How to Beat Every DEATH GAME Ever

[@TheTaleFoundry]

Get Nebula using our link for 40% off an annual subscription! go.nebula.tv/talefoundry

[@arnijulian6241]

I consider such games & cinema distasteful. It is unpleasant enough people died in combat sports as a spectacle like in the coliseum but to not even have composition of might makes right but just cruel humiliation is the reason I Can't stand collectivists be the socialists, statist, communists or fascists etcetera. Such people truly do disgust me & they should not have any position of power for this reason among many others. If any collectivist had decency & was good person which they are not then they would focus on the arts & stay far away from politics for everyone's good but especially their own. Imagine if Adolph succeeded as q painter for history would have turned out much better. Joseph Stalin was a promising poet before he became a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. Japan was much better prior to ww2 as Statists for Meiji Japan tended to zen garden writing poetry in isolation. Put socialists in the arts & keep them away from politics for everyone's well being I say as such people present eth dark triad with obvious signs of mental instability. Squid games & other death games movies like the purge that I refused to watch in completion are a reflection todays Zeitgeist that should anyone with savvy & sense concerned! We are in an age of declining health in body but most of mind! People have normalized that which is grotesque & are oblivious to how they have fallen in decades. Global-socialism is the root cause of this rotten fallacy! Look at how people delusions are encouraged rather then cautioned among these lot that tell who they are as they deny reality for identity political nonsense. You feed into it as well even if not much but it's slippery slope lad.

[@pyeitme508]

Ok 👌

[@axjagfilms]

Please do a video on the original War Of The Worlds story 😢😢😢

[@AchronTimeless]

While I appreciate you wanting to earn a living off of this, the whole "you can watch without waiting a week" premise is entirely flawed every time I've seen it used. I pay today, and I don't have to wait a week to watch the next video... but then, I still have to wait a week to watch the one after that. If I discontinue paying for whatever service (in this case nebula but often patreon or whatever) then I have to wait 2 weeks for new content or I'm stuck paying forever just to enjoy the 1 week wait I was already getting for free. I applaud you for also having additional content that's exclusive to sweeten the pot, but that has to be the draw instead of the week early thing.

[@judeearlywine9759]

YAYYYYYY! existential thoughts. u r seriously the kurzgesagt of literature

[@MinisDunyasi5]

If I were in a life-and-death situation where I had lost my loved ones, which is often the case for main characters, I don’t think I would have the motivation, energy or courage to fight to survive.

[@andresomerville4896]

don't underestimate yourself. The desire to live is at every human's core

[@MorgottofLeyendell]

I would feel angry enough to live, I would live just to destroy those that had hurt me.

[@MorgottofLeyendell]

@@anderporascu5026 Someone needs to write that, it would make a very interesting twist on the genre. A character whose purpose in the game is totally opposed to to everyone else. They would still be in the game, but in a sense, they wouldn't. They don't want to play the game, it's just a part of their own plan. they aren't just being manipulated by the gamemakers, they could be a manipulator, a creator of their own sort of game within the game.

[@brotherofAnubus]

Do it out of spite

[@thegen3rai]

Meh, why fight it if its just gonna win anyway

[@Drewer]

"Because, as it turns out you are, already in, the most challenging Death Game, of them all" kudos, nice quote

[@michaelguerrieri3486]

I've what

[@daniamataka5377]

It all comes back to the game of life. I hate that board game.

[@keaton5101]

ah... Capitalism

[@Someone-sc2hk]

not a very reassuring one though

[@pyrix]

You put a lot of unnecessary commas on that sentence.

[@briankelly1240]

Ooof, opened with a hard line, "kind of already in a death game." Exactly, humans are wired to anticipate and overcome danger/death, but it finds us all eventually.

[@drrocketman7794]

Zig et zig et zig, la mort cri en cadence Frappant une tombe avec son talon, La mort à minuit joue un air de danse, Zig et zig et zag, sur son violon. -- Danse Macabre, Camille Saint-Saens

[@Takeawayjustin]

My first asumption life is a death game

[@Someone-sc2hk]

the key is to avoid it for as long as possible

[@realdragon]

I accepted that I can die at any moment in life

[@furrystarcat]

​@@anderporascu5026The Call of the Void can also be pretty compelling...

[@JeremyMaldonadoSTK]

Gotta be honest, it's easier to assume you would ace all these traps while you have minutes upon minutes to calmly and rationally dissect the traps which is something the characters never have

[@catbatrat1760]

I know you're talking about fiction, but I've heard people say this about victim-blaming. People like to say "Oh, you should've done this!" or "That wouldn't happen to me because I would do this!", forgetting the difference between sitting behind your computer speculating and actually being thrust into the situation.

