‘Alice in Borderland’ Season 3 Spoilers: All the Twisted New Games, Explained

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for Alice in Borderland Season 3.]

After nearly three years, it is time to return to the strange and deadly world of Alice in Borderland, where diabolical games abound and survival is anything but guaranteed.

When we last saw Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), he and fellow survivor Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) were happily married, living a peaceful life with no memory of their harrowing time in Borderland. Now they are called back to play once more as the final Joker card is revealed, unleashing new deadly games.

Here’s a look at every game featured in Season 3 of Alice in Borderland, including the rules, the players, and how each deadly contest plays out.

Game 1: Old Maid (Episode 1)

Rules: Players gather around the table with their cards. Each player is to draw a card from a player or the deck, discarding pairs. Anyone who draws the Joker (or moves from their seat in an attempt to escape) will be eliminated by electrocution through the chairs. Whoever is left holding the final card wins.

The game begins with players passing the Joker back and forth, watching one another die by electrocution. Ryuji Matsuyama (Kento Kaku), an assistant professor of psychopathology at Sushikan University, is researching the afterlife and remains calm as the others panic. Their screams fill the room as the players are eliminated one by one, until only Matsuyama and one other remain. In an act of mercy, Matsuyama hints that he holds the Joker, but the other player chooses his Ace instead, leading to his own death and leaving Matsuyama the winner.

Game 2: “Sacred Fortunes” (Episode 2)

Rules: Each player must draw 10 fortune slips. If they decipher the sacred fortune slips accurately and survive, they clear the game. Each person may draw only once, with a time limit of one minute per draw.

Like in the first season, none of the players who arrive in the arena know why they are there except Arisu. Addict Tetsu (Koji Ohkura) draws the first slip, and nothing happens. The second player draws a complex math problem and answers incorrectly by a margin of three, unleashing three fire arrows. One strikes her, and two hit a bystander. When another player tries to run, a laser kills him instantly. Only then do the players realize the stakes of the game.

The next player misses a probability question by 55, unleashing 55 arrows as everyone scrambles for cover. The fourth draw is missed by 50, triggering another deadly volley. The questions continue, sending more and more arrows raining down on the terrified players. On the ninth draw, a woman is asked how much cow’s blood is used to make one liter of milk. She guesses two, but the answer is 450, and dozens are killed in the barrage.

Arisu steps up for the final draw. Asked for the population of Earth, he answers 7.9 billion, just shy of the correct 8 billion, and the sky erupts with fire. He recalls the rule to “decipher the slips accurately,” realizing the good fortune slips contain clues to safety. Following the directions, Arisu finds an underground tunnel and escapes with a handful of survivors, clearing the game.

Game 3: “Zombie Hunt” (Episodes 2 & 3)

Rules: Several teams compete in the game. Each participant is dealt seven playing cards, which are used in one-on-one matches at designated tables throughout the facility. In each match, players must play cards from the suit they were dealt, and the player with the highest cumulative total wins. The winner takes one card from the loser’s hand, and the process repeats.

The game also includes three special cards:

Zombie Card: One person per group receives a Zombie card, with four in play across all teams. Drawing it is an instant win, and the losing player becomes infected, joining the winner’s side and adding the Zombie card to their hand.

Shotgun Card: Each player receives one Shotgun card, which can kill a zombie once but does not work on humans. It also, shockingly, kills the person for real.

Vaccine Card: Randomly distributed within each group. When played, it cancels the Zombie card and restores the infected player, but cannot be used on oneself.

The goal is to prevent the spread of zombies. The game ends after 20 rounds. Players who run out of number cards are eliminated, and the side with the most players remaining wins, while the team with the fewest is wiped out.

At first, Arisu and his team avoid other groups, but their paths inevitably cross. A player named Rei (Tina Tamashiro) proposes a plan to gather as many Vaccine and Zombie cards as possible to form a “trust barricade.” As tensions rise, rival teams turn ruthless, escalating into violence. The game spirals into a frenzied witch hunt and a bloody bid for survival.

Realizing the zombies are destined to win, Arisu infects everyone in his group. With a team made entirely of zombies, Arisu’s team wins.

Game 4: “Runaway Train” (Episodes 3 & 4)

Rules: To clear the game, players must move from the starting car to the lead car and stop the train after the siren sounds. Each time a player enters a new car, the door locks, and either oxygen or poison gas is released. There are eight cars total, with poison gas in four. Upon entering, players have 30 seconds to decide whether to use a gas mask. Each player receives five canisters to neutralize gas. Canisters cannot be stolen, and players cannot return to previous cars.

Usagi, Matsuyama, and the others enter the first car, which fills with gas. They use one canister, but a canary reveals it is only oxygen. In the second car, they use another canister and survive poison gas. In the third car, some players choose not to use their masks, and it proves to be safe.

