Top 10 Brutal Games in Alice in Borderland Ranked
Imagine being dropped in the middle of a deserted Tokyo where your only means of survival is to win a series of deadly games. That’s the terrifying reality for the characters in Alice in Borderland, the hit Japanese sci-fi thriller that has gripped audiences on Netflix all over the United States. Each game is a warped test of wits, strength, teamwork, or just pure luck, and represented by a playing card. The suit identifies the game type: Spades for physical, Clubs for teamwork, Diamonds for intellect, and Hearts for psychological betrayal. The number is an indicator of difficulty.
While all games are life-or-death struggles, some games are particularly cruel, pushing characters (and viewers) to their absolute limits. These games are not about survival; they are about the brutal decisions people make when confronted with unimaginable horror. From heart-wrenching betrayals to gruesome physical trials, we’re counting down the most brutal games in the series. Get ready to live the moments all over again that made us speechless.
The Definitive Ranking of Borderland’s Most Vicious Games
Here are the ten games from Alice in Borderland that stand out for their sheer brutality and psychological toll.
10. Four of Clubs: Distance
Game Type: Club (Teamwork)
Difficulty: 4
On first glance, the “Distance” game seems pretty straightforward. Contestants must race a long distance against a time limit. Simple, right? Not in the Borderlands. The group begins in a bus in a dark tunnel. Their goal is to make it to the finish line. The catch? The bus is rigged with water cannons to flood the tunnel, and one player is designated the “wolf,” and the others are “lambs.” The winning team will be the wolves that are able to hide their identity and make it to the goal last.
Why It’s Brutal: This game is a brilliant twist upon a physical challenge that turns into a test of trust. The players, such as Arisu and Usagi, initially think that they need to work together. The realisation that they may not all have the same goal brings in paranoia. The physical effort of running against the clock, together with the psychological stress of not knowing who to trust, makes this game a brutal introduction to the complexities of Club games.
9. Five of Spades: Tag
Game Type: Spades (Physical)
Difficulty: 5
It’s one of the first games that viewers see, and its frightful tone is established as a result. Placed in a two-dimensional apartment complex, the rules are simple: find the safe point hidden in one of the apartments and press a button before a bomb explodes. The complication? Two horse masked “taggers” armed with machine guns are tracking everyone down.
Why It’s Brutal: “Tag” game is sheer, high-octane terror. It’s a ceaseless physical contest in which brute force and guns rule. Unlike other games that involve strategy, this game is about running, hiding, and surviving a massacre. The powerlessness of the innocent unarmed players in comparison to the gun-toting taggers is horrifying. It’s a glaring reminder that in the Borderlands, death is fast, arbitrary, and merciless.
8. King of Clubs: Osmosis
Game Type: Club (Teamwork)
Difficulty: King (Face Card)
Led by the charismatic and naked King of Clubs, Kyuma, but this game is a battle of points: a sophisticated battle of points. Two teams of 5 each start with 10,000 points each. Players can score points by touching the opponent’s base, getting into one-on-one situations or touching members of the opposing team. A player’s bracelet will “leech” points from someone else on contact. If they reduce the total amount of points to zero, their team loses.
Why It’s Brutal: Osmosis is a brutal game that pits two tightly knit groups against each other in a game that depends on groupwork as the means to winning, and the means to losing. Kyuma’s band is a group of friends who trust each other implicitly. Arisu’s team is a group of survivors who have been recently taught to trust in each other. Play has pushed them into a strategic war of attrition that is as mentally taxing as it is physically taxing. The concluding scenes, where decisions are made out of respect and sacrifice, are heartbreaking.
7. Jack of Hearts: Solitary Confinement
Game Type: Hearts (Psychological/Betrayal)
Difficulty: Jack (Face Card)
The greatest fears of human society, isolation and distrust, are preyed on by this game. Various opponents (including a mercenary, Chishiya) are trapped in a prison-style environment. Each of them wears a collar of explosives, which can be detonated remotely. There is a card suit on the back of their collar that they can’t see. Every hour, they must go into a cell and guess what suit they are wearing on their collar. Guess it right, and they survive. Fail to guess correctly, and the collar blows up. The twist? The Jack of Hearts is hiding in them, and the game stops only when the Jack is found. Jack is able to lie, manipulate, and sow discord in order to survive.
