If you’re anything like me, you don’t just watch Squid Game, you study it. Every frame, every shadow, every corner of the set seems to be packed with hidden meaning. And in season three, the walls are doing a lot more talking than you might think.
We’ve had cryptic murals, mysterious symbols, and odd patterns before, but now the show’s award-winning production designer, Chae Kyoung-sun, has revealed what those strange writings and haunting images on the dormitory wall in Squid Game season three mean. And yes, they’re just as bleak and brilliant as you’d expect.
So, what does the writing on the Squid Game walls mean?
via Netflix
The writing on the walls is a Latin phrase: “Hodie mihi, cras tibi.” It literally translates to: “It is I today, you tomorrow.”
According to director Hwang Dong-hyuk, the phrase carries a stark message: “I’m the one inside the coffin today, and it will be you tomorrow.” It’s a chilling reminder that in the world of Squid Game, death is not abstract or distant; it is immediate, inevitable, and shared.
In an interview with Marie Claire, Chae explains that the phrase led her to reflect on cemetery inscriptions and the visual language of tombstones. The design team “spent a lot of time designing the font, too.” They debated whether they should “use the font that’s more antique, or use emoji-like icons and simplify the text.”
The pictures on the wall have a secret meaning too
via Netflix
You may have also noticed eerie images of people hanging around the top of the dormitory walls. They weren’t just there for decoration. According to Chae, these figures are meant to reflect how the players are feeling inside—pushed to the edge, isolated, and totally cut off from the real world.
It’s a visual way of showing how broken and desperate the contestants have become. You’re not just watching their mental state unravel; you’re basically surrounded by it.
And then there’s the giant checkerboard of crosses
via Netflix
Perhaps the most powerful (and slightly terrifying) design is the giant checkerboard pattern filled with crosses, made to resemble a graveyard. It’s placed symmetrically on the walls, split between top and bottom.
Chae says it’s all about “life facing death.” The players are constantly living with fear, never sure when their time will come. The pattern represents their anxiety, their insecurity, and the grim truth they face every day in the game: Death is always just around the corner.
It’s a haunting reminder that in this world, safety is an illusion, and death is always close behind.
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