[@realdragon]

@@catbatrat1760 I was once saying how big group of people turned into cannibalism because of famine (it was related to topic), 1 person argued that "he would have never turn to cannibalism because of morality and those people should have find another way"

[@luizafrugoli2400]

That's why I like Nerd Explain. He does say what they could do, but he also empathize with them and understands that it would be hard to think those things in hard situations. A really good video of him is the one about "Talk to me", it's really good

[@NormalGamingChannel]

@@realdragonmy mom, a hs English teacher, taught that. They had a whole week long segment on it. A lot of students ended up on the side that they would.

[@realdragon]

@@NormalGamingChannel Other thing is, it is easy to say something form comfortable position where you don't experience hunger or other suffering. I think vast majority of people would do bad things if pushed. There's also herding behaviour, if many people around are doing same thing the othres might follow even if they don't really want to

[@Bob-lr2xp]

This self-insert into death games is very similar to self-insert into zombie apocalypses during the 2000s. "What's your zombie plan" was a popular topic among friends. The idea of coming up with a survival strategy to live in a world infested with undead was fun. Part of it was the fun of problem-solving, but another part was human narcissism. All human civilization fell to the undead hordes and billions of people died, but NOT ME! Yes, I have a panic attack if I have to ask a waitress to correct a mistake with my meal, but I'd TOTALLY survive in a Mad Max wasteland!

[@TheDragonfriday]

A lot of asia shows has this death game thing. It just happens squad game got popular recently

[@williamwilliams1368]

I was about to say the same thing. If anything, majority of the Asian shows revolve around debt which leads to the death games.

[@TheDragonfriday]

@williamwilliams1368 yep everyone can relate or expect the reality how bad the world is revolving around money.

[@kekero540]

Probably has something related to the high suicide rate. People don’t want to live anymore, we want out. and so a death game is perfect either your life is gonna be great afterwards or you’re going to die and finally be done with the mess.

[@Nico_com_c]

*SQUAD GAME!!1!1!!1*

[@TheDragonfriday]

@kekero540 haha no where are you getting high suicide rate from? If you say japan come on.... that not fully true

[@Crazor2000]

I think there is another reason why they are popular. The need to solve problems. Not specifically risk, but the games are usually designed to at least have a chance to win. A game/challenge that is designed to have no winner or can't be beaten, is usually considered to be bad design, and even if the chance is low, the games/challenges are most of the time designed to be beaten by an regular person. They present problems, and they usually have solutions, so the question becomes, how would you solve this problem? Other types of media have this less, because the situations they involve situations that are so much beyond (Most) human capacity that they can't realisitcally be solved by someone (without a particular set of skills at least), but games can are ussually designed to be beaten. It's kind of like a riddle or puzzle, once we see a situation, we wonder what the anwser is, and we start to analyse, see if there are ways the makers of these stories forgot. This is not exclusive to these kind of death games, but they are the one that pose the question the most loudly, due to it being asked of the character in the story. It asks the protagonist of the story to see the situation in front of them, and find a solution with these rules, and since we have all the same info, the viewer can ask this too. It makes you reflect and think about the solution, similiarly to how a great mystery story makes you think about the mystery and wonder how to solve it.

[@adamvancleave9200]

And then there’s all the stories where the only path to survival is time paradox.

[@thoughtengine]

There's also the fact that the protagonists are seen to be badass, which they all want to be; same as post-apocalypse and zombie outbreak tales - they all want to be Tallahassee or Max, not boring old Mick who comes to fix the copier.

[@Crazor2000]

@@thoughtengine ​while i agree certainly that it is an factor in some death games, i don't think it's always true, since in a lot of these death games, the people who participate are relatively normal people. Katniss is definitly a badass in the hunger games, but most other death game protagonists? They start out relatively normal, besides maybe being a bit smarter than the competators, or catching on a bit quicker. an example Seong Gi-hun (The protagenist of squid game) is for example is just a guy with a gambeling debt. While a nice guy, he isn't nessesary a badass. He pulls some clever tricks, like licking the cookie to get it out, but he's kinda potrayed as a bit naive sometimes and bit of a goof. That doesn't mean they can't become badasses, but they usually grow into that, and they don't start of that way.

[@PossumsAreNice]

I feel like this video is missing times were the fact that it is a death game is used to add to story. Like in The Hunger Games, the fact that the wealthy and elite Capital is making a literal game out of the death of actual children from a lower class really cements how they see them as less then human and how warped their minds have become from their status. Same thing with Squid Game’s death game. And while I’m not as familiar with Japanese culture at the time of Battle Royal, I’ve heard it has a similar sort of commentary. This is not to say that ever death game story has to be some commentary on society to be good (see Danganronpa and Your Turn To Die) but anyone who watches these stories for the actual story will tell you, if you just make it a gory spectacle, the story will fall flat

[@44Hd22]

9:57 you can probably go through the gaps and escape or go along the Z axis.