Why It’s Brutal: The genius of this game is its psychological cruelty. Players have to trust each other to tell them their suit, but know that they are amongst traitors. Alliances are made and broken within minutes. The fear of the explosion collar at any time, and the paranoia of not knowing who the enemy is, drives participants insane. It’s a brilliant game of deception and illustrates how easy it is to secede any human relationship.
6. Ten of Spades: Cattle-Ranching Game
Game Type: Spades (Physical)
Difficulty: 10
A game that appears in the manga is a terrifying survival situation. So a large group of players runs around, designated to be “cattle” and must survive for two hours in a stadium. Four “ranchers” with whips and swords, and other quaint arms, pursue them on horseback. Their only goal is to remain alive.
Why It’s Brutal: A high-difficulty game of Spades is always going to be a bloodbath, but this is extra gory. It removes all hope of (barely) fair competition and turns it into a slaughter. The players are stereotyped into livestock to be hunted as sport. It’s a brutal and primal contest of endurance and will to survive in impossible odds, showcasing the biggest and baddest side of the Borderlands.
5. Queen of Spades: Checkmate
Game Type: Spades (Physical)
Difficulty: Queen (Face Card)
Suggested Mathematical Parenting Game: The Queen of Spades’ game, “Checkmate,” takes tag to a whole new level. The Queen and her players chase the players through a city block. Players need to hit a button on the Queen’s back so they can swap roles, so that the player becomes the chaser. The team that has the most players at the end of the time limit wins. The losing team is executed.
Why It’s Brutal: “Checkmate” is an unrelenting, city-wide struggle. It requires not only incredible physical stamina but a complex team strategy. The constant changing of roles leads to a chaotic and unpredictable environment. What makes it really brutal is the Queen’s athleticism and starting fight skills, to where what may be a simple game of tag becomes a deadly hunt where the “safe” players can be victims in an instant.
4. King of Diamonds: Beauty Contest
Game Type: Diamond (Intellect)
Difficulty: King (Face Card)
Chishiya takes on the King of Diamonds Kuzuryu in a battle of wits. Five players, including the King, have to guess a number between 0 and 100. The average of the numbers is taken and multiplied by 0.8. The winner of the round is the one whose guess was closest to this result. You find out for sure how much it hurts those who guess wrong when a vat of concentrated sulfuric acid is dumped from above. Players who cannot answer become the rule famine bard and choose a rule to add to the game.
Why It’s Brutal: While the Infinity Team has not used this particular tactic to incapacitate anyone, the punishment is extremely gruesome, and thus is one of the most horrible penalties in the entire series. The game is a cold, analytical game theory test and a human psychology game. Not only do they have to think logically, but they must also anticipate the irrationality of afraid opponents. The sterile silence of the game room is in stark contrast to the bloody destiny for the losers, making every round unbearably tense.
3. Queen of Hearts: Croquet
Game Type: Hearts (Psychological/Betrayal)
Difficulty: Queen (Face Card)
The last game of Arisu and Usagi is with the Queen of Hearts, Mira. The game? A simple game of croquet, on the roof of a skyscraper. The rule? And they merely have to integrate three sets. They don’t even have to win. The catch? The Queen of Hearts is a king con artist. After every set, she has them sit down and have some tea, and then uses psychological methods, hallucinations, lies, etc., in an attempt to make Arisu quit. If he quits, he loses.
Why It’s Brutal: This isn’t a fight of physical strength or intellect, but a fight for Arisu’s soul. Mira attacks his greatest vulnerabilities: his trauma, his guilt, and his need for an easy answer. She establishes the wonderful illusion that he stood in a mental institution and that everything he had experienced was a delusion. The savagery here is completely mental. It separates reality, causing Arisu and the audience to doubt even themselves. It’s a sadistic game that shows people that the most painful wounds aren’t physical wounds.
