Sugar Honeycombs

**Sugar Honeycombs** (설당 뽑기 *Seoltang Ppopgi*?), also known as **Dalgona** (달고나 *Dalgona*?) or **Ppopgi**, was the second game in the 33rd Squid Game held in 2020. In the game, contestants were tasked with using a needle to carve a shape out of a piece of *dalgona* without cracking the honeycomb. Players who broke their honeycombs or did not finish in time were eliminated from the game and executed by guards.

187 players entered the game: 79 were eliminated and 108 progressed to the next round.

## Game information

In Sugar Honeycombs, contestants were told to choose a honeycomb shape to carve out before being informed of the game's premise. The options were a circle, a triangle, a star, and an Umbrella.

After selecting a shape, they were handed small metal containers. Inside, they found the shapes they chose drawn on the sugar honeycombs along with a small needle.

The game was to carve the shape out of the honeycomb without breaking it before the time ran out. Breaking/cracking the honeycomb or not carving it out in time resulted in being eliminated.

## Shape difficulty

1. Umbrella: Umbrella is the hardest shape because of its many lines and angles.
2. Star: This shape, like the Umbrella, also has a lot of lines. When you cut it out, it breaks most of the time.
3. Circle: Circle is a really easy shape because all you have to do is break it into pieces.
4. Triangle: It's the most undemanding shape. It only has 3 lines and you can cut them out easily.

## Methods to win

There are two ways to win the game regardless of the shape of the Sugar Honeycomb. The first method is to use a lighter to heat up the needle to make it easier to carve the outside layer of the shape of the honeycomb. The second method is to lick the honeycomb to soften the sugar honeycomb to make it easier to carve.

## Player techniques

Although they were told they needed to carve out the shape, they were never told that they had to use the needle included. Most of the players assumed they had to use the conventional method, but a couple of participants got creative.

### Licking the honeycomb

Player 456, Seong Gi-hun, chose the Umbrella shape prior to the second game's beginning. This was remarkably the hardest shape to carve out, and thus he found himself at a disadvantage.

Nearing the game's end, Gi-hun noticed a change in the honeycomb's color where his sweat had fallen, after holding it up to the light he realized it was slowly melting. After this discovery, Gi-hun began licking the honeycomb, melting its thinnest part, and ultimately taking out the shape smoothly. Player 278 noticed him, then everyone started to replicate his own method, including Oh Il-nam, who later on thanked him for indirectly saving his life.

### Using a heated needle

Player 212, Han Mi-nyeo, chose the star shape, the second hardest shape to carve out, proven by Oh Il-nam's initial struggle. Nonetheless, Mi-nyeo smuggled a lighter before the Squid Game was restarted, and was able to use it to heat the tip of the needle, making it much easier for her to carve the star out of the honeycomb. Later she lent her lighter to Jang Deok-su, who had also chosen the star shape, in order to prove herself as useful and to gain his alliance for future games.

## Trivia

* When actors HoYeon Jung, Anupam Tripathi, Heo Sung-tae, Kim Joo-ryoung and Lee Yoo-mi attempted to do a similar challenge, all of them failed.
* This is a South Korean activity where the person must remove the shape that is implemented on the candy, without breaking it. Often vendors will allow you to have another, if you can successfully remove the shape.