[@hmart6881]

So far, I survived ALL of them popcorn movies. -- Good work here!

[@Lis-ard]

I can never just "normally" consume media; I love to dig deeper and examine all its layers. I've only been a subscriber for a couple of months but I love your videos! I especially hope to see more character studies in the future ❤

[@pilgrimspromise1132]

I often watch analysis videos of movies I've never seen

[@talesofacrookedmouth]

therefore you do not consume them, rather you experience

[@Schadrach42]

One thing you don't see often is a death game that isn't actually the centerpiece of the plot. An exception is Pale by J.C. McCrae. In it there is a sort of sentient magical ritual known as the Hungry Choir by the main cast or the Devouring Song by most of the participants. The prize? All injuries caused during the game are completely restored and you never have to worry about food, drink, or drugs again. No harm will befall you for anything you do or don't consume, you maintain your ideal weight regardless of how much or little you eat, and the universe bends over backwards to not get between you and indulging in whatever way you choose. Don't want to ever eat again? Sure thing. Want to do enough heroin to kill a herd of elephants? That's fine, you can't OD and the drugs always seem to find. Etc, etc. The ritual itself is also engaged in a sort of death game - it requires power to sustain itself, and it gets that power by consuming losers and loses it by paying out to winners. They eventually contain it by bringing a former winner back into the game and having them eat the being at the center of it - it can't stop them because that would be getting between them and their meal.

[@princesspancakes3737]

That's one of my favorites. That particular ritual elevated that novel from just alright to awesome."

[@Archonagon]

The funny thing about SAW, is the number of people who still don't know or get how all of the movies interconnect. Putting aside judging how well it may or may not be done, there is an overarching story throughout all of it.

[@Babbleplay]

I'd argue 'How To Beat', while they have covered many death games, is more about surviving horror movies.

[@realdragon]

How to survive horror movie: do the opposite what people do in horror movies

[@Talisguy]

The strangest version of this I saw was trying to apply "how to survive x" logic to a Junji Ito story. Junji Ito. The logic always comes secondary to the themes with Ito stories, and a recurring source of horror in his work is that the horrific things that happen to his protagonists _are not fair._ There is no comprehension, no justice, no catharsis and often no way to escape. If Saw was a Junji Ito story, then the key to unlock the trap you were stuck in would turn into a venomous snake as soon as you grabbed it. It's the worst kind of story to try to "outdo the protagonists" of.

[@CloudPhase]

Personally, I don't think it has to do with risk at all, in fact I think that's what stops people wanting to be in these scenarios at 'almost' is the risk. I think what really causes the self-insert fantasies is just the problem solving, building intuition for your own future; the same reason for what many people think the reason we dream is for.

[@jeffthepuppetYT]

Good timing on this upload, I'm a game designer asking this exact question at the moment. Definitely gave me more food for thought. :)

[@cagedcreature439]

There is two death games that should get more attention. The manga, The gods will, and the video game, 999: 9 hours, 9 persons, 9 doors.

[@lazyperfectionist3978]

So long as we don't acknowledge ZTD I'm all for the nonary games getting more recognition

[@sponge1234ify]

I would like to qualify to play 999 in the original DS version, whether physical or emulator. Heck, just a phone emulator will do.

[@doobzsalam1847]

I absolutely love 999 and while I would say I prefer it more I think the concept of Danganronpa is more interesting. Mainly because of the factor that no one has to die. In most death games the losers will die because well...its a death game but in Danganronpa they could live trapped inside forever and HOPE for help one day....or they could play the game. Similarly the sequel to 999, VLR is interesting because it is completely possible to get through the game with everyone alive by allying three times. I think the idea of being locked inside forever is a great idea for a death game. Because then instead of failure always meaning death it means something bad with the possibility of hope. And then when characters do die and kill each other it makes it even more terrifying as its not necessary

[@sponge1234ify]

@@doobzsalam1847 Technically, it's *possible* for you to not have any deaths in 999 as well; the "only" deadly part of the game is the time limit and the bombs in your stomach that only blows up if you don't take the game seriously. Of course, [spoilers under the fold] The game _you play_ actually is way safer, only having bombs in select people Zero wanted to suffer anyway, and their deaths that were there were all Ace's doing. Zero actually wanted _you_ to survive but with the pressure, for some tempo-psychological mumbojumbo that is nonetheless consistent. The game _Zero_ played in was technically the one the game promised was there, and it shows that, despite the real danger (and the stupidity/desperation of Hongou _wanting_ real danger for an ostensibly pure scientifical study), everyone survived at the finish line, and only one ends up dead. And that death was undone by her own actions.

