K-TV Show: Playing Mind Games Behind the Pyramid Game

Pyramid Game | 피라미드 게임 (2024)

TVNing | Pyramid Game

High school can be the most memorable and fun moments of your life… until it’s not. Seong Su-ji (Bona) is a transfer student in class 2–5 of Baekyeon Girls' High School. As the daughter of a military father, she often transfers and her only wish is to simply get through high school, without the drama. But not at Baekyeon Girls' High School, in particular class 2–5. The class is situated on a different floor, from the rest of the classes, and is also the only class on the floor. The students in this class seem overly nice to the point where it’s uncomfortably strange.

TVNing | Pyramid Game

Su-ji soon realises that there’s one student, Myeong Ja-eun (Ryu Da-in) who’s constantly bullied by the ‘popular’ girls of the class. After helping her out, Ja-eun quickly tells her to go back to class as it’s the last Thursday of the month. This is when she discovers the truth behind class 2–5 and their Pyramid Game. 

TVNing | Pyramid Game

Seo Do-ah (Shin Seul Ki), the class president and top student of the school tells Su-ji to download an app called Pyramid Game. Then she explains the rules; each person gets five votes. You can cast a vote for any five classmates. The more votes, the higher the rank you go. Each student can be placed in ranks between A to D. Do-ah continues to tell Su-ji that the student with the most number of Rank A votes gets certain privileges that other students do not have. One of the privileges about Rank A students is that anyone below can not tell them what to do. Naturally, the Pyramid Game creates a hierarchy system between the students, and it’s intense!!

TVNing | Pyramid Game

So the Pyramid Game begins, and the votes are casted. Su-ji is sure she will get at least one vote seeing that her classmates treated her kindly and vice versa. But to her shock, she’s ranked F, meaning she received no votes from her classmates and joins Ja-eun as the only students who are Rank F. Very soon after, Rank A students turn to bully her instead, leaving bruises on her in places that wouldn’t be visible for others to notice. We find out along with Su-ji that everything about this classes’ bullying is hidden - CCTV cameras and caring teachers out of sight! But raised by a military father, Su-ji stays strong, able to stand up for herself and remains unfazed by Rank A’s bullies. Her best bet is to actually beat this game!

TVNing | Pyramid Game

Su-ji’s plan is to gather up students so they can vote for each other and beat the system… except there’s one mastermind behind it all, Baek Ha-rin (Jang Da-ah). Belonging to a chaebol family, this means she has a whole lot of control, behind her classmates, their family and even the teachers. 

TVNing | Pyramid Game

No one knows that Ha-rin created this game for one purpose and that was to make sure this one particular classmate of her’s remains a victim of the bullying. So naturally, Su-ji’s wish to rebel is only going to get tough and may be worse than the bullying she endured. Described as a psychological thriller survival, this TV show is intense and is what keeps my eyes glued every episode! As a viewer, it’s so satisfying to see Su-ji slowly gather all her classmates to put an end to the Pyramid Game, and thus Ha-rin’s big plan. Take a sneak peek into this K-drama with the trailer here.