2. Ten of Hearts: Witch Hunt
Game Type: Hearts (Psychological/Betrayal)
Difficulty: 10
Witch Hunt is a Beach game to forever be remembered as a nightmare. The game is similar to the nursery rhyme: after their protagonist, Momoka, is found murdered with a knife in her chest, the game is called: find the “witch” who caused her death and burn them in the “Fire of Judgement.” The players (such as the militant Aguni and his party) take on a violent frenzy, killing anyone and everything, until they find the supposed witch.
Why It’s Brutal: This game is the single most destructive event from the first season, man at his absolute worst. It is not about becoming a murderer; it is about mass hysteria. The game is designed to turn everyone against each other, resulting in a horrifying massacre of fear and paranoia. The final reveal that the “witch” was the victim herself, who committed suicide in order to start the game, is a soul-crushing twist that makes the senseless violence even more tragic.
1. Seven of Hearts: Hide-and-Seek
Game Type: Hearts (Psychological/Betrayal)
Difficulty: 7
Arisu’s life was to be forever changed by the game. King Zaigo is coaxed, and his two best friends, Karube and Chota, accompany him into a botanical garden for what is thought to be just a game. One player is the ‘wolf’ and the rest of the players are ‘lambs’. This role must be usurped by the wolf, making eye contact with a lamb. When the timer expires, the wolf wins if he is the only one who was a wolf when the timer expired; the lambs have their explosive collar cages explode.
Why It’s Brutal: This game is ranked number one for pure and unadulterated emotional devastation. It takes a group of fiercely loyal friends and puts them in a situation where only one of them can survive. The game mechanics are whip-lined to destroy their bond in a systematic way. The end minutes, the ones where the friends are reluctant to show up to the other and not because they are fearful, but because they wish to sacrifice to allow the others to live, are one of the strongest and loneliest moments for modern television. It’s a cruel, intimate, unforgettable game that is altogether a perfect expression of the evil genius of the category of the game called Hearts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch Alice in Borderland in the USA?
You can stream both seasons of Alice in Borderland exclusively on Netflix in the United States. It’s one of the platform’s most successful international shows, so if you’re looking for your next binge-watch, this is a great choice.
Will there be an Alice in Borderland Season 3?
Yes! Netflix has officially renewed Alice in Borderland for a third season. The announcement was made in late 2023, exciting fans worldwide. While a specific release date for our 2025 entertainment guide isn’t confirmed yet, production is underway.
What is the ending of Season 2 explained?
At the end of Season 2, Arisu and the other survivors complete all the face card games. They are then given a choice: remain in the Borderlands as “citizens” or return to the real world. Most choose to return and wake up in a hospital. They learn that a meteorite struck Tokyo, and they were all victims who were hovering between life and death. The time they spent in the Borderlands corresponded to the single minute their hearts had stopped. They have no memory of the games, but they feel a faint connection to the people they survived with. The final shot of a Joker card suggests that the games may not be truly over.
Who is in the cast?
The series features a talented Japanese cast, including:
- Kento Yamazaki as Ryōhei Arisu
- Tao Tsuchiya as Yuzuha Usagi
- Nijirō Murakami as Shuntarō Chishiya
- Ayaka Miyoshi as Ann Rizuna
- Dori Sakurada as Suguru Niragi
- Aya Asahina as Hikari Kuina
What Do You Think?
Alice in Borderland is a masterclass in tension and a fascinating look into human nature under pressure. These games are more than just puzzles; they are moral dilemmas wrapped in life-or-death stakes. For fans of survival thrillers, it’s a must-watch, and if you haven’t seen it, you can find it while browsing for the latest movies and series in the USA on Netflix.
Do you agree with our ranking? Which game did you find the most brutal? Share your thoughts in the comments below! And if you enjoyed this list, check our list of top Netflix series in 2025 for more recommendations.