[@doobzsalam1847]

@@sponge1234ify Very true but while 999 was a death game story. I would say it is not quite a death game its self as well most things were a bluff and the only people the game would kill were kind of meant to. When its so rigged its not much of a game anymore and more of the illusion of one (not badmouthing the story I think its one of the best parts of it) And the original original Nonary game/experiment only a maximum of 5 out of 9 should have lived if it went as planned

[@jackielinde7568]

I think the best way to describe the difference between what the fictional characters in these fictional death games are going through versus what Nextflix's reality TV game show can be summed up best by the song "Knock on Wood" by the band The Mighty, Mighty Boss Tones from their album "The Impression That I Get" Have you ever had the odds stacked up so high You need a strength most don't possess? Or has it ever come down to do or die? You've got to rise above the rest No, well [CHORUS] I've never had to knock on wood But I know someone who has Which makes me wonder if I could It makes me wonder if I've Never had to knock on wood And I'm glad I haven't yet Because I'm sure it isn't good That's the impression that I get I'm not a coward, I've just never been tested I'd like to think that if I was I would pass Look at the tested and think "There but for the grace go I" Might be a coward, I'm afraid of what I might find out

[@stetonwalters574]

There's nothing more cruel than pure rationality. For there is no good or evil no morality only what is and what's not what you must do to survive and how far you are to go to survive

[@pootsydoodle2326]

In Lisa Cron’s Story Genius, she talks about the evolutionary purpose of stories as a way in which we learned, transferred lessons, and could try out situations in a safe way. It’s why character-focused storytelling is considered dominant as we’re primed to put ourselves in the protagonist’s shoes and the more vivid we make their struggle, the more we can make that jump. I think these survival games tap into that at the story’s most base level. It’s an external challenge with clearly defined boundaries so we are primed to ask ourselves “what would I do?” And that sucks us in, while at the same time bringing the character’s inner struggle up to the fore and thus tying our experience even closer to them. So it’s pretty much a double whammy of self-insertion on both the external and internal levels, more than something harder to define and predict might create, like an alien invasion. In that way, I guess they’re similar to zombie stories. Zombies have some basic rules we can all assume, and so pretty much everyone can come up with some sort of zombie apocalypse plan.

[@Queen.In.Yellow]

Glad I managed to catch this one not even a minute after its release! Amazing content as always

[@Thebonfireuwu]

I need to say that watching this channel grow is an amazing experience, been around for a long time and seeing such a perfect channel get better and grow is so amazing, just thought about this when I opened a vid and remembered when the intro was different love every bit of content that’s come from here

[@hubwil89]

When I was a bit younger, I used to go for urban exploration with my friends. We have been drinking some booze on the top of unfinished skyscrapers, in various abandoned villas etc. While I was quite cautious, one of my friends had a "don't be a chicken" attitude which almost killed him, once or twice. The other friend listened to him quite often, but had his doubts and he didn't follow him all the time. My idea was "let's have some fun, let's do something unusual and dangerous, but not to the point of aimless and dumb bravery and show-off". But as we all know, some people like to take the risk even if there is no real prize or even sense in doing something - like dancing on the slippery edge of the roof at almost-collapsing building

[@WingedAsarath]

Death games are my favourite niche subgenre of videogame. From Zero Escape (999, VLR, ZTD) to Danganronpa to Your Turn To Die, I find the whole trope really fascinating. Yes there's a thrilling element to the danger and risk in the story, but I think what I really find fascinating is how different characters react under those incredibly extreme circumstances. Some break, some resort to a cold and cruel logic, some try to find loopholes, and (the one I find the most interesting) some try to toe the line between morality and self-survival.

[@greatazuredragon]

We are all in a Death Game called Life. And saddly it has a 100% mortality rate.

[@HealedCoyote997]

A strange death game, the only winning death move is not to death play

[@Deadlyish]

Circle (2015) is another film I'd recommend that deals with the Death Game premise. 50 people wake up in a room that will kill them if they move from where they're standing, and starts to kill them off one by one. The people try to figure out what's going on and realise they can vote for who to kill next. There are factions that arise favouring different tactics, some people want to save themselves or prioritise others, and questions about who should be valued quickly reach breaking point. The tension and pacing are top notch. Like the hunger games, squid game etc there have been analyses that explore how to win, ways to game the system, and thought experiments about how long a self-insert might survive such a situation.

[@c-dawg98]

This video I found eye-opening. Life itself is constantly filled with day to day challenges. The Greatest Thrill we should feel is waking up tomorrow. Because, tomorrow has no real guarantee.