A passing train shows the cost of a wrong choice, with its passengers dying in agony, spewing blood from their liquified organs. In the fourth car, several skip masks again, but this time the canary dies, and those unmasked convulse and bleed out. A train enthusiast in the group realizes a pattern and helps navigate which cars might be safe.

In the fifth car, the enthusiast realizes that the train model is wrong, so everyone must go with their gut. Usagi masks up, and the group follows, but only oxygen fills the car, dooming them all for the next car. Instead, they leap to a passing train for safety, and in a brief moment, Usagi sees Arisu for the first time and reaches for his hand.

Game 5: Semifinal – “Tokyo Bingo Tower” (Episode 4)

Rules: Players must climb Tokyo Tower and press the buzzers installed at various points along the way. To win, they must complete a vertical, horizontal, and diagonal line on the bingo card while working together as a team. At the tippy top of the tower is the “FREE” space that must be pressed.

Teams tethered together are seen scaling the tall tower. Once a button has been pressed, it daubs a number, but then large metal ball bearings are released, putting the climbers in danger as they knock them down off the tower. Usagi, an experienced mountain climber, attempts to help her team in the free climb, but as more numbers are marked, more giant steel ball bearings are released, causing more people to fall to their deaths. Usagi’s skill allows her to climb to the top of the tower to clear the FREE button and win the game.

Game 6: Semifinal – “Kick the Can” (Episode 4)

Rules: Kick a “can” from the center of the room. Before time runs out, return the can to its original spot and place it in its base. There are 10 cans total, so only 10 players can clear the game. The can is also a time bomb — once found, a counter starts, and it will detonate if not returned quickly or if thrown.

Teams surround the can, which launches like a rocket when kicked. The first can explodes when it is not returned in time, and the second explodes when it is thrown. To win, each can must be relayed between teammates. The game devolves into hand-to-hand combat as teams fight over the canisters. During one clash, three key members of Arisu’s team are killed, but most of his crew manage to return cans to the base, securing their place in the finale.

Game 7: Final Game – “Possible Futures” (Episodes 5 & 6)

Rules: Players wear wristbands and collars as they navigate 25 rooms arranged in a square. Dice rolls determine how many may advance each round, with a maximum of 15 rounds to reach the exit. Failing to advance triggers a room lockdown, keeping a player in a room, which two players can lift by scanning their wristbands. Each player starts with 15 points. Moving costs one point, waiting costs one point, and each room has its own point evaluation. If a player reaches zero points, it results in elimination. Usagi, who learns she is pregnant, is counted as two players and given two wristbands and collars.

The walls display possible futures, and the one chosen becomes reality once the player picks a door. On the first roll, four futures appear for each player, both good and bad, but only seven players may pass through the good door. Arisu urges everyone to conserve points, so they split into groups and take different doors.

A random point is deducted each time players enter a room. As the game continues, the rooms exploit their fears and secrets, making choices harder. In Round 3, Rei, Usagi, and Arisu roll too low to escape together. Rei stays behind, promising to be rescued. Matsuyama, secretly working with Borderland authorities, sabotages Arisu’s plan, throwing the group into disarray. Rei is tortured while the others pursue better futures until Arisu risks his life to save her.

A few players die, and after the 11th round, it seems that winning is impossible, but then Usagi reminds Arisu that every game hides a clue to survival in the rules. He realizes the wristband for her unborn child can be used strategically to protect others. Though most do not get the futures they want, most of the group reaches the final roll.

Arisu rolls a seven, allowing only seven of the eight “counted” players through. Because Usagi is considered two players, Arisu stays behind. His sacrifice makes him the winner, and the others are washed away in a mysterious flood…

Game 7: “One Last Game” (Episode 6)

Rules: Two cards are dealt, and the player must choose one. The chosen card determines their fate. If the player selects the Joker, the dealer wins and decides the player’s destiny.

Frozen in time, Arisu faces the Watchman in a final hand. When both cards turn out to be Jokers, the Watchman (guest star Ken Watanabe) wins but, recognizing Arisu’s exceptional nature, grants him a choice: return to the world of the living, which may not include Usagi, or take an easy exit into the vortex through the flood (a.k.a. the Land of the Dead) and escape all the pain of living.

The Watchman restarts time, and Arisu leaps into the flood to save Usagi. Just when it seems Matsuyama will once again sabotage his efforts, the former foe sacrifices himself and jumps into the vortex. Arisu and Usagi survive, along with everyone else who survived the final game, and are returned home, unharmed, with better futures. It’s unclear whether their memories of the games have been wiped once again.

Alice in Borderland, Season 3, Netflix