Let's Get to Know the Oldest Player in 'Squid Game: The Challenge' — Meet Rick

The Gist:

• We break down the oldest player in Squid Game: The Challenge.
• He celebrates his birthday during the game itself.
• Spoiler alert! This article contains episode details for Squid Game: The Challenge.

In the original Squid Game K-drama, financially desperate individuals made the difficult decision to compete in a series of life-or-death versions of children's games in order to win an enormous cash prize. Throughout the events of the show, it was revealed that the games were being put on for the entertainment of sadistic moguls taking advantage of lower-class citizens as part of a twisted ongoing event. The series received international acclaim for its poignant satire and political commentary.

But naturally, something as popular as Squid Game is bound to show up in multiple forms. In lieu of a second season, we now have Squid Game: The Challenge, a reality show competition in which 456 players compete in a winner-takes-all gauntlet of children's games for $4.56 million.

Similar to the original show, people from all walks of life show up in an attempt to claim victory. One of them is Rick, who claims to be the oldest player in the entire competition. Let's get to know him.

As long as you're a legal and consenting adult, anyone is able to compete in Squid Game: The Challenge. As the original show portrayed, even older and elderly folks had the right to compete in the games, knowing full well that a loss at any point would mean death (for the most part, anyway).

There are plenty of young and athletic players who are giving it their all to win the money. But one of them proudly claims to be the oldest person competing in The Challenge.

That person is Rick aka Player 232. According to his player info in the show, he is a physician who previously worked out of Armstrong County, Pa. At the time of recording for the show, he also claimed to be a beekeeper.

In the very first episode, Rick celebrated his birthday after surviving the Red Light, Green Light game. He was surrounded by dozens of cheerful players who gleefully celebrated his 69th birthday.

He immediately makes friends with several players, becoming especially close with Stephen aka Player 243. Rick even forms a small group that they dub the gganbu (Korean for "close friend") gang as a direct reference to the original show. The group elected to not make any enemies while in the competition and even promised to support each other throughout the competition.

As for Rick himself, he even admitted to having few aspirations about actually winning the competition overall.

"Not really planning on winning what with the talent here," he admitted to Stephen in Episode 3. "But I was always hoping if I could help one person win that, it's a win for me."

To that end, Rick became beloved among many of the competitors for his kind spirit and generosity.

Rick manages to survive the first few games of the challenge and is even able to beat Stephen in a game of ddakji. Unfortunately, not even winning can save you from elimination in Squid Game. He, along with Stephen, are both removed from the game during a test that took place in the players' dorm in between official games. His loss saddened many of the remaining players, who each gave him fond farewells.

Much like the original drama, Squid Game: The Challenge still manages to insert some emotional stakes into this reality show competition with players like Rick. Catch the show streaming on Netflix.