[@LuisSanchez-fj6dt]

Your vídeos are getting better and better, its amazing how many things you can take apart from this apparently simple stories! My theory about why they are so popular it is because you dont have to follow any weird plot but just watch how the main character tries to survive and gains allies and enemies; its also clear who are the “bad ones”

[@Sahdirah]

Yeah, having the genre convention means we can sort of handwave past all the justification and setup that any other story would need to get to this point, and get directly to the high stakes drama of what a character does in this situation.

[@shereesmazik5030]

Hollywood made it easy - the most physically attractive wins .

[@LuisSanchez-fj6dt]

@shereesmazik Totally true, also happens in horror films

[@lerneanlion]

My solution is to not be anywhere near those life-and-death situations at all, not even when playing games. Also, what do you think of alternate histories before? And have you ever wondered why many humans thought of them so much? Personally to me, it is about believing to be born in the wrong timelines and want to live in one of these worlds that they are believed to be better instead. P.S: Men! There is no sacrifice greater than that of someone else!

[@goddessdeedeebubblesofimag7789]

There's an episode of Minecraft: Story Mode thats a little similar, even if the risk of death gets... dampened. For those who know the game, Im talking about Episode 8 (S1). For those who don't, im going to try and summarize it. Basically, you and three other main characters have been stuck in interdimensional limbo since Episode 5 (or 6), and have been trying hopelessly to find your way back to your home world. You've already had to deal with cutthroat societies, murder mysteries, a rogue, over-controlling AI, and more, with no way to guess what your way home looks like, and seemingly no luck whatsoever in getting any closer. Except not quite, because the power source of the rogue AI from the previoys episode was actually the key to a special dimension-one hidden away from the rest in what is basically plain sight. You go to this special dimension, and it's... a sports center in the middle of a cold biome. Here's the part that matters: All the participants? Just as lost as you, playing "The Games" because the higher-ups promise the winner gets to go home. But, while the higher-ups do have the solution on them, they are stuck-up a§sholes who rig the games left and right so that no one ever wins enough. To make things worse, they let their players believe in a false idol, Tim, who never existed. Extravagant, heroic armor and everything. The "only one who got to go home". So, the players still play, completely believing in Tim and thinking they can be like him. If you die, which you can and probably will, you respawn, keep inventory off, and you get sent to that world's Nether to mine quartz (Haven't played MCSM in a hot minute so I might be forgetting an extra condition or criteria to that last part). Here you have it folks: Unfair competitions with high stakes and high rewards. That's what you encounter in episode 8. Now, why do I say "dampened" if you can still very much die here? Well, because, in other worlds, if you die, it's like Hardcore and you dont come back. (Totally me trying REALLY hard not to think about episodes 1 thru 4.... or 6- but mostly 1-4 because I'm------ well----- Obsessed with something- 🙃) A-NY-WAY. Y'all get roped into the fray, play a few Games, rally the players together, and p--- off the higher-ups enough that they fight you and eventually lose. And then the only higher-up that ISN'T actually an a-------e gives you the solution to going home and you send everyone who wants to go home, home (some people enjoyed The Games enough to eant to stay... somehow-). You go home yourselves, mister CREATOR OF THE *_WITHER STORM_** OVER HERE* CAN'T GET HIS MIND OFF OF ADVENTURE-SOURCED DOPAMINE AND RUNS OFF WITH THE ATLAS (solution) AGAIN LIKE THE DUMB HILARIOUS F------ BA------- HE- sorry I got carried away there and WHERE THE F! DID THE PINK NETHER STAR COME FROM?! Anyway!

[@newden-dinimation7120]

Thanks, watching your videos before the sleep really helps, narrator's calm and comforting voice, the themes that are taken and overall atmosphere promises a really good dreams

[@littlelunardragon]

When I think of death games the first thing that came to mind was the game Danganronpa and it made me remember a quote a character said something like “What kind of a psychopath would enjoy watching a killing game??” And it made me go: 0_0

[@Yggdrasilincarnate]

That intro animation is beautiful. I've never been that interested in the self-insertion aspect at all. I just like exploring characters and solutions to problems that the author didn't think of.

[@Mr.b0nes]

I would die for plot development ;-;

[@ParadoxProblems]

I always enjoy when you guys go one step deeper into the reasons humans enjoy specific stories. Quite often, other creators posit theories for theory's sake that don't hold any water, but yours consistently hold water so well that id be afraid of drowning if trapped in a box of them during a death game.

[@Ilovecats72836]

So glad you made a video about Death Games in media! It's truly one of the most thought provoking genres in fiction!

[@exo04]

At first I didn't realize this was Tale Foundry by the title lol

[@chibisayori20]

lol yeah, there is another type of channel who does "Can you beat X" videos so it's probably a reference to that? Or maybe it's just a coincedence

[@julespowell8906]

I'll never get old of the animated intro. Just so fucking satisfying and wonderful.

