soo-Ji, the new transfer student. At first, she knows that her father will likely get reassigned, so she will probably only be at that “insane” school for 3 months. Eh! She can survive 3 months. Or can she? She quickly realizes after her first bully beating that participating in the game was worse than hell! Sung Soo-Ji does her best to survive and outwit the student who is at the top of the pyramid. After all, everyone else does what “A” tells them to do. If she can outsmart “A” then maybe she can survive.

Main Characters:

• Sung Soo-Ji (played by Bona, “Joseon Attorney: A Morality”, member of K-pop group WJSN)
• Baek Ha-Rin (played by Jang Da-A)
• Myung Ja-Eun (played by Ryu Da-In, “Crash Course in Romance”)
• Seo Do-A (played by Shin Seul-Ki)
• Im Ye-Lim (played by Kang Na-Eon, “Wedding Impossible”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 7.7 out of 10 stars
• MyDramaList: 8.6 out of 10 stars
• NME: 4 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is the same as MyDramaList.

Some may have been hoping that this series would be the “new Squid Game”. Since Squid Game was so freaking popular and became one of the most-watched series on Netflix, others wanted to see if that kind of global popularity could be “rinsed and repeated”. In my opinion, the magic didn’t happen with “Pyramid Game”. Even so, I think the rating of 8.6 out of 10 stars is fair.

For most of the South Korean actresses who played the main characters, this was their first lead role in a K-drama series, except Bona. She has been cast as the main character (or had a substantial role) in several popular Korean drama series since 2017. Pretty good performances for newbies.

Kdrama lovers who are members of an online community where I actively engage were discussing “Pyramid Game,” and it piqued my curiosity. There are other high school Korean dramas with a similar storyline involving a deadly game students play. But this is the first one on my watch list that was set in an all-girls high school. When I was a teenager, I attended an all-girl Catholic high school, and it was nowhere near as scary as this school. LOL.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

‘Pyramid Game’ review: a brutal watch |NME

“Pyramid Game’ is based on the Naver webtoon of the same name by Dalgonyak | Wikipedia

Why Pyramid Game Is The Next K-Drama You Should Be Watching | Filmhounds Magazine

Pyramid Game is the new Squid Game – why audiences love these brutal series | BBC

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

Kdrama Trailers. “Pyramid Game – Trailer(Eng Sub).” YouTube Video. YouTube, February 6, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs618ig3iLc.‌