[@ZombiBunni_]

Only watched the intro thus far, but it reminded me that we’re one of the very few (if not only..?) animals that seem to be able to run through life threatening scenarios before anything dangerous ever happens to us - and that in a way this is an evolutionary survival adaptation. If you think of the worst case scenario, your natural response will often be “so what’s a better way that could have happened? What could I change in order to survive or take less damage?” If I remember right, it‘s also why so many of us end up with anxiety lol. Sometimes highly specialized skills can also be nerfs 😅

[@kenobean]

it could also be partially due to our survival instinct. even though we will never be in this situation, it is instinctual to imagine how we would survive just in case

[@varflock9777]

There is an interesting webtoon from the same category - Escape Room. I think it was moved to a daily pass on Webtoons soon after it was finished though which is disgusting so I'd read it somewhere else if possible now. I don't want to spoil too much, but it touches some philosophical topics and is a sort of death game based on escape rooms where the unwilling participants have to be smart to survive. There are lots of unclear clues everywhere and the reader can try to understand their meaning along with the characters. The story is rather cruel, but to make it a bit better - at least most of the people there arguably deserve to be in that situation. The main character is... weird. Very smart and extremely logical. Not really a bad guy, but he would save others only if it doesn't lower his own chances of survival (if they can increase his chances of survival later, then it may logically be worth the risk though). Probably the best kind of person to survive death games and the worst for dabbling in philosophy in a way.

[@MintBunHunter]

Honestly, i never imagined myself in these situations while watching breakdown videos. They just seemed quite interesting to me

[@ShyBiiteVT]

Watching this video, I wonder if it's possible to do a whole video on the topic of high stakes children's games. Why do stories take what is normally just a fun kid's game, and make the stakes so high that you're basically playing for your life or even the fate of the world. Mainly throwing this out there as an excuse to hopefully see Tale Foundry talk a little bit about Yu-Gi-Oh. Both with the card game, and with the original season 0 games.

[@SpellProgrammer]

Another reason people might fantasize about being in these situations/interact with stories about these situations could be that our brains are trying to prepare us for if we ever end up in them ourselves, however implausible that may be. Happens a lot to me, and I'm not really a fan of death game media; I just have a lot of anxiety. Of course, the situations my brain throws at me are a bit more mundane than the Hunger Games.

[@lucrayzor9657]

My angle on this sort of thing is that in this life of relative stagnation, where days can often blend together, we have a primitive desire for something more… novel, and thrilling. Even if it’s something as horrible as a life or death game, or fictional worlds where your life would be objectively worse off, it’s still something… novel, stimulating, fantastical. Might even be the same force that drives that irrational instinct to grab the kitchen knife and stab someone with it. At least then it’s something radically different, right?

[@MrSaturn.]

I have le earphong in Hearing the music stop, “You are already in a death game” 💀

[@foxdavani4091]

You have a new intro and now a new outro????? My heart is so happy. Just like little creature drawing a flower. I love this channel

[@ripsterhipster5948]

what happened to your video on the irish mythology book? ive been searching for it for months and cant find it! its my favorite video you have ever done and its very relevant to my culture.

[@sirrjean1553]

I’ve never watched any of those video’s explaining how to beat the games, but I do on occasion think about what I would do and how I would solve them. It’s just such an entertaining thought

[@geofff.3343]

I once got to attend a literature panel with some PhDs and the topic was horror in media. I think the survival game taps into what one of them thought was a fundamental. Humans seldom go and hunt the bear in the woods and come back with a tale to tell the village. So horror has filled that spot in the needs of humans to survive. The Death Game is just the high concept version of that. We live vicariously through it because there's really nothing in our real lives to do about it.

[@lazylasagna5181]

has to be my favourite channel atm i hope you never run out of video ideas.

[@tinytatotot2910]

I love using these "How to Beat" horror movie videos, especially before I had therapy as an option, as a sort of exposure therapy. If my anxiety knows how to deal with these astronomical, implausible challenges, then it can surely handle driving to school or work. (I do get therapy now, luckily - these "how to beat" videos are still fun to watch tho❤️)

[@kazma8149]

Love your videos! Hope you could do spanish versions of them, you got no idea of how much public would like to watch your content and get over the language barrier.

[@MrocnyZbik]

"When you strip away the reverse bear traps and lethal children's games and thunderdomes" You can go BEYOND THUNDERDOME!

[@timmy18135]

I know you can't survive 1984

[@P.A_comics2314]

What do you mean like 1984 ghostbusters

[@swileyhedrick2373]

1984. the book. it's like the original sci-fi dystopia.

[@momom6197]

If I was in a guaranteed death situation, I'd exercise and keep a healthy diet to make sure I have good odds to survive until 80, and I'd hope that technology would have advanced enough by then to do away with old age entirely (maybe uploads or cryogenics?) so that I'm no longer in a guaranteed death situation.

[@dwren365]

Get started on that plan, then. Because you are in a "guaranteed death situation" now.

[@and0210]

1:10 my explanation: my anxiety will not allow me to rest until I know exactly how to survive this hypothetical event, because, even if it’s absolutely improbable not knowing will still eat me alive

[@therongjr]

This genre started with "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." Change my mind. 😂

[@boymeetsfish3589]

I think far more people would agree to participate in one of these games than one would think, at least the squid games type. There is a guarantee of a chance to win in those games, there is no guarantee of a chance to win irl

[@blankc_anvas8218]

Spite and resilience has been my greatest survival tool, likeability and communication is also great. Even if you don't plan for others to survive it is better to compete with your once allies than always enemies

[@montauk1684]

Im surprised you didnt bring up Death Parade, whose central theme is basically the thesis of this video. Death games are so interesting because of what they say about humanity and human nature. Perfect framework for characters to go through a sort of moral calculus.

[@Crazor2000]

Very true, but Death Parade is more of a subversion of death games, The characters think they are in a death game, with being tricked into thinking it's one of these games and the only way out is to play, but the interresting part is, that it was never important if they won or lost the game, . It has a lot of the elements of death games, but it subverts it by making the game itself, essentially meaningless. It's more important what people do in the game and to what extremes people go to if they think they can live, not if they won the game.

[@jayemover_16]

This is probably how escape rooms became popular, now that I'm thinking about it

[@mlgsamantha5863]

It's really telling that modern life is so monotonous and devoid of purpose that people fantasize about being just straight up tortured.

[@ShadowPhoenix82]

I was a little wary when you first began, as I didn't want to abide insults toward a favored genre of mine. I certainly didn't consider them weird, but then I better understood when you presented the format both as a self-insert thrill and a metaphorical demonstration of life's inherent struggle to endure. I don't relate to the former but I certainly do to the latter. So yes, I thought this was a great video and I appreciate your exploration of the "How-to-Beat" phenomenon. ❤

[@ishmamchowdhury1392]

you should sell stickers as merch

[@H2SO4pyro]

What the hell i watched this channel for years without realizing i wasnt subscribed. I could have sworn i was, but this wrong is now righted.

[@mathieuleader8601]

speaking of avoiding death games it was amazing to see Bartholomew Kuma escape from the culling tourament on God Valley recently in the Egghead Island arc in One Peice

[@sheamcguire5656]

The most challenging death game of all and nobody makes it out alive.

[@Vinemaple]

8:10 This is why I'm into solo dinghy sailing, and, when I can't get it, computer games. Simpler than my real world worries. With sailing, I absolutely have to think only about myself and the boat. There's no room for the problems I have ashore. Two more death game properties to think about in these terms: Sword Art Online, of course, and Battle Royale, the semi-obscure old Japanese high school movie that a shipmate of mine used to insist up and down that The Hunger Games ripped off. They kind of didn't. They're just both this trope.

[@enanirwin2182]

I am kind of surprised you didn't comment on adrenaline. If you are caught in a repetitive job what would you do to break out plus feel alive for a bit.

[@zombiemanjosh]

If you like Squid Games, watch Kaiji. It's what Squid Games was heavily inspired by.

[@kekero540]

One thing that is noticeable about the ideology that the squid games hosts subscribe to the game masters west the faces of predators they believe in “culling” those that are prey and selecting the apex predator from among the contestants.

[@dcez1770]

I would say that squid game isnt really popcorn show static noise because its the one death game i can think of off the top of my head where EVERYONE volunteered to be there, rather than forced. Now i know that they were forced monetarily but nobody told them to get inside the vans.

[@DrKhaos23]

I recently read/listened to Stephen Kings, The Long Walk. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned here as it is literally about a death march made into a sport. A competition (or a death game) that people spectate like a marathon. It hit hard in a lot of ways. If you're not familiar with it, I highly recommend it!

[@ToastLord42]

WOOOOOO I have wanted to get my hands on nebula for ages now patiently waiting for a good discount to pop up, I had a feeling it would come from here :)

[@icecrystal7965]

Pretty much the same reason I want to fight Grometheus from The Owl House I just want my worst fear to be shoved in my face so I can face it. Don't want to try and find it for myself

[@griffinschreiber6867]

New Tale Foundry video? Day made!

[@ezracohen6020]

Just watched up to your intro thing, and damn that’s one hell of a hook

[@CorbinLeonard-rp4et]

You already in a death game me yeah it's called Life

[@sophiejones3554]

I feel like it needs to be pointed out here that *all* games have life and death stakes. It's just a question of how abstracted they are. All our board games started as models for real geopolitics: war (Chess & Go), marriage (Mancala), or political election (backgammon). All our sports started as either training for war, or a substitute for it (yes, even golf was training... imagine if the golfer was standing on a chariot swinging at heads). From your brain's perspective, the only difference between game and reality is that the game can be paused and analyzed. This helps prepare you for real life and death stakes situations. Play is preparation for life, and preparation saves lives.

[@subsecretinc]

I love how every thumbnail of this channel's videos looks like the cover of a heavy metal band album.

[@furyking380]

We're basically running survival simulations. Humans tend to have two basic kinds of creativity: the ability to generate new ideas, and the ability to remix things we already know into new forms. The latter tends to be a lot quicker, easier, and less resource intensive, making it infinitely more useful in serious situations. Because of this, a lot of us will indulge in things like this and hero fantasies so when push comes to shove, we already know what to do

[@joeyoung431]

This video closely parallels scholarly discussion about Roman gladiators.

[@Knowie117]

Hey TaleFoundry, i doubt you'll see this comment, but I want to say that I used to watch your videos constantly back in 2017-2018. My favorite was your Cthulu mythos video(s). Over the years, though, i noticed you were getting fewer and fewer views, and that honestly sucked to see since I found your channel to be awesome to watch. I eventually moved on and stopped watching you sometime in 2019, but around 6 months ago, I noticed you would pop up in my recommendations a lot, and that your videos would have hundreds of thousands of views, reminding me of how popular your channel was back then. It's nice to see that, and I'm happy to know you're channel has been doing better these days. Cheers, for the good memories of watching your cthulu and horror videos in highschool instead of studying German.

[@megalomaniacgamer546]

my man just described latam on the first minute and a half of the video

[@seriousmaran9414]

Not so much fun but exciting and often terrifying.

[@gyrrakavian]

I'd like to see a story where one of these death-game scenarios has the twist that the wealthy backers betting on our unfortunate protagonists also have their lives at stake. Whether they handpick their victim contestant in advance or they select from a betting pool; if the contestant they bet on dies, so do they. It'd add an interesting extra layer to the stakes/tension. Especially once the wealthy betters learn that their lives are tied to the contestants' and they have more than just money riding on the outcome of the game.

[@BlueJGilbert]

"Now the real test. Hold fast, or expire."

[@realdragon]

In saw game there was scene where you have to cut out key from skin under eye with scalpel. I would just sit down and wait for death because I'm not putting sharp objects near my eye

[@godrickstockwell1505]

Very interesting take on the whole genre

[@senor-achopijo3841]

Another great Death-Game show is the anime series Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor, in case you haven't watched it.

[@antierror606]

1:02 Good question. - Shrek, 2001.

[@metageek7878]

Piggybacking off of everything here in a strange way the death game is a more "realistic" fantasy than a lot of the other stories where a hero overcomes the odds. Sure it's fun and maybe cathartic to imagine being a hero that can save the day with extraordinary abilities, but we all know that won't happen in reality. Using ones actual abilities, things that humans already have provided a different kind of power fantasy. To put it another way it's fun to imagine you could reach Demigod status in a power system like DnD but it's an entirely different fantasy to imagine your own determination and skill could let you win out over a power greater than yourself whether it be political, or cosmic.

[@Someone-dy5ui]

Why can't I stop thinking about moonlanding throughout the entire watch?

[@johannes4123]

I certainly wouldn't want to participate in those games in real life, but it is fun to imagine yourself overcoming deadly challenges Also sometimes characters do frustratingly dumb things and you just wanna talk about the ovbious solution instead

[@genisay]

Even though most of us are lucky in the modern world to not have to be faced with the dangerous challenges people faced in the past, especially before we were capable of protecting ourselves from predators by building walls, I wonder if it's still a leftover part of our nature to survive that we sort of 'train' our brains for possible future scenarios by trying to figure out how we would overcome imagined ones.

[@kallistiravenhurst5232]

personally i don't fantasize about beating death games, instead what i do is fantasize about being reincarnated [with my memories so it's still me as far as i'm concerned] into a definitively worse life. particularly one that wouldn't be nearly that bad if i just didn't remember this one. I imagine a life where even when i'm doing my absolute best at playing the role i was forced into I won't be safe, and then imagine myself overcoming that hardship, funnily enough via tapping into traits that society in this life has tried its hardest to teach me are 'bad' or 'wrong' before shifting the fantasy into something where this 'potential future me' can find enjoyment and acceptance while still holding on to these regained traits that have so much negative connotation to people in this way i suppose i tap into that niche of imagining oneself beating seemingly impossible odds, just with an isekai flair